Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2005, Major Matthew Bacon, serving as a staff officer with the Headquarters of Multi-National Division (South East) was killed in Iraq. He had been travelling back to Basra Air Station after a meeting at Saddam Hussein's old palace when the armoured Snatch landrover he was in was blown up by an IED. Three other soldiers were seriously injured. It had not been planned that he travel by road, but the new Merlin helicopter he was due to get on developed a hydraulic fault. Major Bacon's parents said that they thought he was invincible, having served in conflict zones including Northern Ireland, the Gulf, Former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. He had been a cadet at the age of 13, joined the ranks of the Army Air Corps after leaving school, and while serving as a lance-corporal in Bosnia, his commanding officer encouraged him to apply for officer training at Sandhurst. There is a Facebook page dedicated to him: https://www.facebook.com/Friends-of-Major-Matthew-Bacon-RIP-174765802713487/ Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Barrow said: "Major Matt Bacon did not waste a moment of his life. He loved soldiering, had a passion for physical exercise, and in his spare time was studying for a law degree. He had been in theatre for only a short time, but the headquarters staff had all witnessed his tremendous sense of humour, his prodigious and infectious enthusiasm, and his willingness to do anything challenging. His wide experience and seemingly unstoppable drive and determination singled him out, meeting his challenges with unbridled imagination. Major Matt Bacon was hugely popular and a real contributor to whatever he undertook." Matthew, from London, was 34 years old.