 At the time of his death he was attached to the Cheshire Regiment as part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during Operation Grapple 1.The following day Malcolm Rifkind, the defence secretary, announced that a Royal Navy task force would be sent to the Adriatic and that any future attacks on British troops could lead to the immediate deployment of artillery and strike aircraft to counter them.This was the first carrier task force to leave British shores on a military operation since the Falklands War 11 years earlier.