🌺 Just weeks before he was due to serve in Afghanistan, 23-year-old Sapper Mark Quinsey was murdered outside his own barracks in Northern Ireland. He and a fellow Royal Engineer had stepped outside to collect a pizza delivery when gunmen opened fire. Born in Birmingham in 1985, Mark joined the British Army at 19 and trained as a combat engineer and military electrician with the Royal Engineers. He served with 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment, and in 2008 successfully completed his demanding Class 1 electrician qualification, becoming one of relatively few soldiers in his regiment to achieve it. Known for his dry sense of humour and thick Birmingham accent, Mark enjoyed fishing, keeping fit and spending time with his friends and family. By March 2009, he was preparing for a six-month deployment to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, where his engineering skills would help support British troops. On the evening of 7 March 2009, Mark and four fellow soldiers were outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim, collecting pizzas they had ordered. At approximately 9.37 pm, a car approached the barracks entrance. Two gunmen emerged and opened fire on the unarmed soldiers and civilian delivery workers. The attackers fired more than 60 rounds, advancing towards their victims and firing again as Mark and 21-year-old Sapper Patrick Azimkar lay wounded on the ground. The attack lasted less than 40 seconds. Despite desperate efforts by their comrades to save them, both soldiers died at the scene. Two other soldiers and two civilian delivery workers were wounded. The murders were claimed by the Real IRA and marked the first killings of British soldiers in Northern Ireland since 1997. Mark never made it to Afghanistan. On 18 March 2009, hundreds gathered for his funeral at Immanuel Church in Birmingham. As his Union Jack-draped coffin arrived, members of the public lining the road broke into applause. During the service, his sister Jaime read a letter to her brother, sharing five heartbreaking words from their father: “Dad says he has lost his best friend.” Mark was laid to rest at Kings Norton Cemetery, Birmingham. Remembering: Sapper Mark Quinsey 25201497 25 Field Squadron, 38 Engineer Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers Died 7 March 2009, aged 23 Lest We Forget. #RoyalEngineers #MarkQuinsey #MilitaryHistory #NorthernIreland #LestWeForget - @historyofthosebefore