Huddersfield soldier Tom Sykes clears mines in Kenya

Jun 23 2009 By Neil Atkinson

A YOUNG soldier from Huddersfield is proving a saviour.

Sapper Tom Sykes, 21, a bomb disposal searcher from Huddersfield, is clearing munitions from land in Kenya.

Sapper Sykes has been deployed on the Army’s Exercise Pine Apple clearing unexploded ordinance (UXO) and small arms casings from the area around Archers Post in central Kenya.

The austere area has been heavily used by both the British and the Kenyan army for Infantry training.

But they left behind potentially deadly mortars, projectiles, grenades and legacy munitions that failed to detonate.

If left, the unexploded weapons could pose a risk to nomadic tribes.

The British Army has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kenyan authorities, undertaking to clear all of the areas along with the Kenyan Army.

The Sappers also have a vital information role, visiting local schools and villages within a 70km radius to educate them on the inherent dangers of handling the munitions.

Their efforts have helped bring about a significant decline in injuries.

Tom is one of a 20-man team known as a baseline, of which there are three.

It means he faces long hours in the heat, walking the ranges in a search pattern under the blistering Kenyan sun.