Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 2010, Corporal Richard Green from 3rd Battalion The Rifles was killed in Afghanistan. He died instantly from a single gunshot to the head as his patrol was with members of the Afghan National Army, investigating reports of extortion at a bazaar in the Sangin area of Helmand province.

He had joined the army in 2003 at the age of sixteen, reported the following year for infantry specific training, successfully completed a JNCO cadre within a year of arriving at 3 RIFLES and the following year completed the demanding Section Commanders’ Battle Course to qualify him for promotion to Corporal. He deployed to Afghanistan in September of 2009. He told his family: “If anything happens to me know that I’ve lived life to the full, have no regrets, and love my job.”

Major Mark Melhorn said of him: "Corporal Richard Green was simply an outstanding Rifleman who was flying through the ranks and destined for the top. Anyone who can complete the demanding Section Commanders’ Battle Course within three years of joining the Army is exceptional, yet Corporal Green not only completed the course but was outstanding on it. His appetite for soldiering was simply insatiable and he was determined to push himself at all times; he had already completed the tough Light Role Recce Commanders’ Course to qualify him for promotion to Serjeant [The Rifles’ spelling]. In the high pressure environment that is Sangin, Corporal Green was in his element. He was tough as teak and an inspirational Section Commander mixing compassion for his subordinates with a ready supply of banter and a desire to take the fight to the enemy. He really was Swift and Bold."

Richard, from Reading, was 23 years old.