A soldier who watched his twin brother die in Iraq on their 24th birthday broke down and sobbed at his funeral.

Corporal John Charles Rigby died on June 22 after being wounded by a roadside bomb.

He and his twin brother Will were both Corporals in the 4th Battalion The Rifles.

His twin was at his bedside in a field hospital in Southern Iraq when he died.

Cpl Rigby’s funeral service took place at The Church of St Mary in the Castle in Dover, Kent.

Cpl Will Rigby broke down and sobbed at his twin’s graveside.

A poem written by Cpl Rigby in tribute to his girlfriend Jess was read out by Padre Paul Wright.

It said: "I no longer feel like I’m chasing shadows when I think of love, when I think of you.

"Our love is natural and constant like the crushing waves upon the timeless, windswept pebbled shores of tomorrow."

His twin brother, who was dressed in Army uniform, read a prayer to the congregation of around 300 people.

A piper from the 2nd Royal Gurkha Rifles played the coffin out of church

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