The bodies of three soldiers who were killed when the armoured vehicle they were travelling in hit an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan have arrived back in the UK.
The plane carrying Corporal William Savage and Fusilier Samuel Flint, both of The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment Of Scotland (2 SCOTS), and Private Robert Hetherington, from 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment Of Scotland (7 SCOTS), landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 1.30pm on Thursday.
A private service was then held for their families at the military air base.
Around 200 people gathered to pay their respects, lining the streets of Carterton, near Brize Norton, as a convoy of hearses bearing the soldiers’ Union flag-draped coffins came past.
The crowd of well-wishers and servicemen braved driving rain and blustery conditions to line the route.
A bell tolled mournfully as the cortege passed a memorial garden where the hearses paused.
As they came to a halt, relatives of the tragic comrades placed dozens of red, white and blue flowers on top of the vehicles and comforted each other.
A party of Royal British Legion standard bearers also paid tribute to the soldiers’ sacrifice, lowering their standards as the hearses passed.
The soldiers were killed when their Mastiff armoured vehicle hit an IED on a routine patrol in Helmand province on April 30.
Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond led tributes to their bravery.
Six other soldiers were injured in what was the first case of British troops being killed while travelling in the heavily armoured vehicle first introduced in 2007.
The Ministry of Defence said the men were part of a patrol travelling along Route 611 between Forward Operating Base Ouellette and Patrol Base Lashkar Gah Durai in Nahr-e Saraj when the blast occurred.
It is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.