Funeral for 18-year-old trooper

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Trooper Joshua Hammond was 18 years old

The funeral of an 18-year-old Plymouth soldier who was killed in Afghanistan has taken place in the city.

Trooper Joshua Hammond, from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, died when a bomb detonated under the Viking armoured vehicle he was travelling in on 1 July.

Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, also died in the blast near Lashkar Gah. Six other soldiers were injured in the explosion.

Trooper Hammond's funeral was held at St Andrew's Church at 1330 BST.

The teenager enlisted in the Army aged just 16 and died a week before his 19th birthday. He was engaged to be married.

We are proud of the fact that Joshua was prepared to do his duty, helping the people of Afghanistan Trooper Hammond's family

He only had three weeks before he was due to return to Plymouth on leave, where he was going to start planning his wedding with fiancee Emma Green.

In a statement, Trooper Hammond's family said: "We are devastated by the loss of Joshua, who was a loving son.

"We are proud of the fact that Joshua was prepared to do his duty, helping the people of Afghanistan."

Lt Col Marcus Simson, Commanding Officer 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, said that after only a month in theatre Trooper Hammond had already "proved himself to be a superb soldier".

"Fit, courageous and robust, he was the first to volunteer, the first to muck in and the first to offer help to others."

More than 900 people have signed up to a tribute page on the social networking site Facebook in honour of Trooper Hammond, a former pupil of Plymstock School.