DORSET veterans will greet the funeral cortege of Rifleman Philip Allen from Verwood when it arrives at RAF Lyneham on Monday, November 16.

Members of the Poole and District Royal Marines Association have attended every repatriation since autumn 2008.

They were asked to take part when 3 Commando Brigade was deployed to Afghanistan.

The first cortege they ever saw carried the body of Royal Marine Neil Dunstan, 32, of Burton near Christchurch.

Other memories stick in the mind – a child’s teddy beside a coffin, the eight bodies at once during the worst run of casualties so far in August.

Colour Sgt Malcolm Wilson, 65, Wareham branch secretary, said: “The whole thing is emotional. We want to show our support for the fallen and show their families they have not been forgotten.”

Rifleman Allen, 20, from Verwood, died in an explosion and the veterans make the journey whatever the dead man’s cap badge.

They gather at a quiet spot near the College Farm pub outside Swindon as the cortege moves from Wootton Bassett to Oxford.

There are usually 12 to 20 members who have made the two-hour drive and sometimes they wait hours for the coffins to pass.

The police outriders stop the traffic, and the veterans move to a windswept roundabout, remove their jackets to show their blazers and ties, and give the coffin a final salute.

Each round trip takes from around 10am to 6pm and the men pay the costs themselves.

W02 Geoff Hayward, 66, Wimborne, chairman, said: “We are there because we want to be there.”

Mr Wilson said: “It’s one day out of our lives. These men haven’t got any more days left, so I don’t think it’s a big thing for us to do really.”