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RAF Police Man Is A 21st Century Veteran
RAF Police Man Is A 21st Century Veteran - Monday 2 November 2009
Just a few months after he was injured in Afghanistan, Royal Air Force Police Corporal Gareth Hughes will be marching alongside other veterans in Sunday’s Remembrance ceremony at the Cenotaph in London.
Gareth said “It was a great honour to be asked by the RAF Police Association to be part of this parade with them, especially after my recent operational experience in Afghanistan.”
Corporal Hughes had been tasked with mentoring the Afghan National Police, and was attached to F Company 2nd Battalion Royal Ghurkha Rifles when he was injured. “The incident occurred whilst I was on foot patrol in Helmand province, on Operation Panthers Claw. I sustained a gun shot wound to my right flank, entering through my side and exiting through my abdomen/chest. Thankfully the round missed everything it could, but I had to undergo an emergency exploratory operation just to make sure it hadn’t hit any of my vital organs or caused any internal bleeding”. Currently undergoing rehabilitation, he added:
”I am on the way to making a full recovery, and am in good working order apart from a few scars”.
Gareth, 26, from Chaddesden in Derby, joined the RAF on the 19th of April 2006, and completed his police training in the December. He is currently based at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire, on general police duties. His first overseas tour was to the Falklands Islands in 2008, before being deployed to Afghanistan in March this year. He was brought back to the UK by an RAF Aeromedical Evacuation Team in July.
On Sunday, Corporal Hughes will be pushing the wheel chair of Dennis Cothay, who served as an RAF Policeman in the 1950’s. Once back to full health, his next posting will be to the Tactical Police Wing at RAF Henlow in December.
Editor: Lesley Woods