Residents honour fallen servicemen
18th April 2008
Swindon Advertiser
www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk
THE streets of Wootton Bassett were lined with silent crowds as the bodies of servicemen Gary Thompson and Graham Livingstone were driven through the town. Both men were killed in Afghanistan on April 13. This afternnoon, the convoy was the first to be escorted by officers from Wiltshire Police, the MOD, and Thames Valley Police.

Thames Valley had been criticised for not continuing escort duties through to Oxford when RAF Lyneham took over repatriations from RAF Brize Norton a year ago. The operation went smoothly with many officers getting their first glimpse of the support and compassion shown by residents in Lyneham and Wootton Bassett.

Inspector Mark Levitt, of Wootton Bassett Police, said: "The changeover went seamlessly and it was a good show by Thames Valley. We hope to work with them in the future as inevitably we are called to assist other repatriations."

The servicemen from the Support Weapons Flight of 3 Squadron RAF Regiment was undertaking a patrol to protect NATO's Kandahar Airfield from enemy attack in the Daman District of Kandahar province.

At 6:50pm local time, the vehicle that they were travelling in was caught in an explosion. SAC Livingstone and SAC Thompson were both taken to a field hospital at Kandahar Airfield, but died as a result of their wounds. Two other servicemen were hurt in the blast, but their injuries are not life threatening.

Senior Aircraftman (SAC) Gary Thompson, aged 51, joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 19 March 2005. He is so far the oldest servicemen to die in the Gulf and leaves behind five daughters aged 16 to 24.

Senior Aircraftman Graham Keter Livingstone, aged 23, joined the Royal Air Force in 2005 and had been in Afghanistan for just two months when he died.

The flag was flying at half-mast at RAF Lyneham and residents stood outside the village shops heads bowed as the sombre convoy of hearses and police cars passed by. Despite becoming accustomed to seeing the union-flag decked coffins roll by over the last 12 months, the impact of the spectacle has not ceased to affect onlookers.

An elderly man passing the repatriation convoy at Lyneham slowed his car and gave a passing salute as the rolling cortège drove by. A woman dressed in head to toe black wiped her eyes, as she became the first in Wootton Bassett to greet the cortège.