Bodies of UK troops arrive home

The coffins were carried from the aircraft by RMP pall-bearers

The bodies of the six British soldiers killed in a gun battle in southern Iraq have been returned to the UK.

The men of the Royal Military Police (RMP) were attacked in Majar al-Kabir during demonstrations against what were seen as heavy-handed weapons searches.

The six coffins containing the bodies of the servicemen from 156 Provost Company, attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade, were flown to RAF Brize Norton from Basra on board a Royal Air Force C17.

THE SIX FALLEN SOLDIERS

Clockwise from top left

Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41, from Chessington, Surrey

Corporal Russell Aston, 30, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire

Corporal Paul Long, 24, from Colchester, Essex

Lance Corporal Thomas Keys, 20, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, Wales

Lance Corporal Benjamin Hyde, 23, from Northallerton, Yorkshire

Corporal Simon Miller, 21, from Washington, Tyne-and-Wear

Profile of the men

Geoff Hoon update on inquiry

A repatriation ceremony at the Oxfordshire air base was attended by the men's families, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, and Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mike Jackson.

The Royal Family was represented by the Duchess of Gloucester, Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the Adjutant General's Corps.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards played Beethoven's Funeral March as the coffins, draped in Union flags, were carried from the aircraft by pall-bearers from the RMP.

The coffins were placed in waiting hearses and taken to the airfield's chapel of rest.

Rear Admiral Rick Cheadle, Chief of Staff to the Second Sea Lord, and Air Commodore Peter Ollis, Deputy Air Officer Commanding 2 Group, also attended the ceremony.

Inquest

The bodies were later taken to an Oxford hospital for post-mortem examination.

At the airfield, Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner opened an inquest into the deaths.

But it was swiftly adjourned so the bodies could be handed over to the families for private funeral arrangements to be made on Friday or early next week.

The inquest was adjourned for 10 weeks.

All these men were highly professional soldiers and policemen

Commanding officer of 156 Provost Company, Major Bryn Parry-Jones

In pictures: Repatriation ceremony

But it is expected to take much longer for a new date to be set.

Commanding officer of 156 Provost Company, Major Bryn Parry-Jones, said: "All these men were highly professional soldiers and policemen. Their deaths in action underlines the challenging and difficult operations that the RMP are asked to undertake both in peace and times of conflict."

The deaths are still being investigated by the Ministry of Defence.

In a written statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Hoon said: "It may be some time before we have a full picture; indeed, we may never know with absolute certainty precisely what happened".

Reports say at least four Iraqis also died as the military policemen attempted to hold back a crowd.

We will be staying in Iraq for as long as it takes to establish representative government and decent social and economic services for the Iraqi people

Foreign secretary Jack Straw

The killings apparently happened when a demonstration against the searching of houses for illegal weapons got out of hand.

On Wednesday Foreign Secretary Jack Straw flew into Basra to meet RMPs, saying there was "absolutely no question" of British troops being forced out of Iraq.

The deaths had been a "deep shock", the minister said. And he vowed that Britain would never give up the hunt for the soldiers' killers.

But their death had strengthened the forces' determination to "deal with the remnants of the Baathist movement in Iraq".

"We will be staying in Iraq for as long as it takes to establish representative government and decent social and economic services for the Iraqi people," he said.

Mr Straw thanked the RMPs for their work, paid tribute to the men who died and expressed his sadness.