Sombre gathering as soldiers' bodies brought back

Hundreds of mourners paid their respects as the body of Corporal Michael Pike of the 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland was flown back to the UK from Afghanistan.

Cpl Pike, 26, from Huntly in Aberdeenshire, was killed last Friday in Afghanistan after his patrol was attacked by armed insurgents in Helmand province.

He died saving the lives of his comrades as he took on an enemy armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the Lashkar Gah district, his colleagues said.

Yesterday his family stood with those of Lance Corporal Martin Gill and Rifleman Martin Lamb, who were also killed in Afghanistan last week, as a cortege travelled through Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire.

L/Cpl Gill, 22, from Nottingham, was shot on patrol in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand on Sunday. Rfn Lamb, 27, died in a bomb blast while on patrol nearby on the same day.

Their deaths bring the number of British military personnel who have died in action in Afghanistan to 371.