UK JET alum Edward Drummond-Baxter killed while serving in Afghanistan
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Lt. Edward Drummond-Baxter (Gifu-ken, 2005-07)
I’m very sad to share that a JET alum, Edward Drummond-Baxter (Gifu-ken, 2005-07), was recently killed while serving in Afghanistan according to a BBC News article. The article doesn’t indicate that Edward was a JET, but a post by someone to the Pacific Northwest JETAA group about the news indicated that he was a Gifu JET from 2005-07.
Here’s an excerpt from the article (“MoD names two British soldiers killed in Afghanistan“):
Two British soldiers shot dead in Afghanistan by a man wearing an Afghan police uniform have been named by the Ministry of Defence.
They were Lt Edward Drummond-Baxter and L/Cpl Siddhanta Kunwar, both of 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, attached to 40 Commando Royal Marines.
They were killed at a checkpoint while on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Tuesday.
Lt Drummond-Baxter, 29, lived in County Durham and L/Cpl Kunwar, 28, Nepal.
The MoD said they were shot and killed at the end of a meeting with Afghan police at Check Point Prrang in the southern part of Nahr-e Saraj.
The Taliban said the gunman was in their protection after having infiltrated the Afghan police.
Platoon commander Lt Drummond-Baxter, who was born in Peterborough, was deployed to Afghanistan for the first time on 30 September.
He was commissioned into the 1st Battalion in 2010 after spending two years working for the Foreign Office. He was a member of reserves regiment The Honourable Artillery Company while at University College London and later attended Sandhurst.
His family said: “Edward was fiercely loyal and totally sincere to his parents, sister and many friends who are mourning him today both in the UK and around the world. He loved the Gurkhas and died among friends doing the job that he wanted to do.”
Lt Col David Robinson, commanding officer, described him as “a character, a true gentleman and an inspirational leader”.
Please feel free to share any memories, thoughts or other comments about Edward in the comments section of this post.
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