Town grieves once more as servicemen return

The bodies of Cpl Liam Riley, from Killamarsh, Sheffield, and L/Cpl Graham Shaw, from Golcar, Huddersfield, arrived at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire before passing through nearby Wootton Bassett.

Residents, shopkeepers and ex-servicemen followed recent tradition by lining the high street to pay their respects in a moment’s silence as the soldiers’ Union flag-draped coffins were driven through the town. The funeral corteges paused for a moment by the town’s war memorial before continuing the journey to the coroner at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.

The soldiers, from 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, were serving as part of the Coldstream Guards Battle Group. They were killed on February 1 by two improvised explosive device blasts near Malgir, Helmand. L/Cpl Shaw had turned 27 the day before.

Cpl Riley’s aunt, Angela Stephens, said: “He was a wonderful lad, very honest, trustworthy and would do anything for anybody. From being a child, he always had a sword and a gun. His ambition was to be a soldier when he grew up and he has fulfilled that ambition.”

Prince Harry has paid tribute to Cpl Riley, 21, with whom he served at a military training unit in Canada in 2007, describing him as a “legend” and a “really special man”. Mrs Stephens added: “It meant a lot to the family that Harry took the time to pay tribute to Liam. He is a legend, he always will be.”

Lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan Cpl Riley had volunteered at short notice to serve in Afghanistan and died while trying to “extract” a member of his team. He had been in Afghanistan only since December.

L/Cpl Shaw was team leader of a base security foot patrol when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, killing him instantly.