War veterans join Duke of Edinburgh for Remembrance service
- 00:01:03
- ITN
War veterans join Duke of Edinburgh for Remembrance service
The friends and family of soldiers shot dead by a "rogue" Afghan policeman have spoken of their devastation. Warrant Officer First Class Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman Jimmy Major from the Grenadier Guards died alongside Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith from the Royal Military Police. The attack in the Nad-e'Ali district of Helmand also injured another six British soldiers and two Afghan policemen. Friends of Corporal Webster-Smith, 24, from Pembrokeshire, west Wales, left postings on his Facebook page. His girlfriend Emma Robinson wrote: "I love you so much and just can't believe this is happening." It has emerged Warrant Officer Chant single-handedly carried a colleague to safety earlier this year after his leg was blown off in a bomb attack. Grenadier Guardsman, Scott Blaney told The Sun newspaper: "Drill sergeant Daz Chant put me on his shoulders and ran more than a mile to the point where the chopper had flown to evacuate me. I owe him everything." Sergeant Matthew Telford, from Grimsby, leaves two young sons, aged four and nine and his wife Kerry. His uncle, William Ferrand, has said: "It was his job and he absolutely loved it. Everybody knows what a wonderful lad he was. It has devastated all of us." Military figures say security problems are rife in the Afghan police. An unnamed soldier has written in the Independent saying he is "not surprised" by the attack. The men's deaths make this the bloodiest year for the Armed Forces since the Falklands War. The death toll in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001 now stands at 229.
ITN | November 5, 2009
