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Frank Collins (British Army soldier)

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The Reverend
Frank Collins
Personal
Born(1956-11-05)5 November 1956
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Died16 June 1998(1998-06-16) (aged 41)
Stockbridge, Hampshire, England
ReligionAnglicanism
NationalityBritish
DenominationChurch of England
Alma materOak Hill Theological College
Organization
ChurchSt Peter with St Owen and St James Church, Hereford

Frank Collins (5 November 1956 – 16 June 1998) was a Church of England clergyman and the first 22 SAS soldier to enter the building in the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980. Whilst with 22 SAS B Squadron (Air) Troop, Collins served with both Al Slater and Charles "Nish" Bruce. He left the service in 1989 after 15 years to work in security and later pursued training for ordained ministry.[1]

Having trained at Oak Hill College, a conservative evangelical theological college, Collins was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1992 and as a priest in 1993.[2] He served his curacy at St Peter with St Owen and St James, Hereford in the Diocese of Hereford. He was then commissioned as a chaplain in the Territorial Army, and served as padre of 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), The Parachute Regiment and the AMF(L) in Bulford, Wiltshire.[1]

His autobiography, Baptism of Fire,[3] was published by Doubleday in 1997. He committed suicide by gassing himself in his car in 1998.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "SAS hero in suicide over book". The Independent. 17 September 1998. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Frank Collins". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. ^ [1], Baptism of Fire: The Astonishing True Story of a Man of God, Frank Collins PB. ISBN 0-552-14582-3, ISBN 0-385-40916-8
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