A hero’s return: wounded soldier gets reunited with game shooting

As a result of a letter to ST from Major Max Wray (Cheering charity for soldiers, 22 November), BASC invited 34-year-old Sergeant Alan Dennis, from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, to take part in a shoot day.

In his letter, Major Wray explained how father-of-two Sgt Dennis had been left with serious leg injuries in the roadside bomb attack, which had killed another young soldier in his company and wounded several others. Major Wray wanted to get Sgt Dennis, the son of a gamekeeper and a keen game Shot, out in the countryside again, so appealed to ST for help in finding him a gameshooting opportunity.

Numerous shoots then got in contact with ST to offer Sgt Dennis the chance to shoot. On 6 December, he and Major Wray visited a Sussex shoot. Sgt Dennis commented: “I had a fantastic day. It helps a lot to get back to shooting, which is what I love doing, and it has done my confidence the world of good. I?d really like to thank Major Wray and BASC for organising this fantastic day out for me.”

BASC’s regional director for the south east, David Knowles, said: “After reading about Sgt Dennis, we knew we wanted to help him out by finding him a place on a good shoot. He shot extremely well on the day and seemed really to enjoy himself. I’m very pleased that we could give him this opportunity to start shooting again.”