Lance-Corporal Paul Burns

"Lance-Corporal Paul Burns, who has died aged 52, survived the Warrenpoint massacre, the deadliest IRA attack of the Troubles, overcoming the loss of both legs to take a highly active leading role in charitable events that raised money for fellow wounded servicemen.


Newly recruited to the Parachute Regiment, Burns was only 18 years old when, on August 27 1979, a lorry containing a 500lb bomb exploded at Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co Down. The four-ton truck in which Burns was travelling took the brunt of the blast. Six of the eight men on board died. A second explosion killed a further 12 soldiers.







Burns had no memory of the bombing, or of the seven weeks that followed. He was taken to hospital in Northern Ireland and then flown to England, where his left leg was amputated below the knee. His right leg was also severely injured (it too was eventually amputated in 2012). A year passed before he was well enough to leave hospital. “I didn’t wake up for weeks, I should have been dead,” he said. “I went down to five stone, I couldn’t eat and had drips on both arms. I had tremendous guilt about being alive.”


Rejoining his battalion after a year’s rehabilitation, he continued to serve with the Army until 1991, working as a rigger for the Joint Services Parachute Centre. He completed more than 1,000 parachute jumps, even joining the Red Devils display team. In the same period he joined the British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association (BLESMA) and learnt how to sail, also qualifying as a ski instructor.


He continued his work with BLESMA even after leaving the Army, working as a mentor to other soldiers who had been wounded in action and raising money through ventures such as driving a horse-drawn First World War ambulance from Land’s End to John O’Groats.


His thirst for the active life in 1996 led him to compete in the BT Global Challenge as a member of the first all-disabled crew to circumnavigate the world; he also began a career as a stunt double, appearing in such films as Gladiator (2000).


Four years later he developed this by helping to found Amputees in Action, a stunt agency exclusively for amputees. Their services were particularly in demand by studios seeking a realistic edge – in battle scenes for example – that computer graphics could not provide.
Yet returning to the battlefield – even on a television set – aroused mixed emotions for Burns. War dramas in which he featured, such as Band of Brothers, provided a vivid reminder of his own time in Northern Ireland, and of the losses suffered by his battalion. But there was enjoyment to be had as well. He recalled preparing for one stunt : “This bloke started drilling into my foot to make sure the false leg stayed in place. I started screaming for a laugh and he thought he’d got the wrong foot.”
Paul Burns was born on March 25 1961 at Toton, Nottingham, the youngest of four children. His father, Matt, an area manager for the television company Rediffusion, died in 1965 after a heart attack and stroke, and the family relocated to a smaller house near Chilwell Depot — then in use as an Army training camp.
Paul was soon fascinated by the military life on display, and joined the Army Cadet Force at the age of 11. Five years later he enlisted with 30 Platoon, Junior Parachute Company, at Browning Barracks in Aldershot. In September 1978 he became a member of 448 Platoon, Recruit Company, at Depot. After training he was posted to 2 Para in Berlin, and then to Northern Ireland."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10203064/Lance-Corporal-Paul-Burns.html

 

Be at peace, Lance-Cpl. Burns.

 

Rest in peace, sir.