Tim treads dangerous path to clear jungle of unexploded bombs

A TWENTY-YEAR-OLD soldier has been putting his own life in danger by clearing unexploded bombs to protect African tribesmen.

Sapper Tim Fearnett, a former Thomas Alleyne's High School pupil, is currently deployed on Exercise Pineapple clearing munitions from a remote jungle location in Kenya.

The bomb disposal searcher, who grew up in Abbots Bromley, is based around Archers Post.

The area has been heavily used by the British and Kenyan armies, leaving behind a legacy of mortars, projectiles and grenades which failed to detonate.

If left, the unexploded ordnance (UXOs) could pose a risk to nomadic tribes – with just one 105mm-high explosive projectile powerful enough to blow a two metre wide by half-a-metre deep crater.

"This is my second time on this exercise and I am very happy to be out here again," said Tim, who is also a welder with the Sappers.

"We are given a lot of training on British munitions, as well as foreign ones, we might expect to find here, but you can call a Corporal if you are unsure of something you have found.

"As it's my second time here though, I normally know all the different munitions on the ground."

The British Army has signed a memorandum with the Kenyan authorities to clear the land.

Tim is one of a 20-man team known as a baseline, of which there are three.

It means he faces long hours in the heat, walking the ranges in a search pattern under the blistering Kenyan sun.

In the first fortnight of the four-week operation, 89 UXOs were cleared, along with nearly 2,000 scrap items from spent munitions.

The Sappers also have a vital information role, visiting schools and villages within a 70km radius to educate them on the dangers of handling the munitions.

And their efforts have helped bring about a significant decline in injuries.

"This is a really good exercise because not only do you get to know the guys in your squadron better, but it's also really good preparation for Afghanistan," added Tim, who joined the Army in 2005 after completing his GCSEs at the Uttoxeter school.

"It also helps that we have built a good camp here. I am really enjoying being on this exercise."

Tim is currently based in Saffron Walden with his unit, but his mother, Sandra Fearnett, still lives in Abbots Bromley.