Afghanistan war hero Lt Daniel Clack from Woodford Green was ‘unlawfully killed’

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
2:01 PM

A young Woodford Green soldier, known as “The Boss” to his colleagues, died doing the job he was born to do, an inquest heard.

Lt Daniel Clack, 24, was killed by a Taliban blast while serving in Afghanistan last year for 1st Battalion The Rifles regiment.

The officer was leading a patrol yards from his unit’s Helmand Province base when an improvised explosive device went off, Walthamstow Coroner’s Court heard on Friday.

Speaking after the inquest, his mother Sue Clack, 58, said: “There wasn’t anything else that Dan had ever wanted to do.”

In a statement read out by coroner Chinyere Inyama, she said: “[Dan] was born for the army.

“He was a man who felt confident in command and who could inspire others to follow him through the force of his personality and the strength of his convictions.”

On August 12, his platoon was telling Afghan farmers about a veterinary clinic two British vets were running the following day.

Some of the soldiers Lt Clack led on that day described the blast, which led to a number of casualties, and the medical care they gave him.

Rifleman Subeg Singh said his “most concern was for the boss”.

Platoon medic L/Cpl Hayley Ridgeway treated his injuries and helped give CPR to revive him.

She said she noticed Lt Clack responding to her.

He was airlifted to Camp Bastion where he was declared dead.

A post-mortem at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford found he died of multiple projectile injuries from the explosion and Mr Inyama found Lt Clack had been unlawfully killed.

Lt Clack’s father Martin, brother James and fiancé Amy Tinley attended the inquest.

Describing her son as a natural leader, Mrs Clack said: “He was always up front and prepared to put himself forward for things.”