Latest British fatality in Iraq identified as 21-year-old corporal

The British soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Sunday has been named as L/Cpl Alan Brackenbury.

The 21-year-old from the East Riding of Yorkshire, died when a bomb exploded near the flashpoint town of Amarah as troops travelled to a meeting with the Iraqi border police. Four other soldiers were injured.

His father, Stephen Brackenbury, said he was "immensely proud" that his son had been a solider. "Alan loved being in the Army - it was all he had ever wanted to do. He was immensely proud to be a soldier and we were immensely proud that he was a soldier.

"It is some comfort to us, as we grieve for Alan, that he died doing what he loved so much," he said.

L/Cpl Brackenbury of the King's Royal Hussars, who was serving with A Squadron, part of the 1 Staffords battlegroup, died when his Land Rover, the first of a convoy of three in the patrol, struck the bomb.

He was declared dead on arrival at the medical facility in the nearby British camp. The other injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter and are now in a stable condition.

L/Cpl Brackenbury joined the Army in 2000 and was promoted to lance corporal earlier this year.

The commanding officer of the King's Royal Hussars, Lt-Col Toby Bridge, described his death as a "desperate loss" and paid tribute to the young solider as a "man of the future".

"L/Cpl Brackenbury lived life to the full," he said. "He had a passion for racing, football and fishing. Above all, we will remember his tremendous sense of humour, and fun, and his willingness to try something new.

"He was definitely a man of the future. L/Cpl Brackenbury was hugely popular and a real contributor to whatever he undertook. His death will be felt by all those who have been privileged to serve alongside him."

The soldier was the second British serviceman to die this month in the area, which is one of the most restive in the relatively tranquil south of Iraq.

Sgt Anthony Wakefield, a 24-year-old Coldstream Guard with 12 Mechanised Brigade, was killed on 2 May in another roadside bomb. He was also stationed at Camp Abu Naji.

The guardsman, who was from Newcastle upon Tyne and had three children, was acting as top cover in the second of two vehicles when the roadside bomb went off.

The widow of the dead serviceman, Ann Toward, 30, blamed Sgt Wakefield's death on Tony Blair, saying that the Prime Minister should not have sent troops to war in Iraq.

There are 8,500 British troops currently based in Iraq. Plans to withdraw some of them by the end of the year have been threatened by the sharp increase in violence since a new government in Baghdad was sworn in on 28 April.

The death brings the toll so far for British forces to 89, including one Fijian national. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said that it was with "very deep regret" that it confirmed L/Cpl Brackenbury's death.

He is survived by his father Stephen, his mother Janet, brother David and sister Faye.