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Christina Drummond

Fusilier Andrew Grundy, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers


Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 1992, Fusilier Andrew Grundy, 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed in Northern Ireland. He was on sentry duty at the army's main cross-border checkpoint at Killeen when at two o'clock in the morning a van containing a bomb was rolled down the hill towards him – it had been pushed by a digger, the command wire running towards the border. Fusilier Grundy had time to shout a warning, “Proxy bomb, back gate!” through the checkpoint's intercom and tried to disable the van with gunfire. The bomb was triggered, killing Fusilier Grundy and injuring 23 other soldiers. His body was found among the rubble, and it was discovered that he actually had died from lacerations to the brain. An RUC constable inside the police hut said that he heard the shout right before a massive explosion, and he reports that the next thing he knew was he was picking himself up off the ground outside the hut, his boots having been blown off.

A friend wrote this tribute: "It's right to be proud of Andrew. Andrew was a good soldier: professional, trustworthy, cheeky and fun, and great for morale when it got tough. He died because he stuck to his post in the face of extreme danger. His death was a tragic loss for A Company, 2RRF. He and his good friend Michael Beswick will always be remembered. They did not die in vain - their memory is a motivation to continue the fight for lasting peace." (Lance Corporal Beswick survived the attack, only to be killed the following year.) Fusilier Grundy lies in the Duncombe Cemetery in Ferryhill.

Andrew, from Ferryhill in Co. Durham, was 22 years old.

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