Fallen... a sad day’

three weeks and it hits home quite harshly. Seeing the pictures of the soldiers who died made it even more poignant.

“It’s just so, so harsh that six young lads, everything in front of them – just gone in one day.”

Churches in West Yorkshire lit candles and offered prayers for the six servicemen and their families.

Books of condolence were opened in Huddersfi eld parish church and Halifax Minster, where a special service will be held on Sunday.

Mehboob Khan, leader of Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire, said: “This is a desperately sad day for our town. These deaths bring very close to home in Huddersfi eld and Dewsbury the bravery of our troops and it is something we must never forget.

“My heart goes out to the fami- lies and friends of those killed. They were young men doing an enormously brave job. It is tragic beyond belief that so many have died in one incident.”

Yesterday Defence Secretary Philip Hammond insisted that morale among the 9,500 British forces in Afghanistan remains “extremely high”.

He told ITV’S Daybreak programme: “They are also incredibly proud of the job that they are doing – and rightly so – and hugely satisfi ed by the level of public support that they have back home.”

Mr Hammond defended the level of protection offered by the vehicle the soldiers were travelling in when they died and said: “The Warrior is the most heavily armoured vehicle we have. In fi ghting a war you can never be 100 per cent protected.”