Hundreds turn out for funeral of Warwick soldier

[dutchman]

Hundreds of people have turned out for the funeral of a Warwick soldier killed in Afghanistan last month.


22-year old Private Conrad Lewis – who was part of the 4th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment – was shot as he carried out a foot patrol in the Nad ‘Ali district of Helmand Province on 9th February.

Another paratrooper - Private Lewis Hendry – was also hit and despite a helicopter being scrambled, both men died of their injuries.

Their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel John Boyd, said: “If there’s anything that’s Conrad’s death has left us, it’s with a legacy of a fantastic young man who lit up a room, who was larger-than-life and who was never afraid of a challenge.”

“It’s amazing to see the number of people who’ve come here today to share this moment with his family, and I think that’s testiment to his character.”


Some of the crowds gathered outside St Mary’s Church in Warwick

Section Commander Dean Walton added: “For someone who hadn’t been in the Army that long, people who saw him thought he’d been there for years.”

“For someone like Con, he was a natural, but he never let that go to his head – he’d always make sure he could help everyone else as much as possible.”

“These boys are out there because they want to be there – and up until the day Conrad and Lewis (Hendry) died, they were enjoying every day. It’s not often people can say they enjoy every day’s worth of work, and they really did.”


War veterans also gathered to pay their respects

During the funeral service at St Mary’s Church in Warwick, Conrad’s father Paul read a eulogy, which ended:

“Conrad was not afraid to live, and he was not afraid to die – but those two states of minds go together. This of course was never the plan, the odds were stacked.”

“The consequences are unbearable for those of us that miss him so much.”

Private Lewis also leaves his girlfriend of three years, George.