Samuel Giles William Alexander (16 June 1982 − 27 May 2011Oliver Richard Augustin and Marine Samuel Giles William Alexander MC killed in Afghanistan
'' GOV.UK:

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

'', 29 May 2011]) was a Royal Marines, Royal Marine whose death by an

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 ...

(IED) while on a patrol in 2011 during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

received 3/4 front page as part of cover story questioning the Government's foreign policy by his journalist father in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', which had taken a strong stance against parts of the United Kingdom's involvement in the War on Terror. Alexander's

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

awarded on previous

tour of duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

contributed to extensive national media coverage after the

announcement of his and his patrol leader's deaths during

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assi ...

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 ...

in 2011. Their deaths were also later included in speech by

Richard Drax Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (born 29 January 1958) is a British Conservative Party politician, landowner, journalist, and former Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset between 2010 and 2024. Early life and education Richa ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and extensively referenced by national media as mitigating circumstances in connection with the 2013 conviction of Sgt. Alexander Blackman for murder of an injured Afghan combatant (a.k.a.

2011 Helmand Province incident The 2011 Helmand Province killing was the manslaughter of a wounded Taliban insurgent by Alexander Blackman, which occurred on 15 September 2011. Three Royal Marines, known during their trial as Marines A, B, and C, were anonymously tried by c ...

) and his subsequent reduced sentence in 2017 of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.Top brass were warned about ‘out of control’ Marine unit
Sean O’Neill, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 16 March 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Sam 1982 births 2011 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Recipients of the Military Cross British military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Royal Marines ranks

See also

References