A YEAR after the murder of their sons by an Iraqi mob, the families of six British Red Caps are still pleading with the Government to tell the truth about their deaths.

The soldiers were gunned down as they defended a police station in Majar al-Kabir, south of Basra.

Military policemen Corporal Simon Miller, 21, of Washington, Wearside, and Corporal Paul Long, 24, of South Shields, South Tyneside, were killed with four others by an Iraqi mob on June 24 last year.

The grieving families of Cpl Miller and Cpl Long will mark the anniversary of their sons' deaths and ask why they still have no answers.

Cpl Miller's father John Miller, 53, said: "We are given different versions of events and it makes it really hard.

"The boys had no weapons and no medical equipment, which doesn't make sense, unless it was supposed to be a peaceful mission. They didn't know that there was going to be a problem."

John and Marilyn Miller are spending the day with families of two other Red Caps who were killed, for a memorial service in Wales.

Mr Miller said: "There will be a service and a piper and a bugler. We are also making a memorial in our garden at home for Simon with a bench and a plaque."

Cpl Long's mother, Patricia, and brother, Byron, will spend the anniversary with Mrs Long's daughter, Maria, in her home village in Northampton where there will be a service in the local church.