Military honours for dead soldier

Friends of Daniel Coffey flew in from Iraq for the funeral

A Devon soldier has been buried with full military honours in his home town.

Daniel Lee Coffey was protecting fellow soldiers from an ambush when he was injured on patrol in Basra in February. He died in hospital from his injuries.

The 21-year-old was well-known and popular in Cullompton, Devon, and most of the town turned out to pay their respects at St Andrew's Church.

Rifleman Coffey was serving his second tour of Iraq. He was the 133rd British serviceman to die in the country.

'Good bloke'

Rifleman Coffey, of 10 Platoon, C Company, Second Battalion The Rifles, was returning to base at the Shatt-Al-Arab Hotel in Basra when his patrol was ambushed by two gunmen.

He came under small arms fire attack as he provided protection for the patrol vehicles and sustained "very serious injuries" from which he later died.

He had been a member of the Devon and Dorset Light Infantry regiment before transferring to the newly-formed Rifles, and was the first soldier of the new regiment to be killed in action.

He had volunteered to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty only two months after having completed a seven-month tour with the Devon and Dorsets.

Rifleman Coffey came under attack on patrol in Basra

A number of Daniel's friends flew in from Iraq to attend the service.

His team commander, Lt Aaron West, said he was "a good bloke for everyone".

He said: "Daniel was one of the best soldiers you could get.

"He was fit, he was motivated, he was very enthusiastic about what he did. But not only that, he was a character behind the scenes, and he was able to raise morale."

He was buried in the town cemetery after the church service.

His family - including six brothers and stepbrothers aged from three to 17 - said they were "devastated" by his loss.