HUDDERSFIELD’S fallen heroes will be brought home next week.
Army officials have announced plans to repatriate the bodies of the six soldiers killed in an horrific Taliban bomb blast last week.
All six – including Huddersfield soldiers Cpl Jake Hartley, Pte Anton Frampton and Pte Daniel Wilford – are expected to be flown home from Afghanistan on Tuesday.
But it could be some weeks before funeral services for the Yorkshire Regiment soldiers can be held.
The services for Ptes Frampton and Wilford are expected to take place at Huddersfield Parish Church, while a service for Cpl Hartley is likely to be at Holmfirth.
They died alongside Sgt Nigel Coupe, Pte Chris Kershaw and Pt Daniel Wade.
The men were all in a Warrior armoured vehicle caught in a bomb blast in Helmand Province. They had been in Afghanistan less than a month.
The repatriation flight is due to land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire about 1.30pm on Tuesday.
The coffins carrying all six soldiers will be given full military honours as they are taken from the plane and there will be a private reception on the base for the families.
A cortege of six hearses will then leave the base about 4pm and pass close to the town of Carterton, which has taken on the mantle of Royal Wootton Bassett in commemorating the victims.
The cortege will pass by the Memorial Garden at between 4.30pm and 5.00pm, reaching the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford at around 6.00pm.
Many hundreds are expected to pay their respects including former servicemen, dignitaries and friends of the soldiers.
The Oxfordshire Coroner will then have to carry out an inquiry before the bodies can be released for funerals.
The Rev Canon Simon Moor, Vicar of Huddersfield, said it could well be after Easter when funerals take place.
He expects to have two at St Peter’s Church which previously hosted a funeral service for Capt Lisa Head, the bomb disposal expert from Almondbury who was killed last year.
Mr Moor said: “I have been liaising closely with the Army and they tell me it will be at least two weeks after the repatriation before the Coroner has completed his work and it could be up to four weeks.
“People have been asking about any services we are planning but I feel it would be wrong to have a memorial service before a funeral.
“The Book of Condolence we opened last week is now full and we are about to open a second one. So many people have wanted to pay their respects.”
