| Sarah Bryant | |
|---|---|
Corporal Sarah Bryant |
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| Born | 17 December 1981 Liverpool, England |
| Died | 17 June 2008 Helmand Province, Afghanistan |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 2002–2008 |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit | 15(UK) PSYOPS Gp |
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]
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Born in Liverpool and raised in Cumbria Feely joined the Army in 2002, completing 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 - 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.
Bryant later joined 15 Psychological Operations Group, based at DISC, as a Corporal, 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]
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, her military funeral took place at Holy Trinity church, in Wetheral where she had married her husband two years previously.[5] Afterwards, her coffin was laid to rest in the nearby Holy Trinity and St Constantine churchyard.[6]
Bryant's name was later added to the roll of honour for Burscough and Lathom Royal British Legion branch and Burscough War memorial, the Wetheral Lych Gate war memorial and The Intelligence Corps will henceforth award the Sarah Bryant medal to the best student to pass 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]