Statement on behalf of the family and girlfriend of Lance Corporal Andrew Jones

Today we are in deep mourning at the loss of our son, brother and boyfriend, Lance Corporal Andrew Jones.

Andrew was a dependable yet cheeky character who we will miss with all our hearts.

Andrew enjoyed his role in the Army and was an excellent soldier. We are sure his mates will also miss him, his professionalism, but most of all his sense of humour.

His dedication to his role as a cook was second to none. He would always call on all his resources to provide the very best meals for his mates, including using his favourite family recipes.

His mates within his unit loved him, not only for his great cooking, but for the great soldier and man he was. We believe Andrew was very, very happy, serving with his friends doing the job he loved.

We would like to especially thank those that helped Andrew in his last hours. We know you did your best to save him and continue to face the big job ahead of you while also dealing with his death.

We request our privacy to deal with our loss and hope the media and public will respect this wish. We will not be making further comment on Andrew’s death and believe the community would understand our need for space to grieve.

Background: Lance Corporal Andrew Jones was killed on 30 May while serving on Operations in Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Jones was from the 9^th Force Support Battalion and was serving with the Force Support Unit (4).