A day in the life of the British armed forces

Red Caps deaths inquiry

Red Caps deaths inquiry

Families of six Royal Military Police killed by a mob in Iraq in June last year react angrily to an Army Board of Inquiry which identifies a catalogue of failures before the attack. Although the board finds there was "no conclusive evidence" their deaths could have been prevented, it expresses "serious concern" over the way the Red Caps had been operating.

Gulf War syndrome report

An independent inquiry calls on the Ministry of Defence to admit the existence of Gulf War syndrome and sets aside millions of pounds to compensate sick veterans, who hail the report as vindication. More than 6,000 men and women who served in the 1991 war claim their illnesses are due to a combination of vaccines, sprays, nerve gas and depleted uranium.

Suicide attack in Iraq

Six troopers of the Queen's Dragoon Guards escape unscathed after a suicide bomber targets them west of the British military base at Camp Dogwood. Six hours earlier, a Black Watch soldier is seriously injured when his Warrior armoured fighting vehicle strikes a roadside bomb. Since the start of the war in March 2003, 74 soldiers have died in Iraq.

A soldier's funeral

Hundreds of mourners attend the funeral in Fife of Private Paul Lowe, one of three members of the Black Watch killed in a suicide bomb attack in Iraq two weeks ago. The congregation at Kelty Parish Church includes the 19-year-old's mother, Helen, and his four younger brothers. Six comrades carry his coffin into church as a lone piper plays 'My Home'.