The families of five British soldiers who died in Afghanistan within a week of each other, including one based at Hullavington, placed flowers on their hearses yesterday as their bodies were repatriated to the UK.

Darkness had fallen as the procession of coffins, each with the Union flag draped over them, passed through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett.

As has become custom, hundreds of people joined families and friends in lining the High Street to wait for the cortege.

Earlier, the bodies of Private Lewis Hendry, Private Conrad Lewis, Private Robert Wood, Private Dean Hutchinson and Lance Corporal Kyle Marshall were flown into RAF Lyneham.

Private services were held for the soldiers' families at the base before the cortege left for Wootton Bassett, en route to the Armed Forces department of pathology at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Pte Hendry, of 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, and Pte Lewis, of 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment, were shot as they patrolled an area in the north of Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province on February 9.

Pte Wood and Pte Hutchinson, both of the Royal Logistic Corps, were killed in a fire at Camp Bastion - the main British military base in Afghanistan - on February 14.

The cause of the fire, which took place in the workplace, is under investigation but is not thought to be the result of enemy action.

L/Cpl Marshall, of 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was killed on the same day in an explosion in the Nahr-e Saraj district.

Tributes have been paid to the men, whose deaths took the number of UK military personnel who have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001 to 357.

Pte Hendry, who was born in Norwich and died just three days before his 21st birthday, was said by his parents to have had a "true heart of gold" and a smile which "lit up every room he walked into".

Pte Lewis, 22, from Bournemouth, was described by his family as someone who "made you feel good about life".

They had been on a foot patrol designed to reassure the local population and gather census information in a small village north of the Nahr-e Bughra Canal when they came under fire.

Pte Wood, 28, who was nicknamed "Woody", had recently become a father to Noah, and was looking forward to returning home to Marchwood in Hampshire after his tour of duty.

His parents and partner, Rebecca, said: "Rob was an adored and adoring son, partner, and father to his baby son.

"We are so immensely proud of him and he will live in our hearts forever."

Pte Hutchinson, 23, known as "Hutch", was a driver with the Theatre Logistic Group's Transport Troop, based at Chippenham, Wiltshire.

His family described him as "an amazing son, brother and boyfriend".

L/Cpl Marshall, 23, from Newcastle, leaves his father Garry, mother Olywn and fiancee Hayley, whom he was due to marry in July after the tour.

His family said he was "a very lively, outgoing, loving and much-loved son" who would be sadly missed.

Commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Harrison said L/Cpl Marshall had led his team in the discovery of a "huge bomb-making factory" just minutes before his death.

"This discovery will undoubtedly save numerous colleagues and locals falling prey to the most insidious of insurgent threats," he added.