A memorial service was held to mark the 10th anniversary of a Walton soldier’s death.

Born and raised locally and attending Army Cadets in Walton, Major Matthew Bacon, who served in Iraq, was promoted rapidly through the Army ranks.

He was killed on September 11, 2005, at the age of 34 in Basra, where the Army Land Rover he was in hit a bomb.

The service was held at the Walton war memorial. It was organised by RQMS Charlie Cooper of Surrey Army Cadet Force (ACF) and Jim Sewell, a civilian assistant with Surrey ACF, to mark Major Bacon’s death.

On November 14, last year, Major Bacon’s name was unveiled on the Walton war memorial, along with a nearby bench dedicated to his memory in 2011.

His father, Roger Bacon, criticised the delayed publication of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War last month.