Lance Corporal Adam Drane killed in Afghanistan

It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lance Corporal Adam Paul Drane from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment was killed in Afghanistan on Monday 7 December 2009.

Lance Corporal Drane died whilst carrying out security duties at Check Point Paraang in southern Nad e-Ali, Helmand province.

He deployed to Afghanistan as a Section Second-in-Command within C (Essex) Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, attached to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Battle Group.

Lance Corporal Drane was employed within 6 Platoon, C (Essex) Company. He was responsible for commanding a four-man 'fire team' and as such was charged with engaging with and reassuring the local population as well as defeating the insurgents in one of Helmand province's most challenging areas. He had been conducting this task for nearly two months.

Lance Corporal Adam Paul Drane

Lance Corporal Drane was born in Bury St Edmunds on 24 July 1986. He completed his training at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick on 15 August 2007 and within two weeks had joined 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment in Afghanistan for the last two months of their Op HERRICK 6 tour.

On returning to the UK he completed a Junior Non-Commissioned Officer (JNCO) cadre and was soon after promoted to Lance Corporal.

Prior to deploying to Afghanistan for his second tour, Lance Corporal Drane had completed a number of demanding field exercises in the UK as well as achieving a semi-final place in the Inter-Company Boxing Championships of 2009.

Lance Corporal Drane leaves behind a close and loving family, including his parents, Desmond and Jackie, and brother, Christopher, as well as his beloved fiancée, Sian Goodenough.

Quietly confident, Lance Corporal Drane was an extremely kind individual who had a wonderful sense of humour. He was well-known and respected across the battalion as a soldier but particularly renowned for his love of music and guitars.

Lance Corporal Drane was very much career orientated and was looking forward to completing the demanding Section Commanders' Battle Course after the tour which would have made him eligible for further promotion.

Lance Corporal Drane's parents, Desmond and Jackie Drane, paid the following tribute:

"No words can adequately describe what our loss means to us. But knowing we are united with all Service families brings comfort.

"As his parents, together with Sian, his fiancée, and on behalf of Christopher his younger brother, we wish to express our tremendous pride in Adam's achievements: as a son, a brother, and future husband. We wish also to honour his chosen profession, which taught him the true meaning of courage and self-sacrifice. In the course of his duties, Lance Corporal Adam Drane died at his post, protecting his company, in the service of his country.

"All we would ask, at this time, is for a period of grace in order to begin coming to terms with our loss. We ask that our family's needs be respected through this time of grief and sorrow."