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Soldiers' bodies flown back to UK | Soldiers' bodies flown back to UK |
(about 6 hours later) | |
The bodies of four soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq last week have been flown back to the UK. | |
A sunset repatriation ceremony was held at a base in Basra, southern Iraq, on Wednesday before their coffins were put on a flight to RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire. | |
Second Lt Joanna Yorke Dyer, 24, Cpl Kris O'Neill, 27, Pte Eleanor Dlugosz, 19, and Kingsman Adam James Smith, 19, were attacked on 5 April near Basra. | |
Their deaths marked the bloodiest day for UK troops in Iraq since November. | |
All four died when a Warrior armoured vehicle returning from patrol near Basra was attacked. | All four died when a Warrior armoured vehicle returning from patrol near Basra was attacked. |
A Kuwaiti interpreter was also killed in the blast, which seriously injured a fifth soldier and left a 3ft-deep crater in the road. | A Kuwaiti interpreter was also killed in the blast, which seriously injured a fifth soldier and left a 3ft-deep crater in the road. |
The ceremony in Basra was attended by troops from the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, the Intelligence Corps and the UK Medical Group amongst others. | The ceremony in Basra was attended by troops from the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, the Intelligence Corps and the UK Medical Group amongst others. |
The coffins, draped in union jack flags, were flown to RAF Lyneham overnight and arrived on Thursday. | |
A service will take place later. | |
Prince William, a friend of 2nd Lt Yorke Dyer, expressed his sadness | |
Second Lt Dyer, from Yeovil, Somerset, had trained at Sandhurst military academy with Prince William, who described her as a "close friend". | |
The prince has expressed his deep sadness at her death. | |
The pair were both commissioned as officers on the same day in December during a parade at the academy, which was attended by the Queen. | |
Kingsman Smith, from Liverpool, served in 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, alongside 2nd Lt Dyer. | |
Cpl O'Neill, who was from Catterick, and Pte Dlugosz, from Southampton, were both in the Royal Army Medical Corps. | |
The deaths brought the number of UK service personnel who have died since the hostilities in Iraq to 140, of whom 108 died in action. |