A HEARTBROKEN family will today join the country as it mourns the loss of hero Sapper Connor Ray, who died after suffering serious injuries in a Taliban blast on the eve of his 21st birthday.
Hundreds of people are expected to pay their respects to the Hampshire soldier, pictured, at a funeral with military honours in Newport, Wales, where his family now live. Sapper Ray, from Bishopstoke, a member of 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), was caught in a blast while clearing bombs from an abandoned Taliban HQ in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
He was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where he died.
His funeral will be held at Newport Cathedral today.
Next Thursday he will be remembered in services in Bishopstoke. People who knew him are invited to a service at St Mary’s Church followed by a wake at Bishopstoke Working Men’s Club.
