Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK
British Army
Corporal, Combined Force Lashkar Gah (The Queen’s Royal Hussars Battle Group)
4/8/2012, Birmingham, England
It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that Corporal Jack Leslie Stanley, of the Queen’s Royal Hussars (The Queen’s Own and Royal Irish), died in hospital in Birmingham on 8 April 2012 from wounds sustained in Afghanistan.
Corporal Jack Leslie Stanley was a Section Commander who deployed to Afghanistan with C (Coriano) Company, Combined Force Lashkar Gah (The Queen’s Royal Hussars Battle Group) in October 2011. He operated out of Patrol Base Attal situated on Route 601, the main transit route between Lashkar Gah and Gereshk, east of Lashkar Gah city.
On 3 February 2012, his multiple was in the area of Pupalzay Kalay, east of Lashkar Gah city on a patrol tasked to improve the understanding of the area and the local population. Whilst moving from a compound and crossing into a field Corporal Stanley was caught in the blast from an improvised explosive device and was seriously injured. He was immediately evacuated by helicopter to the Camp Bastion Role 3 Medical Facility where he received further treatment before being transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Tragically, on 8 April 2012, after bravely battling his injuries for two months, Corporal Stanley succumbed to his wounds.
Corporal Stanley was born on 25 February 1986. He joined the Army in January 2003 and on completion of basic training joined The Queen’s Royal Hussars in December 2003. He deployed to Iraq on Operation TELIC 8 in 2006; even then he was already making a name for himself as a gifted young soldier. On his return from Iraq he was put into Reconnaissance Troop, where he excelled. Such was his talent for soldiering, he remained in Reconnaissance Troop, including a return to Iraq on Operation TELIC 13 as a member of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force.
Corporal Stanley’s talents were not confined to soldiering. He was also an outstanding footballer and a key member of the Regimental team which won the British Army (Germany) Cup in 2010 and the Cavalry Cup in 2011. Corporal Stanley was an enormously popular soldier and a lynchpin of his Company’s tight-knit community with his ready laugh and positive attitude. To those he worked for he was a steadfast and talented commander; to his peers a stalwart comrade in arms; to his subordinates a trusted leader and role model and to his many friends a joy to be around. He was, in short, an exemplary soldier and by those who had the honor to call him a friend and serve with him, he shall be sorely missed and never forgotten.
He leaves behind his mother, Brenda, his father, Tom, his sister Rachael, and his girlfriend Sarah. The thoughts and prayers of all those in The Queen’s Royal Hussars and Combined Force Lashkar Gah are very much with them at this most difficult time.
Corporal Stanley’s mother, Brenda paid the following tribute:
“Jack was a kind, generous lad with a ready smile. His dedication to his regiment was equaled only by his passion for Bolton Wanderers Football Club. He fought so hard to stay with us and the devastation we feel cannot be described. The world is duller without him and heaven brighter.”
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