From his sister

We always said that if you cut him open he would have soldier or Army running through him like a stick of rock.

He never felt so fulfilled as when he was in the army, he had a purpose and he was a damn good soldier. The army made him, but in the end it also became his biggest tormentor – he couldn’t escape the horrors of service that he’d been part of. PTSD is very real and robbed him and us of a future together. Having said that, his family and friends remember Andrew the son, father, brother, nephew, uncle, grandson – the one who made us all laugh with endless jokes and stories, forever strumming or drumming or tapping – he was never still. He was a talented musician, artist, writer, and photographer and was an endless source of entertainment one way or another.

We all have a gaping Andrew sized hole in our lives. We love and miss him every day, but he will live on forever in our hearts and minds.

From Wilkie

Andy ‘Jock’ Appleton was an accomplished rugby player who represented both his Battalion and Regimental teams for over a decade. In his early days of playing his fleetness of foot saw him as a lethal finishing winger and he was part of the Vikings team that reach the Army rugby cup quarter finals two years on the trot, a stellar achievement for a line Battalion. In his later rugby career he developed a more muscular approach to the game aided by a sharp rugby acumen was hugely effective. He remained a great supporter of Regimental rugby after retiring from playing and received his Regimental Rugby Cap in 2019 in recognition of his contribution on the field.