Body of ex-soldier who fought in Ukraine brought home
· BBC NewsJulian Fowler
BBC News NI south west reporter
The body of a former British soldier killed while fighting in Ukraine will be brought to his parent’s home in County Fermanagh on Friday.
Liam Love, who was 24, will be laid to rest following a funeral service at St Patrick’s Church in Derrygonnelly on Saturday.
He served with the Royal Anglian Regiment for four years and had helped to train Ukrainian conscripts following the Russian invasion in February 2022.
His family said this had a profound effect on him and he left the British Army earlier this year so that he could go to Ukraine to fight.
They received the news that he had been killed by a mortar in Lyman three weeks ago.
'Our final pint'
Liam Love grew up in Coventry and there are plans for a memorial service to be held at Coventry Cathedral at a later date.
His friends have also raised money for a tree to be planted in his memory in the city’s War Memorial Park.
Michael Love said his son was brave and determined.
“When he was in a room you knew he was there.”
Liam made friends with Ukrainian fighters who had come to the UK for training.
Michael said: “The training was all too short because the men were needed back in Ukraine as quickly as possible.
“Liam befriended and kept in touch with them when they went back to Ukraine, but a lot were killed.”
“He gave me a sense that he wanted to be more involved but never did I think that involvement would one day lead him to actually crossing the border into Ukraine.
“He empathised with the Ukrainian people and their plight and I think he felt that he didn’t give enough to the Ukrainian recruits when he was part of the training package.
“So he wanted to go out and help them to free themselves from what the Russians were doing at the time.”
Liam told his parents he was leaving the British Army last Christmas, but it was only later that they found out he planned to go to Ukraine in May.
'I will see you at Christmas'
“My reaction was I was proud at the fact that that was the stance he was going to take but I was also very aware of the dangers that this particular conflict would inflict on combatants,” Michael said.
“It was very clear to Liam, life expectancy wasn’t great so I feared for him, we feared for him, but he was determined that was what he was going to do and off he went.
“We had our final pint, we gave each other a big hug, and then we said our goodbyes.”
Liam kept in regular contact with his parents, updating them each time he returned from action on the frontline.
In September, he was injured after being hit by shrapnel from an artillery shell, and Michael said they did “skirt over the subject” of Liam returning home.
“But he was adamant that his own personal mission wasn’t completed and when he was fit to return to the fight he would; consequently he did.”
'He did believe in what he did'
On 9 October, Michael’s phone rang.
It was a soldier who had been fighting alongside Liam calling to say their son had been killed.
“It was the call I’d hoped I would never have to take, prayed I would never have to take and to be honest with you I actually tried to keep it to the back of my mind that it wasn’t going to happen.
“During his recovery, one of the things he did say to me was that ‘I’m going back but I will see you at Christmas’ so there was a confidence in him that he would see it through to at least Christmas and we would see him again then, but it didn’t happen.”
Over the last three weeks, the family have received messages of condolence from people in Ukraine who knew Liam.
Michael said those messages have given his wife Lorraine a lot of comfort.
Hearing tributes to his son’s bravery, his personality and the respect for his professionalism as a soldier in a foreign army has given Michael a lot of pride.
“I want him to be remembered that he did believe in what he did and despite the discomforts of battle, warfare, his determination to see it through, I want that to be his lasting legacy.
“He wanted to be remembered by a simple quote: 'What we do in life echoes in eternity’ and that will echo with me.
“He was just a brave soul.”