THE fiancee of a Kidderminster soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan will be waiting on the runway when he is flown back to Britain tomorrow (Thursday).

Lance Corporal Richard Brandon, of Broom Crescent, was killed instantly when his vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device on Wednesday last week, south of Gereshk in Helmand Province.

His body is to be repatriated at RAF Lyneham and will pass through Wootton Bassett, in Wiltshire, at about 1.30pm.

Emma-Jayne Webster, who was due to marry the soldier next year, said she will be waiting on the runway with her sons to receive the coffin, as it was what her fiance wanted

The 24-year-old soldier was driving a SAMSON repair and recovery vehicle within the A Squadron Fitter Section of the Light Dragoons during an essential re-supply task when the blast happened.

The former King Charles I School pupil leaves behind his parents, Ann and Geoff, Miss Webster, daughter, Kaitlin, 3, and stepsons, Martyn Raszke,12, and Liam Raszke-Webster, 9.

Miss Webster told The Shuttle: “Richard was very laid back and very outgoing. He was an absolutely brilliant father. He always called Kaitlin his pretty princess and she always called him her daddy daddy.

“He was one in a million. I couldn’t have asked for more. He couldn’t do enough for me and the kids and he treated them all equally.”

She added L/Cpl Brandon, who went to Afghanistan in April, was due to finish his tour in November.

“We thought we were on the home straight,” she said. “We thought we were running for the finish line. It’s comforting to know that he was doing the job he loved.

“He absolutely loved the Army. He was going to do the full 22 years and that was it, no questions asked.”

The 27-year-old explained her sons were devastated by their stepfather’s death. “When I got the knock on the door it was Martyn who answered it,” she said.

“They knew something was wrong. I could tell by the knock. It was a very official knock.

“ I don’t think I could describe how I felt when they told me.”a The couple, who were engaged for 18 months, were planning to get married next August after four and a half years together. “We were going to set a date when he got back,” Miss Webster said.

“I don’t think his death will sink in until when he was due back or until Christmas. It still doesn’t seem real. It just seems like a bad dream.”

Lieutenant Colonel Gus Fair, commanding officer of the Light Dragoons, paid tribute to L/Cpl Brandon as a “dedicated” and “professional” soldier.

He is the second Wyre Forest soldier to have been killed in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39, of Castle Road, Cookley, was also killed in a bomb blast in June last year.were devastated by their stepfather’s death. “When I got the knock on the door it was Martyn who answered it,” she said.

“They knew something was wrong. I could tell by the knock. It was a very official knock.

“ I don’t think I could describe how I felt when they told me.”

The couple, who were engaged for 18 months, were planning to get married next August after four and a half years together. “We were going to set a date when he got back,” Miss Webster said.

“I don’t think his death will sink in until when he was due back or until Christmas. It still doesn’t seem real. It just seems like a bad dream.”

Lance Corporal Brandon is the second Wyre Forest soldier to have been killed in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39, of Castle Road, Cookley, was also killed in a bomb blast in June last year.