THE families of two Ellesmere Port war heroes who died while serving their country are to receive a medal in their honour.
The Elizabeth Cross will be awarded to the relatives of Her Majesty’s Forces personnel who have died on operations or as a result of an act of terrorism, along with a Memorial Scroll signed by the Queen, from August 1.
Among these is the family of Corporal Marc Taylor, 27, who was mortally wounded when his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Basra, southern Iraq, in September 2004.
An inquest held in Oxford concluded the anti-tank weapon must have been fired by a civilian and recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
Cpl Taylor, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was a former Whitby High School pupil.
The family of 40-year-old Sean Dolan from Great Sutton, who died instantly from fragmentation wounds to the chest caused by a mortar round in Afghanistan in June 2007, will also receive a medal.
Captain Dolan had removed his body armour prior to being killed in order to gain higher ground to locate Taliban fighters and spot a sniper. An inquest recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
Relatives of RAF Flight Lieutenant Allan Squires, of Clatterbridge but who spent his early years in Ellesmere Port, will also receive The Elizabeth Cross.
The 39-year-old pilot died with 13 of his colleagues when his reconnaissance plane crashed near Kandahar on September 2, 2006, after a suspected technical fault.
