A real-life band of brothers have safely returned home from the Afghan frontline.

Lewis, Liam and Sam Arthey, aged 22, 20 and 18 respectively, are all privates with the 2nd Battalion, the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.

The boys, all former Community College Whitstable pupils, saw plenty of action, often bumping into each other on resupply missions between the main bases and the smaller, isolated patrol bases which allowed British Forces to take the fight right into the heart of the Taliban’s former stronghold.

Liam said: “I definitely worried about them all the time.

“Sam and I bumped into each other totally randomly once whilst on patrol – we had a brief chat and then just cracked on.

“Sometimes just seeing that face, your brother, was really good and meant a lot at the time.”

•For full story see this week’s Whitstable Gazette, out on Thursday

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