Bodies of Iraq bomb soldiers return

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Second Lieutenant Joanna Yorke Dyer, Corporal Kris O'Neill, Private Eleanor Dlugosz and Kingsman Adam James Smith died on April 5 in the bloodiest day for British troops in Iraq in months.

Their families were asked if they wanted a minister to join them at the repatriation ceremony, but at least one family vetoed the move. The Ministry of Defence said the families could not reach a "consensus in favour" of a minister attending the event at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.

The four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their Warrior armoured vehicle while on patrol near Basra. News of their deaths broke as it was announced the 15 naval personnel who had been held captive in Iran were to be freed.

The mother of one of the dead spoke out at the weekend condemning the decision to allow the released hostages to be paid for their stories.

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

A spokeswoman for the MoD said: "The repatriation ceremony is primarily for the families of the deceased. As normal the families were asked whether they would like ministerial representation and as frequently happens a consensus in favour was not reached so a minister did not attend."

At the ceremony the four coffins, each draped in a Union flag, were taken off a C-17 aircraft by pallbearers and marched slowly past the watching families to waiting hearses. The bodies were then transferred into the care of the Wiltshire coroner.

Second Lieutenant Dyer, from Yeovil, Somerset, was at Sandhurst Military Academy with Prince William. The Prince described her as a "close friend" and expressed his deep sadness at her death.

She had been serving with 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment when she was killed. Fellow victim Kingsman Smith, from Liverpool, was in the same regiment, while Cpl O'Neill, from Catterick, and Private Dlugosz, from Southampton, were both in the Royal Army Medical Corps.