The Right Rev Lord Eames OM, formerly Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, gave the address yesterday in St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds at a service for 16 Air Assault Brigade.
The service was for soldiers from the Army’s largest brigade to give thanks for their return from Afghanistan and to remember the fallen.
Lord Eames had visited the Brigade when it was deployed in Afghanistan. The Royal Irish Regiment is a major component of the Brigade.
Relatives of the 22 soldiers killed during the deployment were among those at the service, as well as Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey.
The troops were deployed to Afghanistan between October 2010 and April 2011.
With some 8,000 soldiers, the 16 Air Assault Brigade is the Army’s largest brigade.
It brings together airborne infantry, artillery, engineers, signallers, medics and logisticians.
Afghan soldiers and policemen who were killed were also remembered at the service. .Lt Col Frazer Ross, of 23 Engineer Regiment, said services of this kind were “extremely important” for troops and their families, as well as relatives of those who had been killed.
“It gives us a chance to reflect on the tour, gives us a chance to reflect on our successes, gives us a chance to draw a line under the tour but, most importantly, it allows us to give thanks for those who we have brought home and allows us to remember those we didn’t bring home,” he said.