Captain Lisa Jade Head (30 November 1981 – 19 April 2011)
, ''

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

'', published 21 April 2011, retrieved 21 April 2011 was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer. She was the first female

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

officer to be killed on operations. She died on 19 April 2011 at the age of 29, having sustained serious injuries on active service in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. At the time of her death, Head was the first female officer and the second British servicewoman to die in Afghanistan since 2001, after Sarah Bryant, and the 364th member of the British armed forces in total.Tributes paid to bomb disposal expert Capt Lisa Head
''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'', published 21 April 2011, retrieved 21 April 2011.

Life

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, Head attended

Greenhead College Greenhead College is a sixth form college, and former grammar school, located in Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The current principal is Mo Bunter. With over 2,700 students, it is a large sixth form college, attracting ...

and studied human biology at the

University of Huddersfield The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...

before attending the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. She served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an air transport liaison officer with the Royal Logistic Corps before being transferred to 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Squadron, 11 Explosive Ordnance Department, Royal Logistic Corps, with whom she served in Northern Ireland. She was deployed to Afghanistan on 27 March 2011. She was a bomb disposal specialist and had achieved the "High Threat IED Operators" status indicating great expertise.

Death

She was mortally injured in Nahr-e-Saraj in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

on 18 April 2011, 22 days after arriving in Afghanistan for the second time, while attempting to disable a cluster of

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

s, which defence sources said had been placed to catch out a bomb disposal expert. She disabled one device, but was hit when a second device in the chain went off. She was evacuated by helicopter to

Camp Bastion Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Army airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres. The camp was buil ...

, northwest of

Lashkar Gah Lashkargāh (; ), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into the Helmand River. The city has a po ...

, from where she was flown back to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham. She died there the following day.

Bomb expert's colleagues praised
Published 27 March 2012, retrieved 27 March 2012.

Funeral

Head's funeral was held on 6 May 2011 at

Huddersfield Parish Church St Peter's Church, also known as Huddersfield Parish Church, is a Church of England parish church in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. There has been a church on the site since the 11th century, but the current building dates from 1836. It is ...

. A

guard of honour A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

from her regiment lined the steps of the church at the funeral procession and carried her coffin into the church. More than 1,000 people attended the funeral, including family, friends, military personnel and residents of Huddersfield.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Lisa 2011 deaths Royal Logistic Corps officers Women in the British Army British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Women in 21st-century warfare Alumni of the University of Huddersfield British military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 1981 births Bomb disposal personnel Deaths by improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Military personnel from Huddersfield

Life

Death

Funeral

See also

References