THE REPATRIATION of a Royal Marine who was killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan brought Wootton Bassett to a standstill yesterday.

Marine Nigel Dean Mead, 19, from 42 Commando Royal Marines, died during an operation to search a compound in the Loy Mandeh Wadi area of the Nad-e Ali (North) district of Helmand Province on May 15.

His company, Lima Company, were conducting a cordon and search operation of compounds with the Afghan National Security Forces.

Marine Mead was fatally injured by a roadside bomb blast shortly after his helicopter landed and his company began to move towards the compounds.

The marine, known as Deano to his friends and colleagues, lived with his mother Amanda Jones and sister Jessica in Carmarthen, west Wales.

He joined the Royal Marines as his first job in October 2008 at the age of 17, and he was the youngest marine to pass out from his troop.

His mother said: “I could never write enough words that would truly say how much I loved and thought of you.

“You’re not a one in a million son, you are one in a hundred million.”

The death takes the number of UK military personnel who have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001 to 365.