Robert Dicketts, father of of Lieutenant Corporal Oliver Dicketts, 27, of the Parachute Regiment (Image: PA)
Furious relatives of British troops killed in Afghanistan have accused Donald Trump of insulting their loved ones’ sacrifice after he claimed Nato allies “stayed a little back” and did not fight on the front line.
Some 457 British servicemen and women lost their lives in the allied campaign in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on America, the second-highest number of military deaths in the conflict behind the US. Additionally, an estimated 2,000 British military and civilian personnel were wounded in action.
Robert Dicketts, whose brave son Oliver, 27, was killed on operations with the Parachute Regiment, led the backlash, rejecting the suggestion that British forces were anything other than at the sharp end of the campaign that followed the 9/11 attacks.
Mr Dicketts said: “When I read it, I thought, ‘What a bloody cheek!’
“I think my thoughts about Donald Trump are probably unprintable.
“To put it politely, Donald Trump’s knowledge of history is lacking considerably.”
His son died on operations with the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan in 2006 and had only just been promoted to Lance Corporal.
Donald Trump has sparked outrage over his comments (Image: Getty)
He was travelling in an RAF Nimrod plane when it crashed near Kandahar and was the only soldier among the 14 British servicemen killed in the crash, most of whom were RAF servicemen based at Kinloss in Scotland.
Mr Dicketts, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, added: “I think the Government should point out the loss of life by British troops and how much they were involved in frontline operations. Oliver himself was killed in a frontline operation.
“He’s entirely wrong. Not just about British forces, a lot of other NATO forces suffered losses as well and were in frontline positions.
“His lack of knowledge of history generally is appalling and some of the statements he makes beggar belief.”
In an interview with Fox News in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, President Trump said he was not sure Nato would be there to support US troops if and when requested.
“I’ve always said, will they be there if we ever needed them? That’s really the ultimate test. I’m not sure of that. We’ve never needed them,” Mr Trump said.
“They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and this or that. And they did. They stayed a little back, off the front lines.”
He has previously questioned whether Nato would come to America’s defence if the United States were attacked, despite allies doing so on the only occasion Article 5 (the alliance’s mutual-defence clause) has been invoked. It was triggered after the September 11 attacks in 2001, when Nato partners backed US forces in the response to al-Qaeda’s atrocities.
Diane Dernie, whose son Ben Parkinson suffered horrific injuries when an Army Land Rover hit a mine near Musa Qala in 2006, said the US president’s comments were “the ultimate insult” and called on Sir Keir Starmer to stand up to Mr Trump over them.
He had both legs amputated, suffered a twisted spine and severe brain damage and is still undergoing major surgeries almost two decades later.
Mrs Dernie, from Doncaster, said: “He’s got to stand up for his own armed forces, and he’s got to absolutely refute what Donald Trump said.
“Call him out. Make make a stand for those who fought for this country and for our flag, because it’s just beyond belief.
“Come and look at us, the life that that Ben leads – 19-and-a-half years on, still fighting for his care, still fighting for him to have a decent life, recovering from a recent operation.
“To hear this man say, ‘Oh, well, you just fannied about behind the front lines’.
“It’s the ultimate insult.”
Ian Sadler, whose son, Trooper Jack Sadler, 21, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2007, while serving with the 4/73 Special Observation Battery, Brigade Reconnaissance Force, said: “Trump is just ill-advised by his military aides and the people around him.
“Some of the Nato troops were not on the front line in the same way the British and US troops were, that’s true.”
Mr Sadler, from Exeter, Devon, added: “The British certainly were in the hot spots, they were on the front line, 457 of them were lost and there was probably three times as many seriously injured as deaths.”
The mother of Sean Binnie, 22, killed in Afghanistan described the comments as “soul-destroying”.
The acting sergeant when he was killed while on patrol with the Black Watch in Helmand Province in May 2009.
He wed just six-months before he was shot dead after he threw a grenade while fighting insurgents.
Janette Binnie, 58, of Crimond in Aberdeenshire, said: “We were all there fighting the same war. My son worked alongside some of the Americans,” she says. “He’s just diminished everything that our children have done.”
She says she is “angry, very angry, very very angry”, and adds “how can he say they weren’t on the front lines when they were out there fighting.”
“I’d love President Trump to come and see me,” she says.
“I’d soon tell him how it is being an Army wife and an Army mother, and what it is to lose a child in those circumstances, something that he knows nothing about.”
The nation grieved every loss of the Afghanistan war, with thousands lining the streets of Wootton Bassett for the repatriation processions. One of the darkest days of the conflict came in June 2010 (pictured), when the families of seven servicemen joined crowds of mourners as their coffins were driven through the Wiltshire town.
Those returned included three Royal Marines from 40 Commando — Sergeant Steven Darbyshire, Lance Corporal Michael Taylor and Marine Paul Warren — and four soldiers from 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment: Lance Corporal David Ramsden, Colour Sergeant Martyn Horton, Private Alex Isaac and Private Douglas Halliday.
Veterans who served in the conflict have told the Express how they were proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their US comrades.
Liz McConaghy deployed to Afghanistan ten times, working as a crew member on the Medical Evacuation Response Flights told the Express how she would like to show Mr Trump the list of every US service person her and her comrades risked their lives to save.
She said: “We picked up so many Americans, we risked our lives to rescue them, for him to say that is really hurtful.
“I would like to show him my logbook of every flight we took and every American we picked up. We risked our lives to bring soldiers back and save the lives of anybody, regardless of where they were from.
“The last body I ever collected was an American soldier. We stood on the ramp while his coffin was loaded onto the aircraft and we treated him with the respect we treat a British soldier. If I ever meet him, I would tell him that.”
Andrew Fox, a former Parachute Regiment officer, served three tours of Afghanistan including one attached to US Special Forces told the Express: “My feelings hearing the comments could best be described as shock, anger and betrayal. Shock and anger that the sacrifice of friends is so easily forgotten and betrayal because we served alongside them.
“I have an American combat infantryman’s badge and jump wings so for their Commander-in-Chief to say what he said is a disgrace.”
More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years after the US-led invasion in 2001, forming the largest foreign contingent after the Americans.
After 9/11 in 2001, the then prime minister, Tony Blair, pledged that the UK would “stand shoulder to shoulder” with America in the wake of the al-Qaeda attacks.
The comments prompted condemnation across the political spectrum.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman condemned Mr Trump’s remarks, saying UK forces had served alongside the US and Nato in “sustained combat operations”.
Pointing to the 457 British deaths in Afghanistan and the “many hundreds” more who were wounded, he added: “We are incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said dismissed the comments as “flat-out nonsense”.
Speaking on a visit in Essex on Friday, Ms Badenoch said: “I spoke to parents of young men who had lost their lives in Afghanistan and I think it is a disgrace to denigrate their memory like that.”
Defence minister and former commando Al Carns, who served five tours in Afghanistan, said UK troops “shed blood, sweat and tears” alongside US comrades.
Former Royal Marines colonel Mr Carns, without referring to Mr Trump by name, said: “On Afghanistan, frankly, this is utterly ridiculous. Many courageous and honourable service personnel from many nations fought on the front line. Many fought way beyond it.
“I served five tours in Afghanistan, many alongside my American colleagues. We shed blood, sweat and tears together. Not everybody came home.
“These are bonds, I think, forged in fire, protecting the US, our shared interests, but actually protecting democracy overall.
“And I’d suggest whoever believes these comments come have a whisky with me, my colleagues, their families, and importantly, the families of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for both of our nations.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longstanding admirer of Trump who has met the US president, wrote on X that Trump was “wrong” adding: “For 20 years our armed forces fought bravely alongside America’s in Afghanistan.”
Mr Trump has previously been criticised for avoiding being conscripted to fight in Vietnam thanks to being diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels – a claim that has been subject to significant doubt.