Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2007, Corporal Rodney Wilson of 4th Battalion The Rifles was killed in Iraq. His patrol had been part of a search and detention operation in the Al Atiyah district, north west of Basra City, when they came under attack from small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. Corporal Wilson went to the aid of one of the wounded when he himself was fatally hit. He had served as a Section Commander and had been awarded a distinction in the highly-demanding Platoon Sergeant’s Battle Course, placing him in the top 2% of Infantry soldiers. Remembered as a deep thinker, intelligent and tough, and given to practical jokes. His Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Sanders, said: “Corporal Wilson was one of the outstanding Riflemen of his generation. A charismatic and inspiring figure in 4th Battalion The Rifles, he was a man of immense natural talent and great strength of character. He had that rare gift of natural leadership that comes to only a few: clarity of thought, crisp and sure footed decision making, strength of purpose and a happy combination of a magnetic personality and absolute self assurance that drew Riflemen to him. Where Corporal Wilson led, others would always follow. He was, in the words of his own Riflemen, ‘a legend’. His professional qualities as a Section Commander set the gold standard for his fellow Riflemen.” Rodney was 30 years old and engaged to be married.