Christina Schmid, widow of army bomb disposal expert Olaf Schmid who was killed on his final day in the field in Afghanistan, talks movingly about her 'irreplaceable' husband.
We armchair warriors consider ourselves well-versed in the sad rituals of repatriation. Flag-draped coffins leaving the belly of a military aircraft, the convoy of hearses through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett, relatives with flowers and tears. It's now a deep, familiar colour in the weave of national life.
We armchair warriors consider ourselves well-versed in the sad rituals of repatriation. Flag-draped coffins leaving the belly of a military aircraft, the convoy of hearses through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett, relatives with flowers and tears. It's now a deep, familiar colour in the weave of national life.
But our understanding of a dead soldier's homecoming stops at the lychgate and the crematorium steps. Only the bereaved have to look beyond that. They know another kind of repatriation is awaiting them.
Continues at: Telegraph.co.uk - Christina Schmid: Olaf and I were everything to each other
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