THE true cost of war will be brought home to a Dales market town today when it witnesses the funeral of a Royal Marine who was among the first casualties of the fighting in Iraq.
Captain Philip Guy was sent to the Gulf in February and, once the battle began, he was among troops helping direct laser-guided bombs on to their targets.
With his wife, Helen, about to give birth, he was on his last mission before flying home to Yorkshire when the helicopter bringing him back to base crashed in the Kuwati desert, killing 12 soldiers.
The body of Capt Guy was among the first flown home to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on March 29, where Prince Andrew joined families mourning loved ones who died.
Mrs Guy's condition prevented her making the journey south; she has since given birth to a daughter, Emily.
Capt Guy's funeral will take place at noon, at Holy Trinity Church, in Skipton, where the couple set up home recently to be nearer to parents in Wensleydale and Blackburn.
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