Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2012, Sergeant Lee Paul Davidson, The Light Dragoons, was killed in Afghanistan when his vehicle struck an IED. He had deployed in April of that year, as Troop Sergeant and vehicle commander, and two months later his troop was formed into a Police Advisory Team as part of the Police Mentoring and Advisory Group. His team was on patrol with the Afghan Uniform Police when he was fatally injured.

Sergeant Davidson had joined the army in 1998, and served in Bosnia and Iraq as well as in Afghanistan on a previous tour. He spent time at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate as an instructor to Junior Soldiers. Colleagues remember him as charismatic, hard-working, passionate, and committed. He put his men first, and they in turn trusted and admired him; both loyalty and respect were mutual.

Lieutenant Colonel Sam Plant said: “Sergeant Davidson will be remembered as a simply superb soldier and a wonderful man. From the outset of training he demonstrated the sort of professionalism and determination that had long been his trademark. He was the most natural leader of men and soldiers flourished under his command - he set the perfect tone and example and cared deeply for his soldiers’ welfare. Rarely to be seen without a broad smile on his face, his enormous popularity was borne out of deep respect and his unbreakable sense of fun. Utterly loyal and ferociously hardworking, he was, and always will be, an inspiration to so many. The requirement to build rapport with his Afghan partners came completely naturally to him and he died doing a job in which he was succeeding and loving. His future in the Light Dragoons was full of promise, and continued promotion up the ranks was a given. He leaves a gap in the ranks of the Light Dragoons which will never be filled. Viret in Aeternum. Merebimur.”

Lee, from Doncaster, was 32 years old and left behind his pregnant wife and two young sons.