Royal Gurkha Rifles: The nephew of first British casualty in Kosovo visits 25 years on

One military family’s story is a reminder of their sacrifice too.

Landing in Kosovo this autumn was particularly poignant for Corporal Bishwaraj Rai, a member of 2nd Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles, which is made up of Nepali soldiers and officers, as well as British officers.

It was the place where, 25 years before, his uncle and a fellow comrade became the first British soldiers to lose their lives amid the 1999 conflict.

Staff Sergeant Balaram Rai, who was 35, and Lieutenant Gareth Evans, who was 25, of the 69th Gurkha Field Squadron, 36th Engineer Regiment, were killed on June 21, 1999, by - in a cruel irony - unexploded NATO ordnance they were attempting to clear from a school in Negroc/Negrovce, about 14 miles west of Pristina.

Cpl Rai, now in his early 30s, was just a boy when his uncle died but it left a huge mark on his life and - also inspired by his father serving as an Indian Ghurka - was a major reason he became a soldier.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post in the Balkans, where his unit worked with the Yorkshire battle group, Cpl Rai said: “He (my uncle) deployed in Kosovo when the peacekeeping process started in that year. At the time, we were living (together) in the same family, my auntie and my family. And then we heard the news about that incident.

“So from that moment, I heard about this place a lot. And when I joined the Army, it was my wish to come (here). Finally I got down here from my regiment.”

On October 28 last year, Cpl Rai, who is based in Folkestone, placed a wreath on the memorial stone at the site of his uncle’s death.

He is proud that 25 years on, NATO’s Kosovo Force remains in the region.

“That makes me feel really happy,” he says. “When the people are waving hands when we do our patrols in the towns and in the villages, and the way I see the people’s happiness when they see us, I feel like they are feeling some kind of safety and peace when they see us. That moment makes me feel like it’s worth it. It was worth it to lose somebody, like, if they are safe.”

Naturally, Cpl Rai’s family were proud when he told them he was going to Kosovo.

What did they say to him?

“Be safe.”