Eight soldiers’ bodies flown home to their families

THOUSANDS of people lined the streets to pay their respects to eight British soldiers killed during the Army’s bloodiest 24 hours in Afghanistan.

As the bodies were flown home, the families of the fallen men, three of whom were teenagers, were at RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire, to see the coffins, draped in Union flags, carried from a C17 aircraft.

A private ceremony was held at the chapel of rest before a cortege of eight hearses left the base.

A church bell tolled as the cortege drove slowly through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett, with a crowd of thousands standing in tribute.

Many people threw flowers on the hearses as they drove by. Veterans saluted and some in the crowd clapped and even cheered.

Tearful family members, who were also standing in the crowd, comforted each other.

Among the servicemen being repatriated were five soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Rifles who died near Sangin, in Helmand province, on Friday, in two “daisy-chain” explosions.

The Earl of Wessex, the battalion’s Royal Colonel, attended the chapel to pay his respects. Corporal Jonathan Horne, 28, and Riflemen William Aldridge, James Backhouse and Joseph Murphy, all 18, were rescuing comrades from an earlier blast when a second device detonated.