Edward At Cathedral For Commemoration

A thanksgiving service for the Army's Ulster-based 19 Light Brigade has taken place at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.

Her Majesty The Queen was represented by HRH The Earl of Wessex who is Royal Colonel of 2nd Battalion, The Rifles.

He arrived soon after 1pm to be met by dignitaries including Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson and the Belfast Mayor, Naomi Long.

He is pictured here being led into the cathedral by Dame Mary Peters, Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast. The service was attended by service personnel, their families, and relatives of the servicemen and women who lost their lives during the Brigade's latest tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The Battalion is based at Ballykinler in Co Down and is one of the main units in 19 Light Brigade.

The Commander of 19 Light Brigade, Brigadier Tim Radford, laid a memorial wreath at the altar and read out the names of the 83 service personnel who died in Helmand.

Earlier, he told media representatives attending the commemoration how things were improving in Afghanistan: "The fighting was truly ferocious, but the determination and resolve of my soldiers never wavered."

He said: "The interests of the Afghan people were at the very heart of every decision we made. Despite the intense fighting there were very few civilian casualties; a testament to the great measure and judgment shown by every one of my soldiers."

Arriving for the ceremony, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth predicted progress in the war in Afghanistan over the next year. He also welcomed news that the US was to deploy further troops and underlined the international importance of the conflict.

He said: "If we were to fail in Afghanistan, the consequences for Afghanistan would be profound, the consequences for Pakistan would be profound, and the consequences therefore for our safety back here in the United Kingdom would be very considerable indeed."

He said: "I think that we can in the next year or so show some real progress in Afghanistan."

Representatives from all the Brigade's units in NI were in attendance including the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, 2nd Battalion The Rifles, 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, 38 Engineer Regiment, 19 Combat Service Support Battalion and 173 Provost Company of 3rd Battalion Royal Military Police.

The service was led by the Dean of St Anne's, Dr Houston McKelvey, with the event allowing the soldiers to mark the conclusion of a difficult deployment in Afghanistan.

The troops of 19 Brigade have just returned from what has been described by the Ministry of Defence as an "extremely tough" six-month tour in Helmand province during the tense period of the Afghan elections, which saw Hamid Karzai re-instated as President.

(BMcC/KMcA)