A mother's pain
Published on 7th June 2007 in News
‘Professional’ and ‘dedicated’: the late Private Luke Simpson of the 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment.
There were mixed feelings in Howden as soldiers from the late Private Luke Simpson's regiment returned from Iraq without him.
More than 450 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment (1 YORKS), including nine from Goole, one from Snaith, one from Howden and four from Selby, are now back with their families after a seven-month mission in the southern part of the Basra province.
However, Pte Simpson was not among those flying home to their family.
The 21-year-old soldier from Howden was killed while on patrol in Basra on February 9.
His mum, Anita Hughes, has spoken of her relief that his friends have returned safely but also said it has brought what happened flooding back.
The family were planning a barbecue and party for Luke but are now trying to cope as best they can.
Mrs Hughes last saw her son at Christmas.
It is understood that Pte Simpson is being considered for an award after reports that he may have saved the lives of three others in the Land Rover with him.
The Land Rover was travelling on a road between two sharp drops when a number of roadside bombs exploded.
Pte Simpson managed to bring the vehicle under control after the explosions and the three other soldiers survived the incident.
Major Craig Powers, press officer for the regiment, commented: "His professionalism, dedication and personality will not be forgotten."
1 YORKS conducted more than 50 operations, and contributed soldiers to 50 others, among them strike operations, searches, arrests, convoy escorts, route security, reassurance, civil-military cooperation, security sector reform and anti-smuggling operations resulting in over 20 terrorists interned.
Major Powers said: "The size of the area of operations is huge.
"To complete its mission, the battalion has clocked up over 670,000 km on the road. That equates to driving round the world almost 15 times.
"The Yorkshire soldiers were the last British troops to be based at Shaiba Logistics Base, once home to over 5,000 soldiers.
"The base was handed over to the Iraqi Army in a formal parade and flag-raising ceremony and is now the Divisional Training Centre where the Iraqi Army continues to be trained by British troops.
"The Yorkshire soldiers based there will have trained 14 Iraqi companies in their tenure.
"The diverse situations the soldiers have experienced over the past seven months have certainly tested the professionalism and courage of every soldier and the Yorkshiremen have come through proudly with flying colours.
"The battalion now returns to Yorkshire for some well-deserved rest and recuperation before commencing refresher training and preparing for its move to Germany in summer, 2008."