Always By My Side

Christina was married to Olaf Schmid, a British Army bomb disposal expert killed in action on his last day of service in Afghanistan on 31st October 2009 aged just 30. Olaf ‘Oz’ Schmid was one of only a handful of such experts serving in the UK armed forces and he would later receive a posthumous Gorge Cross which celebrated his ‘selfless gallantry, his devotion to duty, and his indefatigable courage’. Since his death, Christina has captured the hearts and minds of the British public as she’s displayed phenomenal bravery and composure in the face of this most shocking reality.

Christina and Oz were completely devoted to each other and planned to embrace civilian life in Oz’s native Cornwall just as soon as Oz could take his next leave. The last time they spoke was a lengthy and agonizing phone call just two days before his death. By this point Oz hadn’t had a break in 5 ? months and was just about ready to drop. His health had deteriorated quite significantly and this once stoical and controlled man was begging for his wife to come and get him. Christina tried to remain as positive as possible – what on earth was going to happen to him in the two days before he was due to come home? Gradually positive thoughts gave way to negative until eventually the inevitable happened and Christina’s worst nightmare came true. The night Oz was due to come off duty Christina heard the knock at the door to inform her of her husband’s death.

Christina’s is a powerful story: it’s an old fashioned love story first and foremost yet it offers unprecedented access to behind the scenes of one of the most stressful and lonely jobs in the armed forces and will give strength to any reader who’s ever questioned their luck. Both she and Oz had talked candidly of the possibility of his death and he’d asked her to speak up on behalf of his fellow soldiers should the worst happen. It's this promise that has kept her going – within hours of receiving the news of his death Christina ensured it was announced on the news lest another military family hear of a soldier being killed and worry it might have been their loved one. At Oz’s repatriation Christina stood up tall and applauded the hearse carrying Oz’s coffin, declared her pride in him as a soldier, husband and father and reassured him of her love. At his funeral she pinned his medals proudly to her chest, stood up in front of the packed congregation and urged politicians to ‘fight with his spirit, dedication and integrity day in, day out, for peace’. And over one year on she remains committed to promoting solidarity and support amongst British soldiers. Christine’s plight transcends the messy world of politics - although many Britons might not agree with the political aims of conflict in Afghanistan, they can wholeheartedly appreciate the personal cost for the troops and their relatives.