Top brass honour returning soldier

THE family of a New Zealand soldier who died in Afghanistan say they are extremely proud of what he had achieved and want to make sure he gets the farewell he deserves.

The body of Corporal Douglas Hughes arrived home on an air force C130 aircraft on Saturday night and was met at Whenuapai by members of his family and senior Defence Force staff. The top brass paid their respects to Corporal Hughes in what is known as a ‘‘ramp ceremony’’.

Defence Force chief, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, said the ceremony ‘‘signifies the respect and honour that the military pays to its fallen soldiers’’.

Corporal Hughes, who had been based at Linton, died in an Afghanistan hospital on Tuesday after an unexplained incident at the Forward Patrol Base mero, Bamiyan Province.

General Jones said the Australian Air Force had played a part in getting the man known as ‘‘Dougie’’ back home by supplying its own C130 to transport the body for a portion of the journey.

In a statement released by the Defence Force, Corporal Hughes’ family said it had been an ‘‘extremely difficult last few days ...

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Ro- but we are encouraged by all the support we have received from Dougie’s friends and the wider community, and we are very relieved to have him back in New Zealand. We are all extremely proud of what Dougie has achieved during his career in the New Zealand Army . . .’’

The family planned to take the body to Kaikohe where a tangi will be held on Thursday.