Captain Mark Hale was born on 9 April 1967 in Bournemouth. He joined the Army in 1983, aged 16, as a Junior Leader and embarked on an exceptional career with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment that took him on operations to Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and then, with 2nd Battalion The Rifles (2 RIFLES), to Afghanistan.
Captain Mark Hale was killed in Helmand province on 13 August 2009. His unit had been providing security for a meeting of Afghan leaders and searching a mosque for ammunition, when a soldier triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
A second explosion followed and Captain Hale was wounded as he tried to help the casualties. He later died of his injuries at the British base of Camp Bastion.
Captain Hale was a Trauma Risk and Management Officer, his job to spot signs of stress in his fellow soldiers after a major incident, or death.
He was a devoted husband, adored by his wife Brenda, and a loving and exceptional father to his two daughters.