Cpl Joshua Hoole dies after eight-mile test march on hottest day of year, in incident that echoes 2013 deaths of SAS candidates

The Ministry of Defence is again under scrutiny over how it keeps personnel safe in very hot weather following the death of a “superfit” young soldier who took part in a march near where three men died from heat illness during a previous SAS selection exercise.



Cpl Joshua Hoole, 26, a member of the Rifles infantry regiment and a veteran of two tours of Afghanistan, had just finished an eight-mile test march in the Brecon Beacons in south Wales on the hottest day of the year when he collapsed and died.

Police officers, the Health and Safety Executive and the military are involved in investigations to find out why Hoole, who was due to marry his long-term girlfriend later this year, fell ill.

The incident on Tuesday has worrying echoes of the July 2013 tragedy in which three SAS candidates died following a gruelling test in searing heat.

The MoD was strongly criticised by the men’s families and the coroner at their inquest for failing to understand the danger that extreme heat can pose, and the government promised that lessons had been learned.

Families of the SAS candidates on Wednesday expressed concern and sorrow at Hoole’s death.

Bryher Dunsby, whose husband, Cpl James Dunsby, was one of those who died three years ago, said: “I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences and my love to Joshua’s fiancee, family and friends following another tragic death in training at Brecon.”

In a statement released to the Guardian, she said: “I sincerely hope that all the inquiries into this incident are conducted promptly, with truth, integrity and total transparency by the MoD.”

John Craig, Hoole’s grandfather, said the MoD had so far given the family very little sense of how he died, but that he suspected dehydration and exhaustion must have been involved.

Craig, who explained how Hoole came from a line of soldiers, told the Guardian: “I know what the Brecon Beacons are like because I worked as an instructor there in the 1950s. It’s very rugged terrain and yesterday you had the heat of the day at six in the morning.

“I served, and his father was a sergeant major in the Devon and Dorset regiment. Josh was twice in Afghanistan and also in Iraq with the Special Boat Service,” Craig said. “He was a beautiful grandson. He was a dedicated soldier. He always wanted to be top dog. He was a superfit boy.”

If it turns out that heat was involved in Hoole’s death, it will focus attention on what the MoD has done since the three SAS candidates collapsed on and around Pen-y-Fan, the highest peak in southern Britain, which rises high above the town of Brecon.

Madeleine Moon, a member of the defence select committee, said it would be calling in MoD chiefs to question them on what changes had been made.

“How did this happen on yet again the hottest day of the year?” she said. “They’ve got to be as transparent as possible. They are going to have to give some sort of explanation to the public.”

The MoD has said it is too early to say exactly what caused Hoole’s death.

It is known that he was one of about 20 soldiers who took part in an eight-mile march on lanes around the school of infantry in Brecon. They left at 7am – at which time the temperature in the area was 17.6C. They returned at 9am, by which it had risen to 22.3C.

Each soldier was dressed in full army combat clothing and boots and they were carrying 25kg rucksacks – but the march was not seen as a difficult one and did not involve severe climbs. The soldiers carried water and there were water stations along the route.

Footage of the platoon sergeants’ battle course. Source: Forces TV/YouTube

The exercise was organised by Hoole’s own regiment to make sure he and other candidates were fit enough to take part in a demanding platoon sergeants’ battle course, which is run by the school of infantry.



An army source compared the march to an MOT – an annual test to make sure soldiers had a basic level of fitness. The SAS exercise is much more gruelling and soldiers do it individually.

Hoole and his colleagues did the march as a squad and it was completed within the stipulated two hours. On their return to the school of infantry, Hoole collapsed. Civilian paramedics were called shortly before 9am but could not save him.

Hoole’s stepmother, Carol Jeffreys, wrote on Facebook: “Rest easy soldier. My beautiful stepson. Can’t believe it. Will always love you. So very proud of you. Thoughts with your family and fiancee. RIP Josh.”

The defence minister Mike Penning said: “The safety of our personnel is our absolute priority and, while deaths in training are rare, any death is a tragedy.

“As well as a police investigation, a service inquiry will take place. My thoughts and prayers are with the soldier’s family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time.”

The Tory MP Johnny Mercer, a member of the defence select committee and a former army officer, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday: “It is a tragedy for the young man and for the family, but there is no indication that this has any similarities with the 2013 [incident] at this stage.

“The details that have been released [show] this march took place in the morning, the temperature was nothing like the temperature at the time of the 2013 incident. This was a regular combat fitness test, something that soldiers will do regularly. We need to let the professionals find out what happened and see what lessons can be learned.

“Train hard, fight easy is the motto and we do train hard. But deaths in training are not acceptable and we need to look after our people.”

In July 2013 three reservists, Dunsby and L/Cpls Edward Maher and Craig Roberts, died after an SAS test march. The coroner who heard their inquest, Louise Hunt, said a “catalogue of very serious mistakes” were made.

The MoD was given the maximum sanction possible – a crown censure – and only escaped prosecution by the HSE because it has crown immunity.