Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 1983, Lance Corporal Stephen Taverner, 1st Battalion, the Devon and Dorset Regiment, died in hospital in Woolwich from injuries received ten days earlier in Northern Ireland.

He had been part of a foot patrol in the Crossmaglen area of Co. Armagh on the 26th of October when a remote-controlled bomb was detonated as they passed. Although airlifted from the scene, and despite efforts to save his life during his time in hospital, sadly he succumbed to his injuries. Another soldier was injured but recovered from his injuries. A memorial bell dedicated to his memory and that of Corporal Gerald Jeffery (killed in West Belfast earlier that year) stands outside the entrance to the Garrison Church of St Martin’s in the Mournes, and is used for remembrance services.

Stephen, from Whipton, Exeter, was 24 years old.