Tributes paid to Marine Josh Howell

25 Jul 08

Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to Marine Josh Howell, of 40 Cdo Royal Marines, who sadly died suddenly as he was going about camp duties at his base in Taunton, UK on 21 July 2008.

Marine Josh 'Biscuit' Howell

Josh Howell was born on 30 January 1987 and was from Coventry. He joined the Royal Marines in January 2005 and successfully completed 30 weeks of arduous training at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines.

During this process he excelled and was quickly marked out as being both incredibly physically fit and mentally agile displaying huge potential even from this early point. He was passed for duty in July 2005 upon being awarded both the coveted Green Beret and the Commando Medal. Notably, he received this prestigious Medal having been nominated by his peers as their fellow Recruit displaying the greatest Commando qualities of them all; courage, determination, unselfishness and cheerfulness in the face of adversity...

A tremendous eater, Josh was known to all, since his very first day in the Royal Marines, as 'Biscuit' - the only thing that everyone else left from the rations were the biscuits. Biscuit was an inspiration to all; incredibly funny, compassionate and generous he was one of the most popular men in Bravo Company. His faultless impressions of friends, celebrities, a growing list of animals and a particularly impressive dinosaur were a joy to behold.

Certainly one of the brightest stars for the future, Josh's tragic passing has left a tremendous hole amongst all who knew him and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, particularly his mother Kim, his sister Laura and his girlfriend Zoe...

There is so much more on this incredible man - and Marine - at the MoD site. Take a few minutes and go here to read what his brothers in arms say about "Biscuit."

"...let us be glad that such men lived..."