By Graham Huband

Crowds lined the streets of a Wiltshire town yesterday to pay their respects to Black Watch soldiers Private Kevin Elliott of Dundee and Sergeant Stuart “Gus” Millar of Inverness.

Pte Elliott (24) and his colleague were killed in a rocket propelled grenade attack while on foot patrol in the Babaji district of Helmand Province in Afghanistan on Monday.

The bodies of the two soldiers were flown back to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire aboard a military transport plane as the 209th and 210th victims of the Afghan conflict.

The repatriation of service personnel has become a tragically regular occurrence at the base and on each occasion the people of the neighbouring town of Wootton Bassett have taken to the streets to pay their own silent tribute as their coffins pass through the town.

Described as a “first class field soldier” by his commanding officer Lt Col Stephen Cartwright, Pte Elliott attended Braeview Academy in Dundee before he joined up with The Black Watch in 2002 and served in Northern Ireland and Iraq.

He is survived by his mother Maggie—who is understood to have travelled to RAF Lyneham for his return—and his four siblings Craig, Thomas, Natasha and Kirsty.

Pte Elliott and Sgt Millar—who is survived by his wife Jillian and their very young daughter Grace—have been given full military honours for their repatriation.

The plane carrying their bodies marked their return by making a fly past of the base around an hour before landing.

The bodies were then taken to a chapel within the base where their families were given the chance to grieve in private.

The coffins were then driven on through Wootton Bassett.

As the cortege paused by the war memorial, which was covered in floral tributes, roses were placed on the hearses by relatives and friends. Family members wore white peace poppies.

The cortege route then went 47 miles to Oxford so the bodies could be passed into the care of the local coroner’s office at John Radcliffe Hospital.

Among those paying their respects was Sgt Millar’s friend, Colour Sergeant Gerry McQuade, of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Col Sgt McQuade (32), an instructor at Sandhurst, worked alongside Sgt Millar when the fallen soldier served with his regiment.

Col Sgt McQuade, from Glasgow, said, “He was a very jovial person, and a very helpful person. He would drop everything to help.

“Overall, he was one of those people that nobody had a bad word to say against.

“The loss of a soldier really hits home when it’s someone you know.”

The two soldiers will be examined by a pathologist before an inquest is formally opened.