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Christina Drummond

Lance Corporal Sarah Holmes, 29 Postal Courier and Movement Regiment


Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2007, Lance Corporal Sarah Holmes, 29 Postal Courier and Movement Regiment, died from injuries sustained eleven days earlier while on duty in Qatar. She had been working at the Al Udeid airfield when the car in which she was travelling was involved in a collision with another vehicle, just a few days before the end of her operational tour - she was taken to hospital, and from there home to the UK, but died from her injuries. Lance Corporal Holmes had joined the army in 1997, something she had wanted to do since she was a little girl, according to her father as he spoke at her funeral, referring to her as his “little angel.” She is remembered for being well-liked, a naturally friendly person with quick wit and humour. Lieutenant Colonel Iain McKend said: “I got to know Lance Corporal Holmes well over a number of days in July as she moved down from the airport in Basra, Southern Iraq, to take up her role running the Forces Postal Service in Al Udeid, Qatar, at the mid-point of her Op TELIC tour. An absolute perfectionist, she was very much looking forward to the responsibilities and variety of this element of her operational tour. An extremely diligent and capable JNCO, she felt at home in the Army and was a popular member of the Postal and Courier community, both in 29 Postal Courier and Movement Regiment RLC and beyond. Entirely professional, this warm-hearted and sensitive young soldier was utterly dedicated to ensuring troops’ mail was delivered as rapidly and effectively as possible in Iraq and Qatar over the last six months - just as she had done in previous operational tours in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Kuwait and Germany earlier in her career. Her down-to-earth, helpful and friendly presence will be sorely missed.” Sarah, from Wantage in Oxfordshire, was 26 years old.

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