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LOSING JAMES
– A MOTHER’S STORY
By Caroline Jane Munday
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Losing James – A Mother’s Story was announced as the Daily Mail’s Book of The Week on 3rd October 2025, the same day that the book was launched at the Household Cavalry Museum with speeches by the author, Gold Stick The Life Guards, and Colonel Harry Fullerton; with endorsements by Ray Winstone, Ronnie Fox, and James’s Squadron Leader, Major Will Bartle-Jones, founder of the Household Cavalry’s Operational Casualties’ Fund.
Trooper James Munday was just 21 when he was killed in Afghanistan in 2008 and only two weeks away from returning home after six months on Operation HERRICK, his first overseas tour. He was serving as a Jackal driver when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb; the explosion also injured two other soldiers. The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Sussex, who were serving with the Household Cavalry Regiment at the time, described James as an ‘exceptional solder’. James had been selected to feature in Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps recruiting publicity because he exemplified ‘Best of Both Worlds, Operational and Ceremonial’: Operation HERRICK and the Musical Ride. In James’s memory a Life Guard horse was named Magpie, his nickname.
This 320-page book describes James’s life from joining the Household Cavalry aged 17, his deployment on operations to Afghanistan, and his tragic death, and the impact this had on his family, friends and regimental colleagues. It also covers Caroline’s anger at the state in which James’ body was returned to his family, and the lack of quality vehicles, kit and equipment being provided to the troops on operations. Since his death, she has regularly called on the government to provide better equipment, and also to reveal the truth about the long campaign in which 457 British personnel lost their lives.
Caroline and her family live in Shakespeare’s Arden; her father, Colin, was a former Coldstreamer and Warwickshire miner who regularly contributed verse to the Daily Mail. James has four surviving siblings. This is his mother’s debut book, in which she candidly describes the trauma she and her family experienced at the time of James’s death and the effect it had on them, including the dreadful detail of the repatriation of his body. The book also reveals her feelings about the Labour government at the time and articulates her belief that Ministers were not doing enough to protect serving personnel and to care for the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
‘James always said "If anything happens to me, Mom, tell it how it is" ... So with this thought, and an overwhelming duty to do things right for James, I am ready to share my journey with you’.
She goes on to say: ‘I started to write everything down from the start of this heartbreaking journey for my grandchildren so they would know their Uncle James. Although it’s a distant memory for many, others are still living the wars daily both mentally and physically’.
Ray Winstone, star of stage and screen, says of this book: ‘Just read [this] book about the death of James Munday… and the effect it has had on his family. A subject that we don’t really hear much about. Please read this and listen from a mother and family point of view. A compelling read’.
Ronnie Fox, actor (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Sweeney) says: ‘This is a book of true gritty emotions. It’s like a rollercoaster ride sometimes in pitch black. I read it in one swoop!!! My God what a story… What a true story from Caroline Munday with her broken heart that will never heal… What an absolute privilege it was to read’.
Giles Stibbe
The book is available from the Household Cavalry Museum shop museum@householdcavalry.co.uk and Amazon
A percentage of this book’s sales will be given to the Household Cavalry Operational Casualties’ Fund |
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