DANIEL SIMPSONRifleman Daniel Simpson, 20, from Croydon was one of five soldiers from The 2nd Battalion The Rifles to be killed in two separate explosions in Helmand on Friday 10 July 2009.
The two explosions targetted the same patrol, near Sangin.
The four others killed were:Corporal Jonathan Horne,Rifleman Joseph Murphy,Rifleman William AldridgeandRifleman James Backhouse.
Six British troops were killed in Afghanistan that day.
Their deaths meant that the Afghanistan conflict death toll had overtaken that of the Iraq war.
A total of 179 British servicemen and women died in Iraq.Fifteen deaths in the first 10 days of July took the Afghanistan deathtoll to 184.
Rifleman Simpson, joined the Army in August 2007 and completed the Combat Infantryman’s Course at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire.
He was then posted to 2 Rifles in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland.
Soon after joining, he was deployed to Kosovo. After returning to Ballykinler the Battalion’s focus switched to its future deployment to Afghanistan. During the pre-deployment training he showed an aptitude for all things communications and was subsequently employed as the Platoon Signaller, a pivotal role.
During one of the pre-deployment exercises he demonstrated potential beyond his experience and showed his Platoon Staff that he had the metal to earn a place on the next Potential Junior NCOs Cadre.
Rifleman Simpson’s passions in life were his family, boxing, football, Karaoke and his mates.
He leaves behind his 8 month old son Alfie, his mother Debbie, his father Robert and his two brothers, Lee and Jimmy.
Rifleman Simpson’s Family said: "Daniel Simpson was a larger than life character, sometimes a bit of a handful and always full of surprises. A strong team player who was fiercely loyal to his friends and could be relied on to be there whenever he was needed. The world will be a quieter place without Danny."
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Thomson MBE, Commanding Officer 2 Rifles Battle Group said: "One of my South London geezers, Rifleman Simpson was a classic Rifleman – hardy, determined and full of fun. He had been in the Battalion since February 2008 and had already been to Kosovo on our ‘disciplined summer holiday’ last year. Good enough to have flirted with professional football, he was surprisingly fit for a man with such a large capacity for food (we could not keep up) and drink.
"In Afghanistan , he had made a real difference here in Sangin and he dealt with the arduousness of this place without breaking step. His first inclination was always to look out for others. His sense of fun permeated all that he did and his stated intent was to be Regimental Serjeant Major one day. It was a wholly appropriate dream.
"He leaves a desperately big hole in our lives but our first thoughts are for his adored parents, his two brothers, Lee and Jimmy and his adored son Alfie, named after his much loved grandfather."
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