Soldiers ‘looked out for each other’

Two British soldiers have been killed by enemy mortar fire in Afghanistan.

The soldiers, from the Royal Logistic Corps, were attached to 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh Battlegroup, in the northern part of Nahr-e-Saraj district in Helmand province. They were killed yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said.

Meanwhile, mourners have heard how two comrades killed in a bomb attack in Afghanistan “looked out for each other” and died “together as friends”.

Private Daniel Wilford, 21, and Private Anthony Frampton, 20, of 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, died alongside four colleagues on 6 March.

They had been in Afghanistan for only a few weeks, when their armoured vehicle was blown up in Helmand province.

Speaking before Pte Wilford’s funeral yesterday, Major Malcolm Birkett, commanding officer of the 3 Yorks currently based in the UK, said: “They were very good friends. They associated with each other both in work and out of work even though they were in two different companies. They thought well of each other, they looked out for each other. They went to Afghanistan together, the only grace and favour in this is that they die together as friends.”

Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 19, and Private Daniel Wade, 20, all also of 3 Yorks, and Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, of 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, were also killed.