Left to right: Acting Corporal Steven Boote, Warrant Officer Darren Chant and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith
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Tributes to soldiers killed in Afghan police shooting
By Jack SommersNovember 05, 2009
TRIBUTES have been paid to three soldiers from Aldershot and Camberley who were shot dead by a rogue Afghan policeman.
Warrant Officer Darren Chant, Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith were among five British soldiers killed by the gunman on November 3.
The other victims were Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major. Six other British soldiers were wounded in the attack.
WO Chant, a father of three whose wife is pregnant with a son, was from Camberley.
He was the Regimental Sergeant Major of 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards, which was based in Aldershot in 2007.
He trained at the Guards Depot in Pirbright and served in Bosnia.
His wife Nausheen Chant said: “Our unborn son will never meet his father but he will know him through his legacy.
“For whether in uniform or out, his incomparable courage and selflessness humbled all those who knew and loved him.”
Cpl Boote and Cpl Webster-Smith served in the Royal Military Police and were based in Aldershot.
Cpl Webster-Smith was 24 and served in Kosovo and had already conducted one tour in Afghanistan.
His family said in a statement: “An irreplaceable son, brother, boyfriend and friend.
“One of the most loving, generous, kind-hearted men you could meet.
“He always put others first and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Nic will forevermore be in our hearts.”
Cpl Boote, known as Booty to his friends and family, was 22.
His girlfriend Emma Murray paid tribute to him saying: “Your cheeky smile would fill everyone with happiness. Steven, I love so much.
“You are my rock, my refuge and I will love and miss you more than words can say.”
The five soldiers were at a police checkpoint in the Nad e-Ali district of Helmand province when the attack happened.
The gunman reportedly fled on a motorbike and has not been caught.
Speaking at a press conference in Helmand’s provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, Major General Nick Carter, the British commander of Nato troops in southern Afghanistan, said “every effort” was being made to track him down.
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