THE FUNERALS OF THREE YORKSHIRE SOLDIERS TAKE PLACE NEXT WEEK

THE FUNERALS of three young soldiers from the 3rd Battalian, The Yorkshire Regiment will take place in Huddersfield and the Holme Valley next week.

Tributes will be paid to Cpl Jake Hartley, 20, Pte Anthony Frampton and Pte Daniel Wilford who all lost their lives in a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on March 6.

Family, friends and colleagues will gather at Christ Church, New Mill on Monday (April 30) to say goodbye and pay their respects to Cpl Jake Hartley in a full military funeral.

The vicar, Revd Sean Robertshaw, team rector of the Upper Holme Valley Team said: “This is a sad and difficult time for the families and the communities here and in the Huddersfield area and our prayers and thoughts are with them.

“Our churches will be open for anyone who wants to find a quiet space for reflection or for prayer to remember these very special young men.”

On Wednesday (May 2) there will be a full military funeral for Pte Antony Frampton in Huddersfield Parish Church.

And on Friday (May 4) family and friends will gather to pay their respects to Pte Daniel Wilford in a non military funeral also at Huddersfield Parish Church.

The Bishop of Wakefield said: “It is with sadness that the week sees the funerals of three young soldiers from our Diocese. The Church is committed to doing everything it can to support the families of those involved and indeed the wider community.

“And I know the churches in Huddersfield and the Holme Valley area will be open for the local communities to come and offer prayers and light candles for their loved ones’.

There will be a memorial service at 3pm on Sunday May 13 at Huddersfield Parish Church for all the community to pay their respects.

The vicar of Huddersfield, the Revd Simon Moor said: “I have been struck by the weight of feeling of people for these sad deaths and many have asked if we could do something.

“This memorial service is a chance for the town and the wider community to come together, pay their respects and remember these young men,” he added.

Books of condolence are still open in Huddersfield Parish Church and in Halifax Minster – historically the home of the Regiment – and they are available for anyone to sign.