A military funeral is set to be held in Tayport for a Fife soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, who has family in the town, is to be flown home after being gunned down by Taliban forces on Tuesday while searching for explosive devices in Helmand province.
His body will be returned to Britain around the time the 26-year-old was due to arrive home on leave.
His uncle Billy McCord (49), who lives in Tayport, said, “We need to find out what Liam’s own wishes were but, unless Liam has said something different in his letters, the family are hoping to have a full military funeral back in Tayport.”
Although born in Kirkcaldy, Lance Corporal Tasker was not schooled in the area because his parents were both in the RAF and moved from place to place.
However he regularly visited Tayport, which was the home of his mother Jane Duffy, Mr McCord’s sister.
Mrs Duffy and his father, Ian Tasker, live in Belgium at the moment, although they are now separated.DevastatingMr McCord spoke of his shock when his sister phoned to tell him the devastating news that his nephew had been killed while serving with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment.
He had been searching for explosives with his sniffer dog Theo. Mr McCord believes snipers may have been targeting the dog because of the animal’s importance in locating bombs.
Working as a team, L/Cpl Tasker and Theo had found a record 14 hidden bombs and weapons caches in just five months.
Although Theo initially survived the attack, the springer spaniel later died after suffering a seizure.
“It was disbelief,” said Mr McCord of his reaction to his sister’s phone call.
“Liam was a dog handler who went in to save lives.
“He was an incredibly likeable young laddie who was only four weeks away from finishing his deployment.
“Everything was geared towards him coming home on leave.
“When the young guys come home, they look forward to meeting friends, having a laugh and unwinding, but he’s not going to get that. He paid the ultimate price but he absolutely loved what he was doing.”
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that Theo’s ashes would be flown back in the same aircraft as L/Cpl Tasker’s coffin.
Mr McCord said his nephew would have been happy to have Theo by his side. “He actually said at one point that when he finished his tour he was not sure what would happen to his dog and that he could be separated from his dog. That was preying on his mind, but they are not separated now.”
L/Cpl Tasker was the 358th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001.