MoD mourns teenage soldier killed in Afghanistan
UK soldier killed in Afghanistan earlier this week named as 19-year-old Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher
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Thursday, 04, Jun 2009 05:59
The British soldier killed in Afghanistan in an explosion earlier this week has been named as 19-year-old Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher.
Rifleman Thatcher, from the Second Battalion the Rifles, was killed in an explosion while on patrol in Gereshk in Helmand province.
The Reading-born soldier was the 166th UK soldier to die in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001 and the sixth in the last two weeks.
His family said in a statement: "Cyrus was a much-loved son and brother whose loss we will never recover from. He loved his job and was proud to serve his country. We will always be immensely proud of him. He will forever be in our hearts and minds."
And Rifleman Thatcher's commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Rob Thomson said: "He was one of the very best - a real thinking rifleman whose questions were always perceptive and on the money; those questions proved to me that his rivers ran deep. Less experienced than some but you would never have known. He was one of those few who genuinely had a rucksack full of potential.
"As his commanding officer, I count it a privilege of the highest order to have known Rifleman Thatcher. His life was one of such promise and he is sorely missed. But I know that our sadness is nothing compared to that of his dearly loved and hugely supportive parents and proud brothers."