Rifleman Daniel Holkham killed in Afghanistan

Rfn Holkham, aged 19, died in an explosion that was caused by a suicide bomber, who detonated a device near to the Sangin Bazaar.

Funeral Details

The Funeral & Burial: Rifleman Daniel Holkham will receive a military funeral at 1200 hrs on Thursday 23rd  April at All Saints Church High Street, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, ME12 4EJ followed by a burial in All Saints Church Yard.

Background: Rifleman Daniel Holkham (19), of 4 Platoon, B Company, 3rd Battalion The Rifles was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday 27 March 2010. He was killed when he stopped a suicide bomber who then detonated a device near him. Rifleman Holkham leaves behind his parents, Rodney and Tracy, his girlfriend, Nikki, and his two brothers, Andrew and Matthew, who are both serving Riflemen with 3 RIFLES. The Holkham family come from Warden Bay, Isle of Sheppey.
The Funeral & Burial: Rifleman Daniel Holkham will receive a military funeral at 1200 hrs on Friday 23rd  April at All Saints Church High Street, Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, ME12 4EJ followed by a burial in All Saints Church Yard.


Rifleman Daniel Holkham

Rifleman Daniel 'Danny' Holkham was born in Chatham on 2 August 1990. He attended Minster College in Sheerness achieving an NVQ in engineering before enlisting to join the Army at the age of sixteen.

Rifleman Holkham gained a place at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate where he completed his phase one training prior to going to the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick for his Infantry specific education.

On completion in April 2008 he joined 3 RIFLES in Edinburgh and was posted to 4 Platoon, B Company.

He took part in the Battalion exercise in Kenya later that year and then the pre-deployment build up training for operations in Afghanistan throughout 2009.

Rifleman Holkham deployed to Afghanistan in September 2009 and was working with his Platoon from a patrol base in central Sangin to provide security and development to the local people.

He was killed on 27 March 2010 when he stopped a suicide bomber who then detonated a device just outside the Sangin Bazaar.

Rifleman Holkham leaves behind his parents Rodney and Tracy, his girlfriend Nikki, and his two brothers Andrew and Matthew who are both serving with 3 RIFLES.

Rifleman Holkham's family said:

"The loss of our son Danny has left a huge hole in our lives and that of his brothers and friends that can never again be filled. He served his country faithfully and with great pride."

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Kitson, Commanding Officer, 3 RIFLES Battle Group said:

"Daniel Holkham was a model Rifleman; robust, bright and dedicated, he was everything a commander could hope for and more. Joining us a year before our build up training for this deployment, he had ample opportunity to show that he had both quality and potential in abundance.

"There is no doubt that a bright future lay ahead of this young man and it is a tragedy that he has been robbed of the opportunity to fulfil it.

"Rifleman Holkham was well established as the lead man in his patrol, responsible for searching the ground for buried explosive devices to allow his patrol to pass safely.

"The selflessness and professionalism required to carry out this task, day after day, in the most challenging of environments, is one of the most humbling things to witness.

"Rifleman Holkham carried out this task diligently, willingly and with plenty of professional pride, such was his dedication to his fellow Riflemen. He died at the head of his patrol, another unquestioningly courageous Rifleman intercepting a crazed suicide bomber before he could cause havoc in the Sangin bazaar.

"The loss of a Rifleman so full of promise is a devastating blow to the Battle Group but we will draw inspiration from his example and continue undeterred in carrying out the valuable work for which he laid down his life.

"The thoughts and prayers of this whole Battle Group are very much with his family at this most difficult time. We know that they remember him, as we do, with happiness and pride. We all and draw comfort and inspiration from his honoured memory."

Major James Richardson, Officer Commanding, B Company 3 RIFLES said:

"Rifleman 'Snake Eyes' Holkham had arrived in the Company only a short time before me. It was obvious that he was very new, still slightly 'caught in the headlights', by the transition from Catterick to 'real life' in the Battalion.

"Over the months and the journeys to the Falklands, Kenya, through pre-deployment training and into Afghanistan, the experiences he had alongside the people who were now his friends gave him the kind of confidence that I, as a commander, need my Riflemen to have.

"It is a confidence, on the edge of ****iness that says I now know my craft, am pretty good at it, and am surrounded by people I trust and who trust me.

"It wasn't necessarily an easy journey for him. Not a natural athlete, he was often to be seen puffing and groaning his way up 'Brown Track' bent strangely double under his bergan thinking that such an awkward position was preferable to standing up straight and sucking in the Scottish air.

"But there came a moment, I cannot recall it exactly, when he was walking past and his Platoon Serjeant, Serjeant Bowe, said 'hey, Snake Eyes.(and gave him some typically robust instruction).' I knew then that he had turned the corner, he had made it.

"No longer was he the junior Rifleman, lacking in confidence. He must have made it, he had a nickname, and not a derisory one either. We heard more and more of his wit, adding his two pennies' worth to the banter more and more Kent biting through the less spiky tones of those from the North East and Yorkshire.

"His progress thereafter was always upward and by the time we deployed to Helmand, he was one of the 'go to' Riflemen in 4 Platoon, a 'Vallon man' no less, trusted with leading his mates through the maze of alleyways searching out the IEDs that were a persistent and consistent threat, a role requiring extraordinary physical and mental endurance and courage, and which he had fulfilled for nigh on six months unbroken.

"He will be missed terribly by those in his Platoon. I will miss him, because he grew up in the two years of my tenure and I have clear images and fond memories of the changes in him as time went on. But our sadness pales into insignificance alongside that of his two brothers serving with the Battalion in Afghanistan and his parents. Our thoughts are with them now."

Lieutenant Dan Brown, 4 Platoon Commander, B Company 3 RIFLES said:

"Rifleman Dan Holkham joined the platoon just as I assumed command and in the 2 years I have had the privilege of working with him I have seen a young, unostentatious, individual grow into a confident, courageous soldier who epitomised what it means to be a Rifleman.

"Initially reserved, he soon found his feet within the Platoon and as his confidence grew, so did his ****iness; he always had an answer for everything, even when one was not required!

"But it was his ****iness that would stand him out as one of the most trusted and courageous men within the Platoon. As a Barma man he was always at the forefront of every patrol, clearing the way for his fellow men to move through.

"During our six months out here he found numerous IEDs that undoubtedly saved the lives of many others; his latest find only hours before his tragic death.

"Such was his eye for IEDs that he became the most trusted Barma man within the platoon. Whenever he would say "IED find" everyone knew it was definitely an IED.

"His jovial character coupled with his cheeky streak marked him out as one of the characters of the Platoon with a bright future ahead. Utterly professional and extremely capable Rifleman Holkham was the kind of person that every soldier would want by their side.

"His selfless commitment, courage and cheeky grin will be a lasting memory. We have lost an outstanding soldier but our loss is nothing compared to that of his family and girlfriend, my thoughts and prayers are with them at this most difficult of times."