THE mother of a Huddersfield soldier broke down in tears as she described her devastation at her son's death in Afghanistan.
Talking about Private Anthony Frampton, known to everyone as Anton, Margaret Charlesworth said: "We are devastated at the loss of our beautiful boy Anton and are so very proud of him. He was a legend to us and all who knew him. We are heartbroken."
Mrs Charlesworth, 47, then broke down in tears.
She said her son had liked the routine of the Army and the "comradeship of all the lads".
She said: "He just loved it. He just loved it.
"He loved the craic, he loved the lads, the training, everything."
Mrs Charlesworth added: "As a young boy he was like a whirlwind."
She said he was "happy" and added: "He was just the joker, the clown. He entertained all the troops. He lifted them up with his daft dances and karaoke and singing. And they loved him for it."
Mrs Charlesworth had her husband Martin Charlesworth, 55, with her as she paid tribute to her son, who was one of six troops who died on Tuesday when their Warrior armoured vehicle was hit by an apparent improvised explosive device (IED) in the deadliest single enemy attack on UK forces in Afghanistan since 2001.
Pte Frampton's sister Gemma Frampton, 25, his father Gary Evans, 48, stepmother Michelle Evans, 43, cousin Alice Jones, 24, and aunt Cathy Jones, 55, also paid tribute to him.
Mrs Charlesworth said Pte Frampton, of Longwood, was "scared" of going to Afghanistan but that "he had got his head around it".
He told her that he had done the training and that "he would be fine".
"Obviously we all worried about him and all the other lads out there but he had a job to do," she said.
She said he would have "definitely" signed up for another four years.
"That was his life," she added.
Asked about the three men all being from Huddersfield, she said: "Just totally devastated. We lost two others from Huddersfield as well before and then to have three from our area. It's totally devastated the whole town."
She said Private Daniel Wilford, Pte Frampton's colleague in 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment, who was also killed in the blast and her son were close friends.
Pte Wilford, who was known by the nickname "Wilf", was "quiet" and a "nice boy", she said.
Mrs Charlesworth said: ``To everyone he is a hero in their eyes. He is our hero but he is our boy. Our beautiful boy.''
Mr Evans, a lorry driver, said he was "numb" and "just missed him".
"He liked a beer. I remember that," he said.
He said he would meet his son in The Vulcan in Huddersfield pub for a few beers.
"That’s what I’ll remember.
"I loved him," he said, adding that he was a "belting lad".
Martin Charlesworth, Pte Frampton’s stepfather, said he had "more friends than anyone else".
"He was very, very popular and it was because he was such a joker and such a laugh and it was because he was a professional soldier.
"We didn’t really see that side of him at all."
"To us he was just a lad about town with the most friends I have ever seen in my life, more girlfriends than I have ever known. He was a lovely lad and he loved life and it’s an absolute tragedy that someone who loved life so much and gave so much happiness to other people that his life has been cut short at 20 years old."
"All we feel is grief."
He said he could not get his head around it.
"I keep seeing him in our kitchen dancing up and down and enjoying himself," he said, adding: "He gave a lot to people."
