Remembrance Sunday for Chivenor troops in Afghanistan

THE reality of Remembrance Day was startlingly evident in the desert on Sunday — as more than 2,000 British troops gathered in the Camp Bastion heat to remember fallen colleagues.

The servicemen and women, mostly from the West Country, formed a guard of honour around the gleaming Bastion memorial, which bears the names of all the troops who have been killed in the conflict in Helmand Province since British operations began in Afghanistan.

The monument is engraved with the names of 120 soldiers, but the latest two losses are yet to be added — Trooper James Munday and Gurkha Rifleman Yubraj Rai — who died just five days before the service, on Operation Mar Nonu.

Rifleman Yubraj served in the 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, alongside several Chivenor-based Gurkhas.

The Camp Bastion service was led by Chivenor Commando Logistic Regiment (CLR) Padre Alen McCulloch, and the music for the day was also provided by the North Devon contingent of the Royal Marines Band.

Col Andy Maynard, the commanding officer of CLR, and also of the entire camp, said: “The fantastic thing about having the music and the bugler, although it’s melancholy, is that is also brings hope and lifts spirit and shows that we do remember, but we don’t stop, we carry on.

“Everyone here knows someone who has lost their life either here or elsewhere and it’s very poignant.”

Col Maynard added: “It’s great that this is getting coverage, as it’s great to use this opportunity to show the collective strength of everyone on the operation. They work as a team and they do it brilliantly, and it’s reassuring when people at home can see the energy they have.”

The heat was already unbearable at 11am, and two servicemen passed out during the service — testament to the testing conditions in Helmand.

Gathering more than 2,000 people in one place in a volatile area like Helmand is also a risky business, as collectively they form a giant sitting duck.

Everyone had body armour and helmets close at hand in case of attack.

Col Maynard said: “Just as all the time in the British forces there are always people working behind the scenes. Operations never stop, it is a huge machine and everyone has a part to play in it, even on Remembrance Day.”

Seventeen wreaths were laid around the memorial, and following the Last Post the entire camp was bathed in silence, disturbed only by a lone Chinook landing on the airfield.