05/04/2026
Jo and her sacrifice are never forgotten at Leicester City Hockey Club - in a few weeks she will be honoured and celebrated, as always, at our End of Season Celebration.
A tragic loss to all. Rest in Peace, Jo.
Today, we take time to remember Second Lieutenant Joanna Yorke Dyer who was killed in action while serving in Iraq on this day in 2007. Joanna was killed when the Warrior armoured vehicle she was traveling was struck by an I.E.D. during a patrol in Basra City, she was just 24 years old.
Joanna was born in Berlin in 1983 – her father was an officer in the R.A.O.C - and attended Loughborough High School before completing her studies at Oxford University. After graduation, she entered Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and on 16 December 2006, Joanna was granted a commission as a second lieutenant with the Intelligence Corps (regimental number: 565712). In order to gain experience prior to attending her Young Officers Course, Joanna was attached to the 2nd Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment and deployed with the battalion on Operation TELIC 9.
Joanna died alongside Corporal Kris O’Neill (R.A.M.C.), Private Eleanor Dlugosz (R.A.M.C.), Kingsman Adam James Smith (2LANCS) and a local civilian interpreter, a fifth soldier was seriously wounded.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends and those of her fellow soldiers