Lee Rigby praised as ‘devoted soldier’ who believed in what he was doing

Soldier’s family felt he was safe away from Afghanistan before he had misfortune to encounter his two killers in Woolwich

Lee James Rigby was so determined to join the army that he refused to take no for an answer when he was knocked back. The young man tried three times to sign up before finally being accepted in 2006, after a recruitment officer noticed he showed signs of dyslexia.

As his stepdad, Ian Rigby, put it in a TV interview earlier this year: “He was a devoted soldier. He loved what he was doing. He believed in what he was doing.”

His first posting was in 2006 to Cyprus. The following year he deployed with the machine gun platoon to Jordan, where he learned his operational trade as a machine gunner.

He spent much of his first three years in the army performing ceremonial duties at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London. It wasn’t until 2009 that Rigby went off to battle, when he was sent to Afghanistan as a machine gunner in the Fire Support Group, based in patrol base Woqab in the town of Musa Qala, the most northerly outpost in Helmand province. Seven soldiers from Rigby’s battalion were killed during a six-month period.

They were under “relentless pressure from the insurgents”, said his commanding Lieutenant Colonel Jim Taylor. “Lee proved himself to be dedicated, professional and incredibly brave. He took part in numerous firefights with the enemy and regularly had to patrol across grounds strewn with improvised explosive devices. His courage was tested every day.”

Rigby’s family – mother Lyn, stepfather Ian, sisters Sara, Chelsea, Megan, Courtney and Amy and his wife, Rebecca – were terrified they would lose him in Afghanistan. But he returned home safe. He was the calming influence of a growing family and had a daft sense of humour that made him popular with his fellow troops. After a tour of public duties he moved with the battalion to Celle in Germany, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice anywhere around the world as part of the army’s contingency operations.

It was during this period that his son, Jack, was born. Life in Germany was good, said Taylor at the funeral. “For Lee it was a time for family, with Jack as a newborn; barbecues and further opportunities to perfect the dance moves to Time of My Life from the film Dirty Dancing – apparently he was quite a good Patrick Swayze.”

He then moved to London, to work with the recruiting group. He was a natural, said Taylor: “[His] soldiering ability and charisma, coupled with a cheeky outgoing personality … naturally endeared him to potential recruits.”

Rigby’s family slept easy knowing their son was safe and sound at Woolwich military barracks in the south of the capital, but the 25-year-old was eager to return to Afghanistan. He made an emotional telephone call to his sister Sara not long before he died, telling her he wanted return to Afghanistan and would request a post there. His sister talked him …read more