THE body of a young soldier was repatriated yesterday after he died just two weeks before he was due to return home for rest and recuperation.

Lieutenant Daniel Clack, 24, from the Monkhams estate in Woodford Green, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as he led a ten-man team into a village to meet with locals on August 12.

The body of the former Bancroft’s School student was flown into the RAF base in Lyneham in Wiltshire before passing through Wootton Bassett yesterday afternoon.

The Guardian’s sister publication, The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, reported that Lt Clack’s fiancee Amy Tinley - whom he proposed to before leaving for Afghanistan in April - held tightly onto a cap and badge belonging to his regiment, 1st Battalion The Rifles.

It added that she then walked out alone to the hearse carrying Lt Clack’s coffin holding a single white rose, which she placed onto the roof.

His mother Sue, father Martin and brother James then left bunches of red roses on the hearse followed by friends’ floral tributes.

His family said in a statement after his death: “Dan was a brave Rifleman and he died doing the only profession he ever considered. He loved leading his Riflemen and was so proud to be an officer in the British Army. There are no words to describe our loss.

“He will be forever missed by his mother, father, brother, fiancée and all those who knew him. He will always be in our hearts.”

Jeremy Bromfield, deputy headmaster at Bancroft’s School, in High Road, Woodford Green, at the time Lt Clack studied there, said: “He had an excellent career at Bancroft's and was highly respected by staff and peers alike. He was the senior NCO in the School Cadet Force in 2005 and was a leader of the highest quality and integrity.”

Click here to follow the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian on Twitter