Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2012, Corporal Brent McCarthy, RAF Police, and Lance Corporal Lee Davies, 1st Battalion 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 near Patrol Base Attal in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province. They had been engaging in banter and chatting with what they thought were two Afghan uniformed police officers, when the two men turned their guns on them; it was believed to have been a planned attack, with a rumour that one of the killers had 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 – he had also just posed for photos with his killer.

The C.O. of the Police Mentoring and Advisory Group said of Cpl. McCarthy: "He came to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards during our training for Operation HERRICK 16. His intelligence, ready wit and desire to muck in and take part in all aspects of communal life meant that he fitted seamlessly into an extremely tight team. Cpl. 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." Brent, from Telford, was 25 years old.

Lance Corporal Davies' C.O. said this of him: "Lance Corporal Davies loved being a soldier - it was who he was. He swiftly made a name for himself for his enthusiasm, fitness and professionalism as an infantry soldier and in less than two years was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. To have made such a profound impact so early in his Army career speaks volumes about the quality of the man we have lost today. It is in Afghanistan that the depths of his talents became obvious to all. He was a formidably talented team commander, in his element in this complex and unforgiving environment. The Welsh Guards have lost a man of inestimable promise, a fine Guardsman who lived and breathed the values and standards of the Foot Guards." Lee, from Carmarthen, was 27 years old.