Rayleigh and Wickford MP and Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois, recently attended the special service of commemoration at St Paul’s Cathedral to remember the 453 personnel from the British Armed Forces who gave their lives serving in Afghanistan.
The service, which was attended by HM the Queen and other members of the Royal Family and Prime Minister, David Cameron paid tribute to those thousands of servicemen and women who served on Operation Herrick, the Ministry of Defence codename for the operation in Afghanistan. Mark attended in his capacity as Minister of State for the Armed Forces.
Around half of the seats in St Paul’s Cathedral were given over to family members of those service personnel who died on Operation Herrick and tribute was paid to all of those who fought, not just the fallen but those who were wounded, both physically or mentally in this conflict as well.
After the service, Mark attended a reception held at the Honourable Artillery Company in north London for service personnel who had been at the service and where he was joined by Jack Lopresti, the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, who served as a Mobilised Reservist in the Territorial Army Commando Artillery during Operation Herrick. Commenting on the service and the reception afterwards, Mark Francois said:
"While the conflict in Afghanistan has at times been a controversial one, we have helped to protect our own security at home by helping the Afghans to fight terrorism in their own country. The Afghans have now democratically elected their own Government of National Unity which is taking the country forward. However, this has been achieved at a high price and it was very important that we commemorated the 453 service personnel who laid down their lives in the service of their country and indeed the many more who have been injured as a result of this conflict. Their efforts must never be forgotten."