Sky News- Tribute to 100th Afghan War Victim- L/Cpl Adam Drane 1 Royal Anglian 2009

The parents of the 100th British soldier to die in Afghanistan this year have said there are "no words" to describe their loss but he died doing a job that made them proud.

Lance Corporal Adam Drane from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment

Friends have described Lance Corporal Adam Drane, 23, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, as a kind and loving man who never stopped talking about his fiancee.

The soldier, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, was shot dead in the Nad-e Ali area, in central Helmand Province, on Monday.

His death brings the total number of British service personnel who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001 to 237.

This year has been the bloodiest for British forces since the Falklands War in 1982, and follows 39 British deaths in the Afghan conflict in 2006, 42 in 2007 and 51 in 2008.

Head of the Army, General Sir David Richards, said the 100th fatality of 2009 "hardens our determination to succeed" and urged the public not to judge the campaign by casualties alone.


No words can adequately describe what our loss means to us.

L/Cpl Drane's parents Desmond and Jackie Drane

And on an unannounced visit to troops in Helmand, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said his thoughts were with the family and friends of the dead soldier.

Before the soldier was named, ex-Army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt said Gordon Brown did not understand the significance of Britain's military campaign in Afghanistan until a few months ago.

But the Tory adviser said he was now "encouraged" that the Government is moving in the right direction on troop numbers, after the Prime Minister announced reinforcements bringing the UK deployment to around 10,000, including special forces.

L/Cpl Drane's parents, Desmond and Jackie Drane, said: "No words can adequately describe what our loss means to us."

They said they wanted to honour his chosen profession "which taught him the true meaning of courage and self-sacrifice".

He also leaves a fiancee, Sian Goodenough, and a younger brother, Christopher.

L/Cpl Drane deployed to Afghanistan attached to the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards Battlegroup and was in charge of a four-man "fire team".

The keen boxer and music fan had been in Afghanistan for about two months where he came under attack from insurgents almost every day.

Best friend Private Paul Kelly, 1 Section, 6 Platoon, C (Essex) Company, said: "All we had talked about during the tour was our future weddings and how we were going to be each other's best man and that is exactly what he was."
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[LouisC89]

proud? u dun even know wut the politician who order you to fight thinkinh abt