Solider killed in Afghanistan named

The Ministry of Defence has named the soldier killed in Afghanistan on Sunday as Drummer Thomas Wright.

The 21-year-old, from the 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, was killed in the Babaji area outside Lashkar Gah in the Helmand province on Sunday morning.

His armoured 'Snatch' land rover was escorting a military team surveying the site for a new road project linking several Afghan villages in the area when it was caught in an explosion.

Four others soldiers were injured in the explosion and they are currently receiving medical treatment for their injuries at the ISAF hospital at Camp Bastion.

Drummer Wright, from Ripley in Derbyshire, joined his regiment in 2003. He initially served in B Company as a rifleman and saw overseas service in Kenya and Northern Ireland, before moving to D (Fire Support) Company where he trained as a Drummer in the Corps of Drums. He was subsequently deployed to Belize and most recently to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 6.

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Westley MC, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters, said: "Drummer Wright stood tall within the Company such as his character, skill and ability. He will be best known for his razor sharp wit, numerous tattoos, quirky dress sense and practical jokes.

"Never shy in coming forward, always in the thick of the action, either in the boxing ring or in the field, on parades or in the block, he was a true regimental character who can never be replaced."

(KMcA/JM)