Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2012, Corporal Brent McCarthy, Royal Air Force Police, and Lance Corporal Lee Davies, 1st Battalion, the Welsh Guards, died in Afghanistan. They were part of a Police Advisory Team providing security as their C.O. attended a meeting at the local Afghan Uniform Police headquarters. They were engaging in banter and chatting with two Afghan uniformed police officers, when the two men turned their guns on them; it was believed to have been a planned attack, with one of the killers having been recruited by the Taliban. The photograph on the right shows Cpl. McCarthy moments before both he and Lance Corporal Davies were shot and killed – Lance Corporal Davies had also just posed for photos with his killer.
Corporal McCarthy joined the R.A.F. in 2008, and in 2009 volunteered to deploy with 174 Provost Company, 3rd Regiment Royal Military Police as part of the Theatre Provost Group. He showed great aptitude for mentoring, and was subsequently chosen to embed with the Welsh Guards as part of the Police Mentoring Advisory Group.
Lieutenant Colonel Dino Bossi said: “Corporal Brent McCarthy came to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards during our training for Operation HERRICK 16. His intelligence, ready wit and his desire to muck in and take part in all aspects of communal life meant that he fitted seamlessly into an extremely tight team. Corporal McCarthy was extremely popular and hugely respected among the men with whom he lived and fought - not always an easy trick for a military policeman from another Service, but one he achieved with ease and some style. Ever to the fore and sharing danger and discomfort, his light-hearted approach to life, easy going nature and cool professionalism made him a natural advisor to the Afghan National Police. All of us in the Police Mentoring and Advisor Group, whether Welsh Guards, Royal Military Police or RAF are devastated by his loss but resolved to press on in the memory of his sacrifice.” Brent, from Telford, was 25 years old.
Lance Corporal Davies joined the Welsh Guards in 2008 and within two years had proved himself to be a natural leader and a gifted professional. He is remembered as being brave, popular, diligent and full of humour.
Major Julian Salusbury said: “Lance Corporal Davies was an outstanding Welsh Guardsman. Newly promoted after little more than two years service, he made the jump from guardsman to JNCO with characteristic flair, professionalism and not a little good humour. And that marked him out as a man - cheerfulness in the face of adversity; a ready smile and a friendly word. His catch phrase, first heard by me in the pouring rain and cold of Aldershot training area, ‘I love my job’, was not only said to raise his friends’ morale but it was also the truth. Lance Corporal Davies loved being a guardsman and was the proudest of proud Welsh Guardsmen. Committed, capable and thoroughly dependable, he well understood his role in Afghanistan. He could not have been more suited to helping the Afghan police achieve a better, safer life for the Helmandi people. Considerate and utterly selfless, Lance Corporal Davies accepted the inherent risks of being a soldier and has paid the ultimate price. I am proud and humbled to have commanded such a fine, decent and compassionate man. Cymru Am Byth.” Lee, from Carmarthen, was 27 years old.
