Show of respect as Army dog handler’s body flown home

A DOZEN dogs sat respectfully with their masters as the hearse carrying an Army dog handler who was killed in Afghanistan drove through Wootton Bassett.

By The Newsroom

Published 11th Mar 2011, 06:00 BST

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, was shot on March 1 while on patrol with his Springer spaniel, Theo.

Theo died hours later after suffering a seizure, with L/Cpl Tasker’s family believing that the dog had died from a broken heart.

Yesterday, as has become customary, hundreds of people joined the soldier’s family in lining the main road through Wootton Bassett in tribute.

Earlier the body of L/Cpl Tasker, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, and the ashes of Theo were flown to nearby RAF Lyneham from Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence said Theo’s ashes were returned to British soil in the same aircraft as the dog’s handler.

Record-breaking Theo had been praised by the MoD for making 14 finds of hidden bombs and weapons caches in just five months.

The pair were described by colleagues as inseparable and “made for each other”.

Afghanistan