IAN MALONELance Corporal Ian Keith Malone, who died on 6 April, 2003, aged 28, was an exceptionally gifted soldier, a talented musician and an intelligent thinker with an IQ of 130.
He was deployed on Operation Telic in an armoured infantry section with Number 1 Company, Irish Guard, as part of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Battle Group when he was hit by a sniper's bullet as the Battalion advanced upon Iraq's second city, Basra.
Although being an Irishman in the British Army held the potential for isolation and loneliness, Lance Corporal was sufficiently self-aware to not let it bother him and he developed into a popular member of the Irish Guards.
In a radio interview in November, 2002, he said: "At the end of the day I am just abroad doing a job. People go on about Irishmen dying for freedom and all that. That's a fair one. They did. But they died to give men like me the freedom to choose what to do."
Lance Corporal Malone was born on 8 December, 1974, in the working-class suburb of Ballyfermot, west of Dublin. The eldest in a family of five, he was educated at the De La Salle Christian Brothers Catholic School.
He applied to join the Irish Army but, at 22, was deemed too old. He enlisted in the British Army in July 1997 and after basic training at Catterick in North Yorkshire, Ian joined the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards in March 1998.
He was promoted to Lance Corporal in 2000 and saw action with Operation Agricole in Kosovo. He went on tours to over 20 countries including Poland, Canada, Afghanistan and Korea .
In 1999, Ian completed a piper's course and joined the Pipe Band. He proved a natural musician and through his involvement with the band became best friends with Piper Christopher Muzvuru, a Zimbabwean and the first black piper in the Irish Guards.
During his initial attempts to join the Army, tests revealed that Ian had an IQ of 130. He was encouraged to apply for officer training or the RAF but Ian persisted in his dream of becoming a foot soldier.
Prior to being sent to Iraq for the last time, Ian had commenced his lance-sergeant's course and for such a well-rounded character and self-assured young man, advancement through the ranks must surely have followed.
Lance Corporal Malone was an avid reader of history and a keen writer of short stories. He had recently persuaded the Army to allow him to complete an Open University degree in English and history.
It is, therefore, ironic that Lance Corporal should have been killed in the grounds of Basra's College of Literature as his Regiment advanced into Iraq's second city.
His great friend, Christopher Muzvuru, died in the same ambush. At dawn of the same morning they had been heard playing traditional Irish tunes on their chanters, small pipes carried for practice purposes.
Lance Corporal Malone's funeral in Ballyfermot on 23 April, 2003, was attended by hundreds of people including politicians and civil dignitaries. It was the first time British soldiers had been seen in uniform on the streets of Dublin since the civil war in 1922.
For many the life and death of Lance Corporal Malone has come to symbolise the healing of the rift between Britain and Ireland.
After his death, the Malone family said: "He loved the Army and lived for the excitement and challenges that being a soldier brought. He was proud to be an Irishman and proud to serve in the Irish Guards. His family takes some comfort from knowing that he died doing the job he loved."
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