WAR hero Matthew Hatton died doing what he loved and had signed up to be a career soldier only weeks before he died, his heartbroken parents have said.

Speaking for the first time since the loss of their son, Jill and Phil Hatton paid tribute to a soldier through and through, saying he had never wanted to be anything else.

They told of his love of Army games and films growing up and told how he turned his dreams into reality through years of training and hard work. They also told of the final conversation they had with the 23-year-old, four days before he died.

“We last spoke to him on August 9 and he was very excited and happy because he was in the thick of the action,” said Jill.

“He was doing the job he trained for and he told us that.”

She said they spoke to Matthew by phone every week and regularly sent him parcels of sweets, and British supplies such as ketchup and brown sauce.

Speaking at the family home in Haxby, and surrounded by hundreds of cards, Mr and Mrs Hatton revealed how Matthew’s love of the Army had been born in childhood and turned into a heroic vocation. When his five-year service term was up in June, he immediately renewed it for a further 17 years, which would have taken him to his 40th birthday.

“Matthew was a Beaver, Cub, Scout and Venture Scout and I think that developed his love for the outdoors and adventure,” said Jill. “He loved the challenges and the new skilled he learned in those activities he did, particularly camping and canoeing. As a young boy he would go with a couple of his friends to Strensall Common, making shelters and finding empty shells or whatever they could find, and coming back with a rucksack full of bits of treasure.

“And, emphasising his love of being a soldier, the films he liked were always The Great Escape, The Dambusters, Black Hawk Down and Band Of Brothers.”

Phil said: “He probably decided for sure when he was 14 or 15 and he had trained really hard and found out as much as he could about the Army.

“He got himself fit and filled rucksacks with heavy weights and would bike to Strensall Common or run there. He always carried weights when he walked as well and he prepared himself as well as he could before Army Foundation College and had worked hard ever since on being a good, professional soldier.

“He was also very proud of being incredibly fit. He was a very, very strong person.”

Outside the Army, Jill and Phil said Matthew loved the countryside around York and always made a point of visiting it while home. “His favourite places were Sutton Bank, Goathland, Flamborough and Whitby, Dalby Forest and the Hole of Horcum,” said Jill.“He loved the whole of Yorkshire and often when he was home he would make the effort to go to one or all of those places.”


Family deeply touched by the hundreds of tributes

THE family of Lance Bombardier Hatton say they have been hugely touched by the hundreds of tributes paid since he died.

Mother Jill said: “We have been absolutely overwhelmed really. It’s been wonderful. “We have had over 300 cards and we have had lots and lots of letters and some letters inside cards and we have had some wonderful tributes paid to him by everyone imaginable in the Army and a significant number who knew Matthew as well as you can tell by the detail in these hand-written letters.

“While our hearts are broken, we are very, very proud of what he achieved and that he was so well-respected as a soldier by his comrades and commanding officers.

“That’s not just us – it’s his grandparents, aunts, sisters Vicky and Becky and all his friends as well.

“Thank you to everyone who has been in contact in some shape or form through cards and letters and flowers and just sending their thoughts. It has been a great comfort to us for the past two weeks through this really horrible time that we are going through.”


Matthew died with two comrades

LANCE BOMBARDIER Matthew Hatton was killed in action on August 13, after being caught in a double-explosion in the Sangin area of Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Two comrades, Rifleman Daniel Wild and Captain Mark Hale, went to his aid, but all three were caught by a second blast as they made their way to a helicopter landing area.

The trio were on foot patrol at the time, ahead of the Afghan elections.

L Bombardier Hatton, 23, was a former pupil of Oaken Grove Primary School and Easingwold School, where teachers have since paid tribute.

He had joined 40th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Lowland Gunners) in 2004 after completion of his basic training at the Army Foundation College (AFC), Harrogate, and phase 2 training at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

After completing operational tours in Iraq and Cyprus, he completed pre-deployment training for Afghanistan and subsequently deployed with the 2 Rifles Battle Group in March 2009, initially to the Kajaki area and then to Sangin.

He was bolstering the in-place Fire Support Team there when he was killed.


York Minster funeral

THE funeral of Lance Bombardier Hatton will take place at York Minster at 2pm tomorrow.

It shall be conducted by Canon Glyn Webster and the Reverend Andrew Martlew. Among those present shall be the York civic party, consisting of the Lord Mayor of York Coun John Galvin, the Lady Mayoress Val Galvin, the Sheriff of York Jill Burnett and her consort, Tony Burnett. Lance Bombardier Hatton’s sisters Vicky and Becky will both read poems, while the Reverend Steve Jarratt, vicar of St Mary’s, Haxby, will read from John 14, verses one to six.