'My daughter would never have tried to sell her story'

Sally Veck said her daughter Eleanor Dlugosz, 19, would never have tried to make money out of any ordeal she suffered in the line of duty.

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Private Dlugosz was one of four soldiers killed by a roadside bomb near Basra on Thursday, only hours before the Navy hostages flew home from Tehran.

Her mother said: "If you are a member of the military, it is your duty to serve the country. You should do your duty and not expect to make money by selling stories.

"Eleanor was very proud of the work she was doing in Iraq and she did it purely because she wanted to help people and make a difference, not for money."

Mrs Veck, 41, spoke out after hostage Faye Turney reportedly sold her story for a sixfigure deal and fellow sailor Arthur Batchelor also did a media deal. She said: "Coming from a family which includes nurses, firemen and Royal Navy I know all about dedication to duty. Eleanor would not have wanted any monetary gain for herself, only perhaps a donation to the Royal British Legion."

As Mrs Veck spoke, she clutched a photograph of her daughter as a curly-haired little girl in a party dress.

She said: "I would give anything, anything, to have her back, everyone knows that. But on the other hand this is what she wanted to do and we all had to support her."

Private Dlugosz, a medic, had deliberately chosen to serve in more dangerous conflict zones.

Mrs Veck said: "She knew that people going to war, sometimes they don't come back. She did know all of that and still she wanted to go out there.

"I would have given anything for her to be safe in an office. That wasn't her, and I am so proud of what she's done and who she was."

Mrs Veck, a hotel manager from Southampton, added: "The whole country should be proud of what she did. I only hope there aren't too many more mums who have to go through this."

Private Dlugosz died alongside Second Lieutenant Joanna Dyer, 24, who trained alongside Prince William at Sandhurst military academy, becoming a good friend.

Also killed as their Warrior armoured vehicle was devastated by the bomb were a second medic, Corporal Kris O'Neill, 27, Kingsman Adam Smith, 19, and a Kuwaiti interpreter.

The patrol had been returning to base. Film of the aftermath of the blast showed local people, including children, dancing with joy and brandishing grisly trophies from the Warrior. They included a helmet from one of the dead soldiers.

A fifth British serviceman caught in the blast is still in a critical condition at a military hospital.

The Dyer family have not spoken publicly about the tragedy.

Lieutenant Dyer's parents, who both served in the Army, are facing the additional agony that their second daughter Holly, also a soldier, is due to return to Iraq.

She was home on leave at the time of her sister's death and will resume her tour of duty after the funeral in their village of Hardington Mandeville in Somerset.

Lieutenant Dyer's father Neil was a Lieutenant Colonel with the Royal Ordnance Corps and her mother Annie a captain in Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.

Their daughter was described by Major Hume Jones, who trained her, as charismatic and intelligent and a 'remarkable young officer'.

Iraqi police have confirmed that the bomb which killed the soldiers was an Iranian-made device known as an Explosively Formed Projectile.

It is designed not only to penetrate vehicle armour but to blast shrapnel inside its target.

It was the first time such a bomb had been used against British forces in southern Iraq, although U.S. troops further north have been targeted. After the attack another two bombs were found nearby.