Sergeant Major Michael Williams, 40, of Cardiff, died in a firefight with the Taliban in the Upper Sangin Valley, while Private Joe Whittaker, 20, of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was killed while checking for mines.

Their deaths happened in separate incidents that were part of the same operation, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

Sgt Maj Williams, of 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, signed up to the Army in 1986, while Pte Whittaker joined 4th Battalion the Parachute Regiment last year.

The men's bodies were flown into RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire for a repatriation ceremony attended by family members and loved ones.

Pall bearers slow-marched the coffins, draped in Union flags, across the runway to waiting hearses to be transferred into the custody of Wiltshire coroner David Masters.

Lieutenant Colonel Joe O'Sullivan, paying tribute to the two men last week, said: "These two men were very different in age, experience and rank, but both were inspired by the challenge of service with the Parachute Regiment, and the very difficult task that confronts us each day here in Northern Helmand. Both were respected and both will be sorely missed by their friends and the battle group, but most of all by their families."