Obituary for Private KJR Pratt
It is with great sadness that this edition of Castle must mark the death of a serving member of The Regiment, Pte Kenny Pratt, who died at home in Clacton-on-Sea on the 25th September 2010. He is survived by his mother, Amanda, his father, Terry and his two sisters, Cara and Amanda.
Pte Pratt recently joined the 1st Battalion having completed his training at the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick). He joined Minden Platoon, B (Suffolk) Company – the High Readiness Platoon – manned with soldiers available to deploy to Afghanistan at short notice should they be needed.
He swiftly established a good reputation for himself. Quietly enthusiastic and always keen to volunteer, he settled easily into Battalion life and his placid nature ensured he got on very well with soldiers of all ranks and experience. From the outset he was clearly a motivated and enthusiastic young soldier.
Pte Pratt did not deploy on Operation HERRICK, although he was very keen to go. As B Company re-configured, he joined 5 Platoon in the summer of 2010. He made an excellent first impression and wasted little time in showing himself to be a tough, reliable and trustworthy soldier; as a result he was duly chosen to be one of the machine gunners in 3 Section.
He was highly regarded by both his peers and by the Chain of Command. He was a genuine person, a professional soldier and ‘a good bloke’. On the week before his premature passing, he was training for the Cambrian Patrol in which he was to represent the Battalion; and he was due to deploy to Afghanistan in 2012.
The Commanding Officer, Lt Col James Woodham MC, said of Pte Pratt, ‘Although a junior soldier who had recently joined us, he had already made an impact and had proved himself to be a valuable member of the Battalion’.
Pte Kenny Pratt always exhibited the best attributes of a bright soldier and was a young man who had the courage to join the British Army at a time when he knew he would almost certainly be deployed to Afghanistan. His untimely death is a great loss to his family, his friends and The Royal Anglian Regiment.
APW