Bodies of two airmen flown home

Both men were deployed to Kandahar in February

The bodies of two British servicemen killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan have been flown back to the UK.

Gary Thompson, 51, a Royal Auxiliary Air Force aircraftman from Nottingham, and Graham Livingstone, 23, from Glasgow, died in the blast on Sunday.

Their bodies were repatriated to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.

Two other servicemen were wounded in the attack during a security patrol in the Daman district, Kandahar, but their injuries were not life-threatening.

Security patrol

Senior Aircraftman Livingstone joined the Royal Marines for a short period in 2003, before joining the RAF in October 2004 and was promoted to Senior Aircraftman with the Royal Air Force Regiment in 2005.

He had served in Iraq in 2006 and was deployed to Afghanistan on 22 February. He leaves one young son.

Gary was more than our hero, he was the rock and foundation of our family Thompson family statement

His mother, Rosemary O'Neil, said: "Graham was a much-loved father, son and brother. He died doing a job he loved. As a family we are very proud and he will be sadly missed."

Senior Aircraftman Thompson joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 2005 and became an RAF regiment gunner.

He was promoted to senior aircraftman earlier this year and deployed to Kandahar Air Field in February. He leaves behind his wife, Jacqui, and their five daughters, Laurie, 24, Aimee, 22, Jordan, 20, Jade, 17 and Kelly, 16.

They said: "A devoted husband, father, son and brother who touched the lives of everyone who knew him, Gary was more than our hero, he was the rock and foundation of our family."

The men had been taking part in the patrol as part of Support Weapons Flight of 3 Squadron RAF Regiment, when the general purpose Land Rover they were travelling in struck a roadside bomb.

Senior Aircraftman Thompson joined the RAF in 1973 and was based at RAF Cottesmore in Leicestershire but left four years later to pursue a career in business.

The deaths bring the number of UK service personnel killed in Afghanistan to 93.