26 August 2011

Funeral Arrangements for Cpl Douglas Grant – To Be Held At Linton Military Camp on Monday 29 August

The funeral for CPL Douglas (Dougie) Grant, NZSAS who was killed rescuing captives during an insurgent attack on the British Council Offices in Kabul last week, will be held on Monday 29 August at Linton Military Camp at 11am.

Because NZSAS personnel will be in attendance and revealing their identities could compromise future operations there are restrictions on media and others attending the funeral.

No cell phones, cameras, or any other equipment capable of capturing images are to be taken onto the camp during the service.

Linton Military Camp is a Defence Area and all persons who enter it are required by law to comply with these directions and any other directions given to them by the officer commanding the area. A failure to do so is an offence under the Defence Regulations 1990 and may result in prosecution and / or the seizure of any equipment used to breach this direction.

Only media without any form of camera or image capturing equipment will be allowed into the service, although capture of audio will be allowed.

Moving vision and still photos of the service will be made available to media as soon as possible following the service. Moving pictures will be sent to media who register by high speed internet so long as they can supply an ftp address. As this will be done by a private company there may be small fee attached to this.

Still images will be sent out as normal attached to a New Zealand Defence Force media release.

Camera operators from all media organisations will not be allowed on the base at any time and will be held at the road entrance to the base. They are requested not to film any part of the ceremony using a long lens from this position.

The Defence Force is aware that these requests are unusual and regrets any inconvenience but in meeting the wishes of the family for the NZSAS group to be part of the service, in addition to maintaining operational security for our personnel, these measures are necessary.

Where: Linton Camp, Manawatu
When: Monday 29 August 2011. Media must be at the Washpoint Gate, just past the main gate on the right, by 10am and must carry appropriate photo ID.

ENDS

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