THE family of fallen war hero Corporal Stephen Thompson (right) laid red roses on the hearse carrying his body during an emotional and public homecoming yesterday.

Hundreds of people joined the family and friends to pay their respects to the Bovey Tracey man who made the army his life and 'died doing something he loved'.

Cpl Thompson's body was brought back to the UK and repatriated to British soil. He was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Sunday.

During an emotional show of public respect for Britain's war dead, the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett came to a standstill as the vehicle carrying Cpl Thompson stopped in front of his grieving parents, brother, sister and friends.

As it did so, they carefully laid flowers on the car and comforted each other, before the vehicle slowly drove away.

Cpl Thompson was one of five war casualties brought home yesterday. As the most senior serviceman killed, his hearse led the solemn cortege.

Moments before it arrived Stephen's mother, Carol Thompson, said: "I am immensely proud of Stephen for his bravery and his courage and for the fact that he volunteered to go to Afghanistan.

"I can't say exactly what today has been like because I can't explain my emotions. I know Stephen would probably have laughed at all the fuss.

"He was in the army for a long time and it was a big part of who he was. He died doing something he loved and we are all extremely proud of him.

"We are here today to bring him home."

As the car stopped in front of the family there were tears as Carol, dad Peter, brother Philip and sister Helen came face-to-face with their grief.

There were muffled sobs as those around watched with respect as the flowers were placed and personal goodbyes spoken.

Earlier, Cpl Thompson's body had been flown in by a Hercules troop transporter to RAF Lyneham about two miles away.

Also on board were the bodies of four other servicemen who have been killed in Afghanistan in the past week.

Cpl Thompson's close friends from 1 Rifles carried his coffin, draped in the Union flag, out of the plane and on to British soil.

They were met by members of his family, who were allowed time alone with his body in the nearby chapel of rest. An Army padre said words of remembrance.

Shortly after 2.30pm the body was brought through the town on its way to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where the coroner took charge.

On its way, it drove through Wootton Bassett, allowing local people to pay their respects, alongside family.

The event attracted hundreds of people from the town who lined the street in silence as the cortege came by. The media was also out in force due to the high number of casualties.

Carol said: "I can say the army and all the armed forces have been absolutely amazing in helping us to cope."

Friend of the family, Carol Karpinas, made the journey up from Chudleigh Knighton, where Cpl Thompson lived for much of his life.

She said: "We all moved to Chudleigh Knighton at the same time so I remember Stephen as a boy.

"He was fun-loving and mischievous and grew up to be a fine young man. He was a soldier first and foremost and that's how he would have liked to have been remembered."