Crumbling Spires: Private Luke Simpson

10 February, 2007

Private Luke Simpson

The British soldier killed in Iraq on Friday has been named as Private Luke Daniel Simpson of 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment. From the MoD:

Private Luke Simpson, known as 'Boob' to his friends, was born on 22 January 1986. He lived in Howden, near York, and joined the Army at the age of 16. He had two sisters and Pte Simpson's father served with the Battalion as a Sergeant Major.

On 3 September 2002, Private Luke Simpson enlisted into the Army, beginning his career at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick the following January. On completion of his Combat Infantryman's Course he joined 1st Battalion The Prince of Wales' Own Regiment of Yorkshire in July 2003 and served in both Northern Ireland and Bosnia.

Having passed a challenging selection cadre, he spent a considerable amount of time in the Reconnaissance Platoon, where he was very highly regarded. On 6 June 2006, The Prince of Wales's Own became 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment and, following a period of training, the unit deployed to Iraq on 5 November 2006.
Pte Simpson was identified as a rising star early in his career by his commanders and colleagues. He was an extremely professional soldier with superb standards who loved the Army as much as he loved life. His enthusiasm was infectious too. He could always be relied upon to lift the morale in his platoon during difficult times and such was his popularity that he had an ability to be cheeky to his superiors without getting into trouble.

Pte Luke Simpson was a Star Wars fanatic and a committed rock music enthusiast. He also loved most TV comedies and watched them whenever he had a spare moment. This fuelled his well developed sense of humour. Private Cameron Pierre, 1 Platoon, A Company, said of him:

"He was always sticking up two fingers behind the boss's back and waving them around wildly. The boss would catch him now and again but Boob could get away with that. The boss loved him."