Widow weeps as Afghanistan soldiers' bodies come home

THE widow of a West Yorkshire-born Royal Marine killed in Afghanistan wept and clutched their 19-week-old son as the soldier's body was repatriated to British soil.

Corporal Stephen Curley, of 40 Commando, was flown back to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire on Thursday morning, along with Marine Scott Taylor, also of 40 Commando, and Gunner Zak Cusack, of 4th Regiment Royal Artillery.

Cpl Curley's wife Kirianne held their son William, who had a small banner with the message "I want to be just like my daddy" placed over his shoulders, and looked on as the soldiers' cortege passed through nearby Wootton Bassett.

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Mrs Curley and William were joined by hundreds of Royal British Legion members, shopkeepers and soldiers, who lined the town's High Street in tribute, as has become custom. Silence fell as the soldiers' Union-flag draped coffins paused at the town's war memorial, where several other family members looked on.

Corporal Curley, 26, born in Dewsbury, was killed on May 26 in an explosion while on a foot patrol through the southern Green Zone to reassure local nationals. Cpl Curley lived with his wife and son in Exeter.

Following his death, Mrs Curley said: "It is impossible for me to express what my husband meant to me; daddy to our 18-week-old son, William, and my partner in crime, Stevie was my purpose, what makes me tick."

Gunner Cusack, 20, from Stoke-on-Trent, was on a routine patrol when he was killed by small arms fire from insurgent forces in an area around Enezai Village. An only child, he leaves behind his mother Tracey, father Sean and step-father Dave.

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Lieutenant Colonel Chris Squier, Commanding Officer, 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, said after his death on May 26: "Gunner Zak Cusack was a big man with the personality to go with it. Young, fit and with a healthy love of life, he was always close to, or at the heart of, the action."

Marine Taylor, born in Buxton, Derbyshire, was killed on May 30 by an explosion while he was part of a foot patrol, again helping to reassure the local population and to increase security in the area around Sangin.

Lt Col Paul James, commanding officer of 40 Commando Group, Combined Force Sangin, said of the 21-year-old: "Marine Scott Taylor was everything I needed in a Bootneck: proud but not arrogant, loyal but still independent, courageous but not foolhardy. He was an outstanding Marine."