A VOLUNTEER Army medic from Ayr was killed while walking back from her base's laundry after she was hit by a surprise rocket attack, a coroner has heard.

Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon, who died in March 2020, was the first British soldier to die in Iraq for six years.

The 26-year-old had been called up as a combat medical technician with the Royal Army Medical Corps and had been deployed to Iraq with the Irish Guards Battlegroup when she came under attack.

The inquest into the reservist's death heard that she had just finished a yoga class and had dinner when she left her accommodation pod and headed to the base's self-service launderette on the evening of March 11, 2020.

Her room-mate, L/Cpl Mia Gatley, told Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter that she had been in the pair's room at the base near Baghdad, Iraq, when she heard a loud explosion.

L/Cpl Gatley said: "I heard what I originally thought was thunder, it was a very loud bang and I got on the floor as I realised it must have been fired at the camp. I did not hear an alarm.

"The banging continued for what seemed like a long time. After the last bang, I waited for a few minutes before leaving to go to the Collective Protection (COLPRO).

"As I exited the [accomodation] pod I saw L/Cpl Gillon lying on the ground with lots of blood around her. I shouted for L/Cpl Harry Towers to start treating her while I got help."

The coroner heard that L/Cpl Towers gave L/Cpl Gillon, who was a sports physiotherapist in civilian life, immediate treatment while medics rushed to treat her.

After finding she had no pulse, her comrades gave the reservist CPR before loading her onto a car and speeding her to the base's medical centre, which was dealing with other casualties from the attack.

Squadron Leader Michelle Van Dendriesen, who was serving in the centre at the time, told the inquest how L/Cpl Gillon had suffered from a serious injury to her neck and right chest during the attack.

She said: "L/Cpl Gillon was shocked with a defibrillator but after further life-saving attempts I called death at 20.02.

"L/Cpl Gillon had been treated for 22 minutes with no response and had an unsurvivable neck wound suffered an unknown amount of time before being found."

A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Russell Delaney found that the piece of shrapnel had damaged blood vessels in L/Cpl Gillon's neck, meaning she could not have survived.

The pathologist added that it was likely L/Cpl Gillon did not know what had happened to her and had been knocked unconscious by the force of the initial blast.

Dr Delaney ruled the cause of death to be a penetrated fragment wound to the neck and right side of the chest.

The inquest heard that L/Cpl Gillon was not wearing her standard-issue body armour at the time of her death, despite orders to do so while moving around the base at night.

However, armour expert Alan Hepper, from the Defence and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, Wilts., concluded that body armour would not have saved her life.

He said: "The left-hand side of L/Cpl Gillon's neck would have been outside the area of coverage of the body armour. Wearing it would not have made any difference to the injuries she sustained.

"She would have been given some protection if a patrol collar had been worn but the degree to which the collar would have reduced the severity of the injuries could not been stated without further information."

In a report, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Money, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion Irish Guards, said that the Army had begun to enforce its policy on the times when body armour should be worn more strictly after the incident.

He added that routes around the base had been reviewed following the attack and had been made safer.

Paying tribute to L/Cpl Gillon, Lieutenant Colonel Money said: "A bright, confident and highly competent soldier, L/Cpl Gillon was liked and respected by all who knew her. 

"She served the men and women of the Irish Guards fantastically well during her time with us, quickly fitting in and making friends across the Battlegroup as we played our part in the vital work of training Iraqi and Kurdish security forces.

"The Irish Guards and those from across the coalition of nations working in Iraq have been enriched by her professionalism and character. 

"It was typical of L/Cpl Gillon that she had been generously offering physiotherapy in her own time to anyone who needed it and had been recognised for her performance and potential with recent promotion."

Concluding the inquest, Mr Salter said: "L/Cpl Gillon would have been unaware of what happened to her. She was very unfortunate to be at that place at that time when this indirect fire attack occurred without prior warning or alarm and no intelligence.

"Rather than being injured later on in the series of rockets that would have given her the opportunity to take cover, this occurred with one of the first rockets that landed.

"There was nothing that could be done by those that attended her that could have saved L/Cpl Gillon. It is clear that they attended to her promptly, speedily and expertly to try and save her life but it was to no avail."

The coroner concluded that L/Cpl Gillon had been unlawfully killed while on active service.

Speaking at the time of her death, L/Cpl Gillon's family said: "Our hearts are irreparably broken at the loss of our beautiful, bright and fun-loving Brodie.  

"She brought immeasurable love, fun and energy to our lives and was so generous in every way. She was determined and tenacious, wonderfully funny, courageous and caring.

"Brodie was a force of nature, a strong independent young woman. She was fierce, with a strong mind and a sensitive soul.

"Her healing and strength will guide us as we carry on without her, for her."