Funeral for Scottish soldier killed in Afghanistan

Mourners will pay their respects to Corporal William Savage at a military ceremony at Glencorse Kirk in Penicuik. Picture: PA

Mourners will pay their last respects to Corporal William Savage at a military ceremony at Glencorse Kirk in Penicuik, Midlothian.

The 30-year-old died with Fusilier Samuel Flint and Private Robert Hetherington when their Mastiff armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) on a routine patrol in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand province, on April 30.

Their bodies were brought back to the UK earlier this month.

Pride

Cpl Savage and Fusilier Flint, 21, from Blackpool, Lancashire, were both from The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment Of Scotland (2 Scots), and Pte Hetherington, 25, was from 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment Of Scotland (7 Scots).

Cpl Savage, from Irvine, Ayrshire, joined the Army in April 2003 and had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan previously.

His wife Lyndsey, who is pregnant with their first child, previously said she was “extremely proud” of her husband, who was known as Sav.

She said: “I have lost the love of my life and the father of our son. I know his life will live on through so many amazing memories that we shared together.”

The service for Cpl Savage is the second to be held of the three.

A private ceremony took place in Edinburgh last week for Pte Hetherington, who was born in the US but raised and educated in Scotland.