A local South Essex MP travelled to Afghanistan on Remembrance Sunday to lay a wreath to commemorate servicemen and women who had given their lives serving in that theatre of operations.
Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, in his capacity as the new Minister for Personnel and Veterans at the Ministry of Defence, flew out to Afghanistan last Saturday. Mark arrived at the main British base at Camp Bastion in the early hours of Sunday morning, before taking a flight by helicopter down to the forward British base at Lashka Gar, where he laid the wreath as part of a Remembrance Sunday commemorative ceremony hosted by members of 4th Mechanised Brigade and Task Force Helmand.
The ceremony, which was attended by several hundred British Military Personnel, as well as representatives from the Afghan Army and Police, paid tribute to those soldiers who have lost their lives or been seriously wounded in Afghanistan.
Speaking following his return to the UK, Mark Francois said:
“In my new role as Minister for Personnel and Veterans of the Ministry of Defence I laid a wreath in Lashka Gar on Remembrance Sunday on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government. Whatever view anyone takes about the war in Afghanistan, I have found that there is almost universal support for our troops, as was recently evidenced back home when the First Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment had a very successful homecoming parade in Basildon.
It was a privilege to be at this ceremony in Afghanistan and to be able to talk to a number of our servicemen who are currently deployed on operations. The day was also poignant as some hours after the service it was announced that a soldier from 1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland had been killed at a forward operating base in Helmand. We should never take our freedom for granted and it is very important to honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to help defend it.”