Respects paid to dead servicemen

The two men died in an explosion in the province of Helmand

Hundreds of people lined the streets of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire to pay their respects to three servicemen who were killed in action in Afghanistan.

Captain Tom Sawyer, from Hertfordshire and Corporal Danny Winter, 28, from Stockport, died in an explosion in Helmand province on 14 January.

Marine Travis Mackin, 22, from Plymouth in Devon, was killed in a blast in Kajaki on 11 January.

The three were flown into nearby RAF Lyneham at midday.

'Joint operation'

After a private service at the base for family members, the hearses travelled through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett.

The procession paused at the war memorial before continuing to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Capt Sawyer, from Hertfordshire, of the Royal Artillery, and Royal Marine Cpl Winter, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, died in a blast in north-east of Gereshk in central Helmand Province on 14 January.

Marine Mackin was killed in a blast in Kajaki on 11 January

They had been taking part in a joint operation with Danish forces and the Afghan National Army to clear a known Taliban stronghold. Two other members of their patrol were also injured.

Military Police are investigating whether the pair were killed as a result of "friendly fire".

Capt Sawyer, of the Royal Artillery, had been married for less than a year.

Cpl Winter was his company's mortar expert and had previously served in Northern Ireland and Iraq.

Marine Mackin, from Plymouth and of 45 Commando Royal Marines, died on 11 January after being hit by an insurgent improvised explosive device in Kajaki in northern Helmand.

Royal British Legion members, shopkeepers, former servicemen and their families have appeared spontaneously along the route to pay their respects since the first bodies began coming home through RAF Lyneham in 2007.

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