Soldiers on march for fallen ‘Oaky’

ON the march . . . the seven soldiers who will take part in the Wootton Bassett to New Moston trek

Comrades will trek 180 miles
SOLDIERS take their first steps on a 180-mile fund-raising march tomorrow in memory of a comrade who lost his life in Afghanistan.

Former Hulme Grammar School and Oldham Sixth Form College student Cpl James Oakland was killed by an improvised explosive device in the Gereshk region of Helmand province in October, last year.

The 26-year-old military policeman, of New Moston, was better known as “Oaky”. He served in Kosovo and Beirut before he was posted to Afghanistan two months early to replace a wounded colleague.

A group of five serving military policemen and three more in support, will march from Wootton Bassett War Memorial, in Wiltshire, to New Moston.

The soldiers will walk for four days and finish on Sunday at James’s local pub the New Moston Inn, on Belgrave Road, where they will be greeted by his family and friends.

Anyone wanting to make a donation can visit www.justgiving.com/CplJamesOaklandH4H  and state the donation is for the Oaklands March.