Family of killed Para bring his pet dog home from Afghanistan

THEY were inseparable on the frontline... the courageous ­soldier and the loyal dog always by his side, even during ­firefights with the Taliban.

So when Para Conrad Lewis was killed by sniper fire during a patrol in February, his pet Pegasus was left alone in Afghanistan without her master and best friend.

Now Private Lewis’s family have brought the dog to Britain to live with them after an extraordinary rescue campaign aided by his comrades.

Named after the Paras’ winged horse emblem but known as Peg, the three-year-old mongrel stray was adopted by Conrad, 22, who fed her from his rations.

But then four months into his first tour of duty, Conrad and Private Lewis Hendry, 20, were killed when their patrol came under fire in Helmand province.

Initially left forlorn at his former base, Peg has now made the 3,500-mile journey to a UK quarantine centre and will eventually join Conrad’s family.

Conrad’s father Tony said his son first saw Peg soon after he was sent to ­Afghanistan last October with the Fire Support Group, attached to A Company, 3 Para. Tony, 49 – a director for ­Nissan – said: “Conrad was based at ­Checkpoint Qudrat in Nad Ali, and Peg was already there when he ­arrived. In one of his first letters, he wrote, ‘I’ve got a dog’ and described how she used to go out on patrol with the unit and sleep with them. Conrad was a big dog lover.”

On patrols Peg would sit down when the Paras took cover, then run alongside him as his platoon advanced.

Tony added: “The photo we have of ­Conrad with a grenade launcher under one arm and Peg in the other is typical of him.”

When Conrad returned home to ­Claverdon, Warwickshire, to spend ­Christmas and New Year with his family, he told them he wanted to bring Peg home at the end of his tour of duty. But after flying back to join his comrades, he was killed on ­February 9.

Tony said: “When we spoke to his friends at his repatriation and his ­funeral, they told us Peg was still at the checkpoint.

“She was the link to Conrad and the job that he did and knowing how much he loved her and had wanted to bring her home, we wanted to complete the task.”

They were helped by Pen Farthing, an ex-Marine who has set up the charity Nowzad to care for abandoned dogs, cats and donkeys in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Peg had to be smuggled out of the Nad Ali district by Conrad’s pals, who hid her in a bag and hitched a helicopter ride. Afghan Police then drove her to Kabul, where she stayed at a dog shelter before being passed fit to fly. Peg is being visited in quarantine by Tony, wife Sandi, 48, Conrad’s brother Jordan, 19, sister Siobhan, 17, and Conrad’s ­girlfriend George Harris, 20, and moves in with the family in November. A-level student Siobhan said: “She was nervous to start with but has got to know us all and we can’t wait to get her home.”

BAND OF MOTHERS: Page 31



Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/07/03/family-of-killed-para-bring-his-pet-dog-home-from-afghanistan-115875-23242708/#ixzz1R1kIZ2sM

carmen wrote:

THEY were inseparable on the frontline... the courageous ­soldier and the loyal dog always by his side, even during ­firefights with the Taliban.

So when Para Conrad Lewis was killed by sniper fire during a patrol in February, his pet Pegasus was left alone in Afghanistan without her master and best friend.

Now Private Lewis’s family have brought the dog to Britain to live with them after an extraordinary rescue campaign aided by his comrades.

Named after the Paras’ winged horse emblem but known as Peg, the three-year-old mongrel stray was adopted by Conrad, 22, who fed her from his rations.

But then four months into his first tour of duty, Conrad and Private Lewis Hendry, 20, were killed when their patrol came under fire in Helmand province.

Initially left forlorn at his former base, Peg has now made the 3,500-mile journey to a UK quarantine centre and will eventually join Conrad’s family.

Conrad’s father Tony said his son first saw Peg soon after he was sent to ­Afghanistan last October with the Fire Support Group, attached to A Company, 3 Para. Tony, 49 – a director for ­Nissan – said: “Conrad was based at ­Checkpoint Qudrat in Nad Ali, and Peg was already there when he ­arrived. In one of his first letters, he wrote, ‘I’ve got a dog’ and described how she used to go out on patrol with the unit and sleep with them. Conrad was a big dog lover.”

On patrols Peg would sit down when the Paras took cover, then run alongside him as his platoon advanced.

Tony added: “The photo we have of ­Conrad with a grenade launcher under one arm and Peg in the other is typical of him.”

When Conrad returned home to ­Claverdon, Warwickshire, to spend ­Christmas and New Year with his family, he told them he wanted to bring Peg home at the end of his tour of duty. But after flying back to join his comrades, he was killed on ­February 9.

Tony said: “When we spoke to his friends at his repatriation and his ­funeral, they told us Peg was still at the checkpoint.

“She was the link to Conrad and the job that he did and knowing how much he loved her and had wanted to bring her home, we wanted to complete the task.”

They were helped by Pen Farthing, an ex-Marine who has set up the charity Nowzad to care for abandoned dogs, cats and donkeys in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Peg had to be smuggled out of the Nad Ali district by Conrad’s pals, who hid her in a bag and hitched a helicopter ride. Afghan Police then drove her to Kabul, where she stayed at a dog shelter before being passed fit to fly. Peg is being visited in quarantine by Tony, wife Sandi, 48, Conrad’s brother Jordan, 19, sister Siobhan, 17, and Conrad’s ­girlfriend George Harris, 20, and moves in with the family in November. A-level student Siobhan said: “She was nervous to start with but has got to know us all and we can’t wait to get her home.”

BAND OF MOTHERS: Page 31



Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/07/03/family-of-killed-para-bring-his-pet-dog-home-from-afghanistan-115875-23242708/#ixzz1R1kIZ2sM

See also http://www.nowzad.com/ and Conrad Lewis justgiving in memoriam page (in aid of Nowzad) http://www.justgiving.com/Conrad-Lewis

Follow @Nowzad on twitter