600 in farewell to bomb victim James

MOVING tributes were paid at the funeral of a former Hulme Grammar School pupil who died while on duty as a military policeman in Afghanistan.

Cpl James Oakland was killed by an improvised explosive device in the Gereshk region of Helmand province on October 22.

He was laid to rest on Friday afternoon at Blackley Crematorium, where his long-term girl friend, Lauren Bowyer, paid tribute to her “best friend and soulmate.”

His coffin, draped with a Union flag was carried by six military pallbearers to the sound of one of his favourite songs, “Songbird” by Oasis.

Relatives and friends who gathered to pay their respects heard Lauren talk of the honour of being his girl friend, and of the many happy memories he had given her.

More than 600 mourners attended the funeral and the service was played to a crowd outside through loudspeakers.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Oldham, Councillor Jim McArdle and Councillor Kay Knox, paid their respects and spent time with his friends and family later at the Bower Hotel, Chadderton.

The 26-year-old, of New Moston, known as “Oaky” to his friends served in Kosovo and Beirut before he was posted to Afghanistan two months early to replace a wounded colleague who attended the funeral.

James’s proud parents, Steve and Christine, and older brother Daniel also paid tribute to a brave man who will be “dearly missed and never forgotten.”

His mother said he was “our little Jimmy” and shared her memories of an independent son who had the maturity to leave home at 19 to join the Army, full of hope and ambition.

Cpl Oakland joined the Army in 2002 and transferred to the Royal Military Police the following year