MoD names soldiers killed in Iraq
Thursday, 02 Mar 2006 02:39
MoD names soldiers killed in Iraq
Two British soldiers killed in a bomb blast close to a playground in southern Iraq have been named by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Private Lee Ellis, 23, and Captain Richard Holmes, 28, of the Second Battalion Parachute Regiment, died after a device went off in an abandoned car at the side of a main road in al-Amarah on Tuesday.
Private Ellis, from Manchester, was described as "bright, enthusiastic and immensely popular".
He leaves a girlfriend, Sarah, and a daughter, Courtney.
He had been in Iraq since October 2005 with D Company and operated in Maysaan province as part of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Battle Group.
Captain Holmes, from Hampshire, leaves a wife, Kate, who he married shortly before leaving for Iraq.
Lieutenant Colonel James Chiswell of the Second Battalion Parachute Regiment said Holmes was one of the regiment's "rising stars" and made a "real difference" in Iraq.
"Charming, compassionate and bright, Richard was one of the Parachute Regiment's rising stars. He excelled as a young commander with both the Parachute Regiment and the Highlanders, and was deeply respected by those he led," he said.
Their deaths brought the total number of British servicemen killed in Iraq since March 2003 to 103.
Corporal Gordon Alexander Pritchard, who died on January 31st this year, was the 100th British military fatality in Iraq and his death led to renewed calls for Britain to bring its troops home.
