ARMY WIDOW GIVES MoD BOTH BARRELS
THE widow of an Army reservist who died during a training exercise has blasted the Ministry of Defence.
Corporal James Dunsby suffered multiple organ failure two weeks after he collapsed on a 16-mile SAS selection march in the Brecon Beacons.
After a coroner found serious military failings, Corporal Dunsby’s widow Bryher accused Army chiefs of “losing sight of their own values”.
“They have shown no responsibility, no culpability and no humility for their role in creating the culture that led to the events of July 13, 2013,” she said, wearing her late husband’s wedding ring on her necklace.
“Even an ounce of this would have gone such a long way in acknowledging the vast catalogue of errors which were so clearly made.
“No part of the armed forces can be beyond scrutiny or above the law, but unless and until those at the top acknowledge and accept responsibility for the failings of their organisation, cultures will not change and the mistakes of the past will be repeated.” Corporal Dunsby, from Trowbridge, Wilts, Lance Corporal Edward Maher, from Winchester, Hants, and Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, originally from Penrhyn Bay, Conwy, all died following the march.
The men had to carry 49lbs of kit on the hottest day of 2013 in temperatures of 27C.
Recording narrative verdicts at an inquest in Solihull, West Mids, senior Birmingham coroner Louise Hunt said all three soldiers would have survived if Ministry of Defence rules on heat illness had been followed.
She said the exercise was planned and carried out “inadequately” and that a lack of water contributed to their deaths.
Ms Hunt slammed the “chaotic” response to the men’s collapse and accused Special Forces’ commanders of a catalogue of serious mistakes.
She said: “The risk assessment undertaken for this exercise was inadequate.
There was a failure to implement an adequate medical plan to allow for treatment of any heat illness casualties.”
The family of L/Cpl Maher said they still support the SAS, but demanded that training methods be “fit for purpose”.
They said in a statement: “Our son was not on active service in July 2013, he was undergoing selection training on a Welsh hillside, and it is unacceptable that he paid for that training with his life.”
Brigadier John Donnelly, director of the Army’s Personal Services said: “I would also like to offer my sincere condolences to their families.
“We are truly sorry for all the mistakes that the coroner identified today. “We have already made a number of changes to the exercise in terms of the way it is run.”
APOLOGY: Brig Donnelly