Soldiers line streets to honour heroic corporal shot trying to rescue colleague

Corporal Matthew Stenton, of the Royal Dragoon Guards, was killed by small arms fire after insurgents shot a fellow serviceman in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province.

Family, friends and colleagues packed the Garrison Memorial Church in North Yorkshire to pay their respects to the 23-year-old.

After the service a committal was taking place at nearby Hipswell Military Cemetery at the request of his family.

Cpl Stenton's colleague, Lance Corporal Stephen Daniel Monkhouse, 28, of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, was killed in the same incident as he joined Cpl Stenton in the rescue bid.

During the fight, Cpl Stenton manoeuvred a Viking armoured vehicle to help remove the wounded soldier, while L/Cpl Monkhouse, the gunner of a Coyote vehicle, provided support. But the two were killed in the ensuing gunfire.

Cpl Stenton, from Wakefield leaves behind his father and stepmother, Michael and Gillian, and sister Charlotte.

Yesterday, Cpl Stenton's coffin, draped in a Union flag, was carried into the church with his regimental cap and belt and a wreath of poppies.

More than 300 mourners packed the church to pay tribute to the "brilliant lad" who joined the Army within weeks of leaving school.

Mourners were told that after an initial short spell with the Parachute Regiment he joined the Royal Dragoon Guards.

He loved swimming and radio-controlled model helicopters and cars. He was known for his sense of humour and that he "loved a laugh".

"If he was here today, he would still find something funny to say," the mourners were told by Padre John McGregor.