29 August 2009. Near Gereshk, Helmand.
A Royal Marine.
A Special Boat Service operator.
33 years old.
Andy was from Cowie, Stirlingshire. He came up through the Corps, passed selection, and spent more than a decade in the SBS. On a previous Afghan tour he received the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service. After his death he was Mentioned in Dispatches.
The official record is simple and brutal: he was killed by an explosion on operations targeting a Taliban bomb-making factory. The mission succeeded.
He did not come home.
Hundreds packed Dunblane Cathedral for his funeral. His name sits on a tablet at the Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge:
Forever in our hearts and minds.
By Strength and Guile.
He was described by those who served with him as a legend in the unit — a Jock with charm, hard as nails, the kind of bloke the younger lads looked up to.
Sergeant Lee Andrew Houltram.
Royal Marines. Special Boat Service.
19 April 1976 – 29 August 2009.
We will remember him.