R.I.P. - Captain Tom Jennings, Squadron Leader Anthony Downing

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Captain Tom Jennings, Royal Marines, who was killed in Afghanistan on 22 December 2011.

Capt Jennings died after the vehicle he was travelling in struck an explosive device whilst on an operation to the south of Kabul.
Squadron Leader Anthony Downing RAF, whose death was announced separately by the Ministry of Defence, had been travelling in the same vehicle.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CaptainTomJenningsKilledInAfghanistan.htm
 

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Squadron Leader Anthony Downing, who died on 23 December 2011 following an incident in Afghanistan.
He had been seriously wounded when the vehicle he was travelling in was caught in an explosion south of Kabul on Thursday 22 December. He was flown back to the UK where sadly, he died of his wounds at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. His family were with him when he died.
Captain Tom Jennings, Royal Marines, whose death was announced separately by the Ministry of Defence, had been travelling in the same vehicle.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/SquadronLeaderAnthonyDowningDiesOfWoundsSustainedInAfghanistan.htm


Captain Tom Jennings, Royal Marines
Capt Jennings died after the vehicle he was travelling in struck an explosive device whilst on an operation to the south of Kabul.
Capt Jennings, aged 29, was a true leader, selfless in his professional approach serving those who were his responsibility. Dedicated and humble, he was an archetypal Royal Marine with a keen sense of humour even when faced with adversity. Whilst working with the Afghan forces that he partnered, he displayed empathy and a broad cultural understanding that ensured he was highly valued by the Afghans as well as his Royal Marine brothers.
He was devoted to his wife and their two young sons whose loss cannot be portrayed in words. The Royal Marines have lost a brother, they have lost their world.
Capt Jennings family have asked that their privacy is respected.


Squadron Leader Anthony Downing RAF
Known as Ant, 34-year-old Squadron Leader Downing was, by trade, an Engineering Officer in the Royal Air Force. He ran the last Nimrod Line Squadron before its disbandment.
His unassuming and modest demeanour belied a hugely professional officer and an extremely determined individual. His work in Afghanistan typified this as he had studied hard at the Defence School of Languages, Beaconsfield, coming top of his language course, and travelled to Tajikistan in his own time to further his studies. However, Ant was no book-worm and found the time to train for, and compete in, a series of Iron Man Triathlons and Ultra Marathons.
This physical and professional drive lent him a rare confidence, the sense of being comfortable in his own skin that made him an utterly charming individual with whom it was so easy to pass the time. This dynamic allowed him to interact effectively with the Afghans and his British colleagues alike.



http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CaptainTomJenningsKilledInAfghanistan.htm


http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/SquadronLeaderAnthonyDowningDiesOfWoundsSustainedInAfghanistan.htm

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