Funeral for Afghan blast soldier

Mourners follow the coffin of Private Jonathon Young at his funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Hull

Pte Young was killed on the day of the Afghan elections

Hundreds of people have lined the streets of Hull for the funeral of a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.

Pte Johnathon Young, 18, of the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, died in an explosion while on foot patrol.

Crowds broke into applause as his coffin arrived at Hull's Holy Trinity Church for the funeral service.

Pte Young's mother Angela Fox wore pinned on her dress the Elizabeth Cross she was presented with on her son's behalf earlier this week.

About 20 ex-servicemen performed a ceremonial dip as the coffin, topped with Pte Young's regimental hat and belt, was carried into the church past a guard of honour.

'Hard day'

Pte Young's older brother Carl gave a eulogy to the crowd inside the church.

He said of his brother: "You will never leave my dreams, you will never leave my heart.

"If you had just made it to your 19th, we would have been celebrating.

"Sleep tight, our kid."

Before the service Pte Young's commanding officer described him as a "very special young man".

Pte Young had been in Afghanistan for three weeks when he died

Lt Col Tom Vallings said: "He had a real personality about him and a strength of character that meant he was always at the forefront of the action. It was no surprise that he volunteered to go to Afghanistan.

"It's clearly a hard day for us all but we take great strength from the turnout from the people of Hull today."

Children at Pte Young's former school, Sir Henry Cooper School, were among those who paid their respects.

Head teacher David White said: "There's a great sense of collective grief and mourning at the school.

"It was felt by our students, staff and families it would be appropriate to pay our respects to Johnathon by lining in respectful silence as the cortege passed by the front of the school, the school that Johnathon attended for five years."

Pte Young had been in Afghanistan for three weeks when he died on 21 August.

He joined the Army in February last year and was deployed to Afghanistan on 2 August as part of reinforcements sent after a record number of injuries and deaths in July.