The body of a Fife soldier who was killed in Afghanistan earlier this month has been flown back to Britain, along with the ashes of his loyal dog who died just hours after him.
Lance Corporal Liam Tasker (26), from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, became the 358th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001, after he was shot on March 1 while he and his springer spaniel, Theo, were on patrol in Helmand Province.
While Theo initially survived the attack, he died on return to the British base at Camp Bastion.
The pair, deemed “inseparable” by colleagues, were flown to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire from Afghanistan on Thursday.
Although L/Cpl Tasker was born in Kirkcaldy, he was not educated in the area because his parents were both in the RAF and moved from place to place.
His parents Jane Duffy and Ian Tasker, who, although separated, live in Belgium said they wish to lay their son to rest in a military funeral at Tayport, where many of his family still live.
His uncle Billy McCord travelled from the Fife town to join his sister Jane and Mr Tasker at the Chapel of Rest at the RAF base in Wiltshire, where they attended a private memorial service.
Following the ceremony the cortege then passed through Wootton Bassett on its way to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Hundreds of mourners and well-wishers lined the High Street to pay their respects.
Veterans including members of the Royal British Legion also stood at the side of the road to pay their respects.
Retired servicemen and women from the Royal Airforce Police Association (RAPA) also turned out as the cortege left the motorway to enter Oxford.
RAPA spokesman Mike Lester said, “We wanted to attend to pay our respects to L/Cpl Tasker because we also have dog handlers in our association and we felt it was the right thing to do.
“Our local priest very kindly allowed us to use the church car park so we could stand by the side of the road and greet the cortege as it arrived in Oxford.”
Mr Lester added that standard bearers from the RAF Police Association and the Royal Military Police Association laid a wreath in tribute to L/Cpl Tasker at the memorial of the army dog unit Northern Ireland, Royal Army Veterinary Corp at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire.
L/Cpl Tasker’s family could not be contacted yesterday but his uncle Mr McCord recently paid tribute to his nephew, describing him as “an incredibly likeable young laddie.”
He said he was only four weeks away from finishing his deployment and that his family were very excited about him returning home on leave.
He also spoke of the love his nephew had for his dog, saying he 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 … but they are not separated now.”
L/Cpl Tasker was said to have a “natural empathy with dogs” and was described as a “rising star” within the dog training group.
Theo’s ashes will be presented to L/Cpl Tasker’s family in private.
The record-breaking springer spaniel had been praised by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for making 14 finds of hidden bombs and weapons caches in just five months.
The 22-month-old dog, on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, had uncovered so many improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that his time in the country was extended by a month.
Theo is the sixth British military dog killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.