Samuel Flint funeral: Soldier to be laid to rest

The funeral of a Scottish-based soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan will take place today.

Samuel Flint. Picture: MoD

Fusilier Samuel Flint, 21, died when the Mastiff armoured vehicle he was travelling in hit an improvised explosive device (IED) while on patrol in Helmand province on April 30.

Fusilier Flint was killed along with Corporal William Savage, 30, both serving with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and Private Robert Hetherington, 25, who served with the 7th Battalion of the Regiment.

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 their vehicle was hit by the IED blast.

Protective

Avid Manchester City fan Fusilier Flint, from Blackpool, Lancs, joined the Army in November 2011 and was deployed to Afghanistan in March.

A statement from his family said: “The whole family is completely devastated.

“Everyone should know that Sam loved his job and made his whole family and everyone that knew him very proud.

“Sam was always the life and soul of the party, a real ladies’ man, witty, funny, the real cheeky chappy.

“He was a loving son, the protective brother, courageous nephew, the caring uncle, the loyal grandson that anyone would wish to have.”

The three deaths took to 444 the number of UK service members who have lost their lives since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001. Six have died in 2013.

Fusilier Flint’s funeral service will begin at noon at St Chad’s Church in Poulton-le-Fylde, near Blackpool.