Bodies of Britain's Afghan dead flown home

The bodies of eight soldiers killed in Britain's bloodiest 24-hour period in Afghanistan were flown home on Tuesday.

British army chief Sir Richard Dannatt

The families of the men, three of whom were 18-year-olds, were at the RAF Lyneham airbase near Swindon to see the coffins draped in the Union Jack flag carried from the transport plane.

Casualties have increased sharply since last month

After a private ceremony at a chapel of rest, thousands of people were expected to line the streets to pay their respects as the eight hearses were driven through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett.

The fatalities, which lifted the number of British dead in Afghanistan to 184 -- five more than in the Iraq campaign -- have prompted questions about British tactics and allegations that troops are under-equipped.

The head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said families should take "great comfort" that the soldiers had died ensuring that Afghanistan would not be used as a launch pad for terror attacks on Britain.

"It is really important not just for Afghanistan or for this region, it is really important for the overall security of the West and of the United Kingdom. We must get this right, we will get this right," he told BBC radio.

Five of the servicemen repatriated were members of the 2nd Battalion The Rifles who died near Sangin in Helmand province on Friday in two roadside explosions.

Corporal Jonathan Horne, 28, and Riflemen William Aldridge, James Backhouse and Joseph Murphy, all 18, were rescuing comrades from an earlier blast when they were killed in a second explosion.

Murphy was carrying Rifleman Daniel Simpson, 20 -- who was injured by the first makeshift bomb -- when both were killed in the subsequent blast.

Aldridge was attempting to reach casualties from the first blast, despite being wounded himself.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday fended off calls to send more troops and equipment to Afghanistan, saying he had been reassured by commanders on the ground that "we have the manpower we need for the current operation."

Casualties have increased sharply since last months when British troops launched Operation Panther's Claw, which is aimed at removing the threat from Taliban insurgents ahead of next month's Afghan elections.

Britain has raised troop numbers from 8,300 to 9,000 for the election period.