At the weekend Prime Minister Gordon Brown — who was making a surprise visit to servicemen and women in the region — expressed his ‘disgust and horror’ at the tactics being employed by insurgents in targeting the patrol.

In a separate incident on Friday Lance Corporal Steven ‘Jamie’ Fellows (26) was killed when the Jackal armoured patrol vehicle he was travelling in was caught in the blast of a roadside bomb.

Although the Ministry of Defence do not routinely disclose information relating to wounded personnel, it is understood a significant number of those in the vicinity of the two explosions suffered a range of injuries.

Although felt deeply in Arbroath, the loss of the four men has reverberated across the whole country as Sgt Manuel came from Gateshead, Cpl Birch from Kingsthorpe in Northamptonshire, Marine Davies from Telford in Shropshire and Lance Corporal Fellows from Sheffield.

The Arbroath-based unit is generally favoured by newly-qualified marines from Scotland and the north of England as they are able to remain closer to their families than would be the case if they joined 40 Commando in Somerset or 42 Commando in Devon.

With their counterparts from 42 Commando Group as a part of 3 Commando Brigade, the men of 45 Commando Group were deployed to the northern Sangin Valley district of Helmand Province in early October and are based at a series of forwards operating bases across the region.

While welcoming and appreciating the respect being shown to their fallen comrades by the people of Arbroath and the surrounding area by laying floral tributes at the camp gates, the East of Scotland branch of the Royal Marines Association have asked that donations be made through them to assist the families of those killed and injured on operational duties.