Sergeant Michael Christopher Lockett (11 June 1980 – 21 September 2009) was a British soldier, killed in action in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

aged 29. An

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

which he was investigating exploded injuring Lockett and two other soldiers. Lockett died before he reached hospital. In June 2008 Lockett was presented with the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, for his efforts in an attempt to recover the bodies of Pte. Johan Botha and Sgt. Craig Brelsford, as well as successfully rescuing four other injured soldiers. He is the first soldier to die on operations who has been awarded the Military Cross since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Lockett studied at Longcroft School in

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

, in 1996, he joined the 1st Battalion of the

Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot) (abbreviated as ''WFR'') was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment served as the county regiment for Derbyshire, Nottingham ...

stationed at

Tidworth Camp Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison. History The Camp was established when the War Office acquired a 19th-century mansion – Tedw ...

, Wiltshire and spent the majority of his military career as a

machine gunner A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

. He was a qualified Jungle Warfare and Military Tracking Instructor.

Military Cross

While fighting in

during Operation Herrick VI in September 2007, Lockett, then a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

, and the rest of his unit, were commanded to penetrate enemy lines, and ruin their posts. The soldiers dubbed the mission 'Operation Certain Death', but carried it out nonetheless. However, they were ambushed by

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

troops. The ambush caused the death of Private Johan Botha and Sergeant Craig Brelsford, as well as inflicting injuries on four other soldiers. Michael led the remaining soldiers in an attempt to retrieve the bodies, and rescue the four injured soldiers. For his "leadership, command, control and supreme courage", Lockett was awarded the Military Cross on 7 March 2008, which he later received from

Death

At the time of his death on 21 September 2009, Lockett was working with the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

, at Patrol Base Sandford. He had volunteered to stay at the base because new soldiers were due to arrive, and he wanted to ensure they knew as much about the local area as possible. He was investigating an

, when it detonated, killing him, and injuring two nearby soldiers. As well as being the 217th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since October 2001, he is the first soldier who has been awarded the Military Cross to later die there.

Memorial and tribute

Lockett's body was flown back to Britain on 29 September, where hundreds filled the streets to pay tribute to him. Lockett's school friends Kate Atkinson, Rochelle Booth, Kelly Jackson and Rebecca Knowles started up The Lockett Fund, which has raised hundreds of pounds for the charity

Help for Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

Personal life

Lockett, known as "Locky" to his comrades, was the father of three and was in a relationship with Belinda English.

References

External links

"Each time I met Locky, I admired him more. Brave, proud, funny … fallen"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 22 September 2009.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockett, Michael 2009 deaths British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) British military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Deaths by improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Mercian Regiment soldiers Military personnel from Aldershot Recipients of the Military Cross Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment soldiers 1980 births