The six-year-old daughter of a marine killed in Afghanistan spoke about her “hero” at his funeral in Fife yesterday.
After family, friends and comrades filed into St Kenneth’s Parish Church in Kennoway to pay their respects to Corporal Stephen Walker, the Rev Richard Baxter read out the little girl’s message, which said, “My daddy was brave, loving and he was my hero.
“When I first heard that daddy was dead I could not believe it.”
The minister also read out a tribute from Cpl Walker’s son, Samuel.
He said, “My dad had such a big personality. He was always upbeat.
“He was so passionate about his work, his beliefs, but most of all his family and that’s why I loved him.”
Cpl Walker, who was with 40 Commando Royal Marines, was killed aged 42 while on peace-keeping duties in Sangin, Helmand province.
Although born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, he made Fife his home after marrying Leona.
The couple latterly lived in Taunton, Devon, where 40 Commando is based.
During the ceremony, Mrs Walker spoke openly about the morning she was given the devastating news.
She said, “His death will affect people’s lives for a long time-some for a lifetime.
“But personally, at 9am on Friday, May 21, 2010, my heart was broken with the unbearable and gut-wrenching news of Steve’s untimely death.”
She added, “It will live with me for the rest of my life and my heart will remain broken.”
Mrs Walker said her husband “went beyond the call of duty,” adding, “Ultimately and devastatingly, that is why we are here today.”
She said he had been known as Stephen during his childhood before being affectionately nicknamed ‘Whisky’ on joining the marines.
She spoke of his love of the outdoors and the music of The Small Faces and The Jam. However, at the top of the list was football and Rangers FC.
The procession was welcomed at St Kenneth’s by veterans from the Royal Marines Association in Edinburgh and comrades from 40 Commando Royal Marines, who slowly marched Cpl Walker’s Union Jack-draped coffin into the church while the James Blunt song Goodbye My Lover played through a loudspeaker.
During the ceremony mourners listened to the loudspeaker from the church grounds and the pavements outside.
Major Chris Paton said, “I first met Whisky 16 years ago.
“On meeting him for the first time I distinctly remember a mixed feeling of awe and bemusement at his huge personality, respectful and professional manner, incredible enthusiasm for everything and anything as well as his utterly infectious determination.”
Brigadier Paul Denning, deputy Commandant General of the Royal Marines, said Cpl Walker was a role model for younger soldiers.
He said, “We are lucky that we have a lot of quality in the company. But there are one or two who stand out, and he was one of them.”
Cpl Walker was killed while conducting a joint foot patrol with the Afghan National Army near Patrol Base Almas.
He had served in the armed forces for 24 years, having joined the Royal Navy shortly after his 18th birthday.
During his early career he qualified as a cook and served at HMS Raleigh and HMS Cochrane and on board HMS Cleopatra.
But as his wife put it, “Counting tins of beans in the stock room didn’t do it for him,” and he transferred to the Royal Marines in 1990, attending the Commando Training Centre.
Cpl Walker’s two decades with the marines saw him take on a range of responsibilities, including serving with Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines, 40 and 45 Commando Royal Marines and the Commando Training Centre as a recruit troop instructor.Father figureDescribed by colleagues as a “father figure” and “larger than life,” Cpl Walker was passionate about his role in training, which allowed him to pass on his knowledge of mortars, platoon weapons and jungle warfare, and experience gained during operations in Northern Ireland, Turkey and Iraq.
On joining 40 Commando Royal Marines in July, Cpl Walker immediately conducted mission-specific training for deployment to Afghanistan.
In April he was posted to Patrol Base Almas as a section commander responsible for providing security to the people of Sangin.
At the time of his death, Cpl Walker was part of a patrol to make the area safer and reassure the local population.
Cpl Walker was laid to rest at Kennoway Cemetery, which is also the final resting place of Captain David Wood, of the Parachute Regiment, who was a victim of the Falklands War.
Fife-born Capt Wood was killed in action on Darwin Hill, during the assault of Goose Green in 1982.