THE body of teenage Hampshire soldier Private Eleanor Dlugosz will be flown back to Britain later this week, seven-days after she was killed on the front line in Iraq.

The 19-year-old from Swanmore was one of four British Army soldiers killed when her armoured vehicle was blown-up by insurgents just south of the Iraqi city of Basra last week.

All four are now expected to arrive back at RAF Brize Norton this Thursday where their coffins, draped in Union Jack flags, will be received with full military honours.

Military chiefs are expected to confirm the details with the families in the next few days.

Speaking at the weekend just hours after learning her daughter had died serving her country, Pte Dlugosz' mother Sally Veck told of the pride she had for her daughter and of the pain she was now feeling at her loss.

However she said she knew her daughter had been doing a job she loved and that nothing would have stopped her serving on the frontline.

Fighting back tears Ms Veck, 41, added that though she was hurt by television pictures showing Iraqis holding her daughter's helmet aloft just hours after she was killed, she knew her daughter had been out there helping the people of that country rebuild their lives.

Her mum added: "She was my star all the time. . .all the time."

"She loved her job and she was my action girl.

"Nothing would have stopped her from serving her country and she was doing exactly what she wanted tand she had always dreamed of joining the Army.

For the full story see today's Daily Echo