Sarah Bryant (British Army soldier)

Corporal Sarah Louise Bryant (née Feely) (17 December 1981 – 17 June 2008), of the British Army's Intelligence Corps, was the first British servicewoman killed in Afghanistan.[1]

Sarah Louise Bryant
Corporal Sarah Bryant
Birth nameSarah Louise Feely
Born(1981-12-17)17 December 1981
Liverpool, England
Died17 June 2008(2008-06-17) (aged 26)
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Buried
Wetheral Cemetery
(54.879852°N 2.840112°W / 54.879852; -2.840112)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service2002–2008
RankCorporal
Service numberW1046062
Unit15(UK) PSYOPS Gp

Career

Born in Liverpool and raised in Cumbria, Feely joined the Army in 2002 and completed basic training at Army Training Regiment Winchester as a soldier in the Intelligence Corps. Following specialist training at the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre (DISC), Chicksands, she was initially posted to Whitehall, London.[2] She was then posted to 11 Military Intelligence Section, Headquarters 1 Armoured Division (UK) in Herford, Germany,[3] and completed 2 tours in Iraq at Basra and then Baghdad. Whilst in Baghdad she received a medal and commendation from the US forces commander who described her as "a credit to the British Army".[2]

She married in 2005 in Wetheral, Cumbria, to a fellow Intelligence Corps soldier.

As a Corporal, Bryant later joined 15 Psychological Operations Group based at DISC, deploying to Afghanistan in March 2008 as a Target Audience Analyst. Her team, 152 DELTA Psychological Operations Effects Team, was part of the PsyOps Support Element (PSE) supporting Headquarters 16 Air Assault Brigade, commanding Task Force Helmand.[3]

Fatality

Corporal Bryant died whilst taking part in an operation east of Lashkar Gah when the Land Rover SNATCH 2 vehicle in which she and four other soldiers were travelling in received the blast of an improvised explosive device.[4] All but one of the occupants of the vehicle died.[3]

After her remains had been repatriated to RAF Lyneham, Bryant's military funeral took place at Holy Trinity church in Wetheral, where she had married her husband two years previously.[5] She is buried at Wetheral Cemetery.[6]

Bryant's name was later added to the roll of honour for Burscough and Lathom Royal British Legion branch and Burscough War memorial, and the Wetheral Lych Gate war memorial. The Intelligence Corps will henceforth award the Sarah Bryant Medal to the student who "best espouses the Values and Standards of the British Army" as voted by his or her peers when passing out from the Chicksands Intelligence training courses.[2]

Her death received a great deal of coverage in the UK and international media, which in turn provoked discussion on the gendered nature of the War on Terror.[7]

See also

References
  1. First British female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan is buried. The Guardian
  2. "Medal created in memory of Sarah Bryant". News & Star. 17 June 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  3. Ministry of Defence News
  4. Sarah Bryant's Body Returned from Afghanistan. Daily Telegraph
  5. Dawar, Anil (7 July 2008). "First British female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan is buried". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  6. "Personal Details: Bryant, Sarah Louise". Armed Forces Memorial roll of honour. GOV.UK. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  7. Basham, Victoria (30 June 2008). "From 'Bride to Bodybag': The Death of Corporal Sarah Bryant and the Gendered 'War on Terror'". e-International Relations.
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