Bodies of West Midlands soldiers killed in Afghanistan back in UK
A plane carrying the bodies of four British servicemen, including two from the West Midlands, killed in Afghanistan has landed in Britain.
Marine Jonathan Crookes, 26, of 40 Commando Royal Marines, from Halesowen, and Senior Aircraftman Kinikki Griffiths, 20, 1 Squadron RAF Regiment, died on Friday.
Their deaths were followed by those of Staff Sergeant Brett Linley, 29, from Birmingham, of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, and Sergeant David Monkhouse, a 35-year-old member of the Royal Dragoon Guards, on Saturday.
A private ceremony will be held at the base before the cortege passes through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett, where it has become tradition for hundreds of people to line the high street in respect.
Marine Crookes died while on foot patrol in Sangin, Helmand Province. His commanding officer said he was a "giant of a man".
Bomb disposal expert S/Sgt Linley died while trying to clear improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Nahr-e-Saraj. Comrades remembered the fallen solider as "one of life's grafters".
Sgt Monkhouse was remembered as a devoted father and "exceptional" soldier. The serviceman, from Aspatria, Cumbria, died in an explosion in Nahr-e Saraj.
A separate blast in the district took the life of Senior Aircraftman Griffiths.
Based at RAF Honington in Suffolk, "Griff" - as he was known to comrades - died in a road accident just short of his 21st birthday.
