War Coverage -
Lance Corporal Ian Keith Malone 1974-2003
By Louise Carroll
Lance Corporal Ian Malone, serving with the British Army’s Irish Guards, was killed in action in Iraq on April 6. Malone, who hailed from Ballyfermot, Dublin, was part of an advance group deep inside the southern Iraqi city of Basra. He died of a shot to the head from a sniper. His regiment described him as “a fine soldier and a brave one.”
Malone was a member of the First Battalion of the Irish Guards, founded under Queen Victoria in 1900 in recognition of Irish bravery, particularly in the Boer War. Although recruitment from Ireland has fallen, about 350 soldiers or 40 percent of the Lance Corporal’s regiment are from the Republic.
Malone joined the British Army in 1997. After being promoted to lance corporal in 2000 he served in Kosovo. Most recently stationed at Münster near Dusseldorf, he also served in Poland, Canada and Oman.
He is survived by his mother, May, his father, Joseph, three sisters, Michelle, Carol and Deborah, a younger brother, Edward, and by his German girlfriend, Sarah Wolter. His family said in a statement: “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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