Lance Corporal Jonathan McKinlay

British Lance Corporal Jonathan James McKinlay, of B Company, 1st Battalion The Rifles, was killed in action on 14th September 2001.

L-Cpl McKinlay deployed to Afghanistan as a battle casualty replacement in June 2011, having recently qualified as a Bravo Mortar Fire Controller. He was based in Checkpoint Chaabak in the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district of Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was killed by a burst of small arms fire while on patrol with his team and members of the Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) in a village near to his checkpoint.

Lieutenant Colonel James de Labillière DSO MBE, Commanding Officer, The First Battalion, The Rifles, said this about L-Cpl McKinlay: "To anyone who met him, Lance Corporal Jon McKinlay made an instant impression. On the one hand a hard professional soldier who demanded the very highest standards from himself and his men and yet on the other a man of great compassion, humour and somebody who had time for others. He had irrepressible energy and was industrious to the core."

He leaves behind a loving family - his wife, Lisa, his mother, Valerie, sister, Becca, daughter, Megan, and his stepchildren, Ollie and Piper.