A man has told how he trained alongside one of the Colchester-based soldiers murdered by an angry mob in Iraq this week.

Lance Cpl Steven Cross, from Canvey, was in the same platoon as Military Policeman Lance Cpl Benjamin Hyde, one of the six men killed in the attack.

Both men trained at Winchester Barracks with the Adjutant Generals Corps.

Steven, 23, said: "I was horrified when I heard the news. We trained together."

Steven could easily have been serving out in Iraq alongside his pal, if not for a career decision made back in 1998. He now works as a technical clerk for the Army.

Published Friday, June 27, 2003

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