Verse One: Bosnia

Advertisement

Read by Sue Dowdell in honour of her son, Martin

Sue Dowdell lives in a well-kept terraced house within walking distance of Wootton Bassett high street.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.

In her small and tidy living room there is a comfortable sofa and a slightly-too-big television, which Sue explains is for her sport-loving husband who served in Northern Ireland.

Under the stairs are colourful plastic toys ready for a visit from Sue's Grandchildren, and on the wall there is a carefully-framed picture of her son, Martin.

He is a young man with calm eyes which seem to constantly survey the room. He is gone, but not forgotten.

On 12 September 1994, Martin was serving with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment in Bosnia.

His job that day was to drive troops along the steep and narrow mountain paths near Gorazde in his Saxon armoured vehicle.

Martin Dowdell was killed in Bosnia on 12 September 1994

The Saxon tumbled 500 metres from the path and Martin Dowdell was killed, along with his colleagues Phillip Armstrong and Christopher Turner.

Three days earlier another Saxon driver from Martin's regiment, Ben Hinton, had also been killed when the path he was driving along collapsed.

The road had been two centimetres wider than the vehicle itself.

Sue has become close friends with Ben Hinton's parents, and says that during difficult times they have supported each other.

She is convinced that the Saxons were unsuitable for the rough mountain tracks, and feels angry that troops are sent to fight without the right kit.