Five heroes' bodies to pass through Wootton Bassett today (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Five heroes' bodies to pass through Wootton Bassett today

7:39am Friday 10th July 2009

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Five British soldiers killed in Afghanistan over the past week will be returned to the UK today.

Four of them died taking part in Operation Panchai Palang, or Panther's Claw, a major assault against the Taliban in Helmand Province ahead of next month's Afghan elections.

Their bodies will be flown into RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire this morning.

After a repatriation ceremony, hearses carrying their coffins will pass along the high street of Wootton Bassett, which is expected to be lined with hundreds of mourners.

Crowds have appeared spontaneously along the route to pay their respects since the bodies of British service personnel started being brought home through RAF Lyneham in 2007.

The procession will then continue to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.

Lance Corporal David Dennis, 29, from Llanelli, south Wales, of the Light Dragoons, and Private Robert Laws, 18, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, of 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, died in separate incidents in Helmand on Saturday.

Lance Corporal Dane Elson, 22, originally from Zimbabwe but now living in Bridgend, south Wales, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed in an explosion on Sunday.

Captain Ben Babington-Browne, 27, from Maidstone, Kent, of 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, died in a helicopter crash in Zabul Province on Monday.

Trooper Christopher Whiteside, 20, from Blackpool, of The Light Dragoons, died in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device near Gereshk in Helmand on Tuesday.

A total of 176 British servicemen and women have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001.

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