The politics surrounding the war in Iraq were put firmly to one side yesterday when a Dales community said farewell to Captain Philip Guy, who will be remembered as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Steve Parsley reports

"For God will wipe away every tear."

The words The Reverend Dr Jonathan Pritchard used to end his sermon at a funeral service yesterday for Royal Marine Captain Philip Guy were perhaps chosen in the knowledge there would be many who would struggle to keep their grief in check.

But even he could not have anticipated just how many would be listening to his words and seeking some comfort from them.

Every pew inside Holy Trinity Church in Skipton was full. As many as 400 family, friends and comrades-in-arms wanted to be there to honour the 29-year-old, who died in a helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert on March 21.

But, outside, something extraordinary had happened.

An hour before the service began, knots of people began to gather behind barriers erected in Skipton High Street.

By 11.30am, a crowd had grown to about a thousand as people left shops and offices to join them.

But, by the time a single bell at Holy Trinity Church began to chime as the hearse came to a halt at the church gates at noon, the crowd had grown to about 3,000 people, all of them silent.

Royal Marines who had lined the street for the last section of the journey, bowed their heads as the coffin, draped in the Union Flag, was shouldered by six grim-faced colleagues.

And, as the funeral party made its way slowly through the churchyard, the only sound was the gentle but sombre chime of the bell.

Friday is market day in Skipton, but the stalls lining the High Street closed for the duration of the service. Shops also suspended trading as a mark of respect.

Union Flags fluttered at half-mast from the windows of pubs and offices lining the High Street, while Skipton's local radio station observed a minute's silence as the funeral began.

Fresh! news presenter James Wilson said:"The whole thing has really hit the town hard.

"The family may only have moved into the town in January, but they were young people just starting out. It is very hard not be affected by the tragedy.'' Capt Guy was killed returning from a mission which may have been his last before flying home to be with wife, Helen, who was expecting their second child.

After his mission, he boarded a helicopter which was to fly him back to base.

The aircraft came down en route, killing a dozen on board on March 21, two days after the war began. Helen Guy gave birth to baby, Emily, on April 2.

The couple had moved to Skipton at the beginning of the year to be nearer family in Bishopdale, North Yorkshire, and Blackburn, in Lancashire.

Capt Guy even hoped to take a staff job which could have meant him becoming a major, and a posting to RAF Leeming in the Vale of York.

But, yesterday, Mrs Guy led the mourners into the same church where she was married in 2000, and where their son, Henry, was christened in 2002 - but this time there was no joy, there were no smiles.

Dr Pritchard said: "How are we to make sense of what has happened? "How are we to make sense of our shock and grief and loss in Phil's death?'' Inside and out, many were asking the same questions.

But Dr Pritchard urged anyone who struggled to cope with his loss to begin by honouring his life before God.

He said: "Phil was a good man. He was someone to be proud of; a man who served his country well and gave his life in its service.

"He was also someone to love and be loved by; whether as a husband or as a son, as a brother or a father, friend or comrade-in-arms.

"But behind all these relationships, all our different experiences of Phil, lies a single truth: Phil is a beloved child of God."

In a moving eulogy, Royal Marine comrade Captain Daniel Hughes also remembered a friend he described as "dependable, generous, funny and, as a husband and a dad, he was hugely loving and compassionate".

Capt Hughes said: "I will miss him as I know we all will. But I am confident that his memory will be kept strong and that will keep him close to us.

"They say you cannot control the length of life, only the breadth, width and depth of it. Phil managed to push all these things to the limit and still had time for all of us on the way."

12/04/2003