Briton killed at 18 wanted to follow father's path
By Matt Born
(Filed: 08/04/2003)
The parents of an 18-year-old Fusilier killed during fighting in Basra said yesterday that it had been their son's childhood ambition to serve in the same regiment as his father.
Kelan Turrington, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed by a booby trap as British forces entered the city on Sunday night. He is the youngest British soldier to die in combat since the first Gulf War, 12 years ago.
The second of the three soldiers who died in Sunday's battle was named last night as Lance Corporal Ian Malone of the 1st Battalion the Irish Guards.
The family of the 28-year-old Dubliner said they were devastated but took comfort from knowing he died doing the job he loved.
"Ian was a wonderful son, full of life and vitality, fun and wit," they said in a statement.
"He loved the Army and lived for the excitement and challenges that being a soldier brought."
Fusilier Turrington's father, John, 54, a soldier for 23 years, had also served in the fusiliers and, more recently, at the Army Training Barracks in Bassingbourn, Cambs.
Speaking at the family home in nearby Haslingfield, he said his son used to wait in the driveway for him to come home from the base.
"All through his school life he just wanted to be a soldier," he said. Mr Turrington said he had written to his son recently and told him that "we were very proud of him". "Not because he was a soldier but because he was a good bloke. I lost my best mate," he said.
His mother, Ann, 46, said her son had "wanted to be a soldier from the age of four".
She said: "We didn't try to change his mind, but we didn't encourage him either. He used to dress up in his dad's beret and hackle, which were too big for him."
The couple last spoke to their son three weeks ago, the day before Anglo-American forces launched the invasion of Iraq.
"We sent him parcels and I wrote to him all the time to say I loved him," Mrs Turrington said. "I just hope he received them so he knew how much we loved him."
"He wanted to go to war. He said: 'I joined up to serve' and that we weren't to worry because the British are the best."
Stephen Munday, the headmaster of Comberton College, where Fusilier Turrington was a pupil and his brother Liam, 15, was a pupil, still studies, said the school was in "shock".
By Matt Born
(Filed: 08/04/2003)
The parents of an 18-year-old Fusilier killed during fighting in Basra said yesterday that it had been their son's childhood ambition to serve in the same regiment as his father.
Kelan Turrington, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed by a booby trap as British forces entered the city on Sunday night. He is the youngest British soldier to die in combat since the first Gulf War, 12 years ago.
The second of the three soldiers who died in Sunday's battle was named last night as Lance Corporal Ian Malone of the 1st Battalion the Irish Guards.
The family of the 28-year-old Dubliner said they were devastated but took comfort from knowing he died doing the job he loved.
"Ian was a wonderful son, full of life and vitality, fun and wit," they said in a statement.
"He loved the Army and lived for the excitement and challenges that being a soldier brought."
Fusilier Turrington's father, John, 54, a soldier for 23 years, had also served in the fusiliers and, more recently, at the Army Training Barracks in Bassingbourn, Cambs.
Speaking at the family home in nearby Haslingfield, he said his son used to wait in the driveway for him to come home from the base.
"All through his school life he just wanted to be a soldier," he said. Mr Turrington said he had written to his son recently and told him that "we were very proud of him". "Not because he was a soldier but because he was a good bloke. I lost my best mate," he said.
His mother, Ann, 46, said her son had "wanted to be a soldier from the age of four".
She said: "We didn't try to change his mind, but we didn't encourage him either. He used to dress up in his dad's beret and hackle, which were too big for him."
The couple last spoke to their son three weeks ago, the day before Anglo-American forces launched the invasion of Iraq.
"We sent him parcels and I wrote to him all the time to say I loved him," Mrs Turrington said. "I just hope he received them so he knew how much we loved him."
"He wanted to go to war. He said: 'I joined up to serve' and that we weren't to worry because the British are the best."
Stephen Munday, the headmaster of Comberton College, where Fusilier Turrington was a pupil and his brother Liam, 15, was a pupil, still studies, said the school was in "shock".
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