Reg Keys says his son is still with the family in spirit

Lance Corporal Thomas Keys, 20, died with his five colleagues in a mob ambush on 24 June, 2003.

Their families are still demanding answers on why they died while manning a police station north of Basra.

Relatives and former servicemen attended a dedication ceremony for the garden in Llanuwchllyn, near Bala.

For the six families the fight goes on to uncover the truth, and sadly we have no closure Reg Keys

Mr Keys spent six months turning part of a field into a monument to his elder son.

There is a plaque naming all six victims from 156 Provost Company, who were surrounded after taking cover in the police station.

Their deaths represented the largest single loss of life for the British Army in one day since the first Gulf War in 1991.

There are also two groups of statues with their arms around each other, one representing L/Cpl Keys and his family.

His father said he still liked to consider themselves a family of four.

Tom Keys, a former paratrooper, died just before his 21st birthday

"I cannot yet come to terms with the fact that we are now a family of three," said Mr Keys.

"So in other words the three of us that are left are still hugging Tom's spirit. And that's the way we like to think of it, that he is still with us in spirit, if not in body."

Victims of attack Corporal Simon Miller, 21, Tyne and Wear Sergeant Simon Alexander Hamilton-Jewell, 41, Chessington, Surrey Corporal Russell Aston, 30, Swadlincote, Derbyshire Corporal Paul Graham Long, 24, Colchester Lance-Corporal Benjamin John McGowan Hyde, 23, Northallerton, Yorks Lance-Corporal Thomas Richard Keys, 20, Bala

He is still angry at why he believes the six were apparently left defenceless under mob attack.

"The garden will remain open for visitors at any time," said Mr Keys.

"There'll be people welcome to come if they wish to pay their respects.

"But for the six families the fight goes on to uncover the truth, and sadly we have no closure."