'Friendly fire' soldier from Stalybridge mourned

Kingsman Dawson was laid to rest in his home town of Stalybridge

The funeral of a teenage soldier killed in Afghanistan in a suspected "friendly fire" incident has taken place in Greater Manchester.

Kingsman Sean Dawson, 19, from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was killed in Musa Qala, Helmand province, on 14 February.

The Ministry of Defence has started an investigation into his death.

The funeral, with full military honours, was held at St Paul's Church, in his home town of Stalybridge.

Veteran soldiers, schoolchildren and servicemen mixed with hundreds of mourners who lined the route, packing the church and spilling outside to watch the service relayed on a screen.

The soldier's father, also called Sean, was overcome with grief as Kingsman Dawson's colleagues bore his coffin, draped in the Union flag and with his white belt and cap on top, into the church.

'Fallen with dignity'

It was followed by his father, mother Karen, younger brothers and sisters, Jack, James, Anna, Danielle and Summer, as the song Hallelujah sung by Alexandra Burke began to play.

A tribute written inside the service card by his father read: "We really can't say in words how much we will miss him and how much we love him.

"Our footsteps through life will be slightly slower now, as we carry your memory within heavy hearts."

Kingsman Dawson's commanding officer, Lt Col Robbie Boyd, he had fallen in battle "with dignity, painlessly" taking the fight to his foes.

Kingsman Dawson's comrades carried his coffin into the church

"His last thoughts had been to close with the enemy," Lt Col Boyd told mourners.

"To protect his friends, to demonstrate a courage I have seldom seen the measure of in any man - and I have seen many men in battle."

Lt Col Boyd also told mourners Kingsman Dawson - who was just five weeks into his first tour of duty when he was killed - had won the light welterweight title in the regimental boxing championships.

He also won the "most courageous fighter" prize and the trophy of a silver lion - henceforth to be called the Dawson Trophy.

"It is a silver lion, a courageous lion, exactly what he was and will always be, a courageous lion of England," Lt Col Boyd said.

After the church service, the cortege left for nearby Mossley Cemetery for a private burial where a three-volley salute was fired before the Last Post was played.