Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2007, Kingsman Danny John Wilson of the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, died in Iraq. He had been driving a Warrior vehicle during a patrol close to Basra Palace, and had left the vehicle to check on a possible IED on the road ahead when he was fatally hit by sniper fire. He was given immediate first aid at the scene, but could not be saved – the bullet had pierced his side causing massive internal bleeding, and was later believed to have come from the same weapon which killed four other soldiers.

Kingsman Wilson didn’t enlist straight from school, as did many others, but with the support of his wife finally decided to follow his father and grandfather into the army, where his fellow recruits good-naturedly nicknamed him “Grandad.” He had enlisted in 2004, joined the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers, then in 2005 he joined the 1st Battalion, The Kings Own Royal Border Regiment. He served in Iraq in 2006, volunteered to deploy again and arrived the month before his death.

He was well-liked and respected, and is remembered as an enthusiastic and selfless soldier with an infectious sense of humour. Danny, from Workington in Cumbria, was 29 years old and married with a two-year-old son.