THE funeral has taken place in Blackwood today of a sergeant in the Welsh Guards from Gwent, who was killed during a training exercise in west Wales last month. Father-of-two Gavin Hillier died on Thursday March 4 in what the Ministry of Defence has called a non-operational training incident at the Castlemartin tank range in Pembrokeshire. People gathered to pay their respects as a horse-drawn hearse bearing Sgt Hillier s coffin - draped in the Union flag - passed along Blaina High Street this morning before moving on to the Sirhowy Valley Crematorium in Blackwood. During his Army career Sergeant Hillier, of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, served across the world, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.