A FORMER pupil of King's School, Worcester, made a return visit to thank pupils for their support during his time in Iraq.

Captain Oliver Doherty, who left the school in 1998, has been serving in Baghdad with the Irish Guards.

During this time, pupils at King's sent letters and parcels to Capt Doherty, aged 27, to show him their support.

Virginia Iles, development officer at King's, said: "We had read in the newspapers how important it was to support our troops as morale was quite low, so we decided to try and track down a serving soldier who had been at King's.

"When we found Oliver, his mother gave us his address - he had no idea we were going to send him letters and parcels."

Mrs Iles said the pupils wrote letters about their time at King's and current news from Worcester, as well as sending magazines, chocolates and gifts.

Mr Doherty visited the school last week to thank them for their support.

"He was very humble and said that their support meant a lot to him," Mrs Iles said. "He talked to them about his time in Iraq and showed them photographs. It was really wonderful for the pupils to meet him."