Cpl. Thomas James Hamilton, left, Pte. Justin Peter Jones, centre, and Pte. John Michael Roy Curwin, right, were killed by an improvised explosive device Saturday in southern Afghanistan. (DND)

Troops and family members gathered at a base in eastern Ontario on Tuesday for the return of the bodies of three soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

One by one, the flag-draped caskets of Cpl. Thomas Hamilton, Pte. John Curwin and Pte. Justin Jones were carried out of the belly of a large aircraft to waiting hearses.

The three New Brunswick-based soldiers became the latest casualties in an increasingly deadly mission when they were killed by a roadside bomb west of Kandahar City last Saturday.

Firefighters and other supporters stand on a bridge in Whitby, Ont., as the hearses carrying Cpl. Thomas Hamilton, Pte. John Curwin and Pte. Justin Jones pass along the Highway of Heroes after their repatriation ceremony on Tuesday. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Bagpipes played as dozens watched the repatriation ceremony at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, about 300 kilometres southwest of Ottawa.

Family members congregated around the hearses, hugging each other and placing single roses upon the caskets.

The hearses then departed for their hours-long trip to Toronto, where the bodies are brought for autopsies.

Supporters holding Canadian flags stood along the stretch of Highway 401, dubbed the Highway of Heroes, as the vehicles drove by late Tuesday afternoon.

"I feel very sorry for the families," said William McQuay, 74, who was among those gathered outside the base to pay respects to the fallen soldiers.

"It's a real sad thing. I feel in my heart the Armed Forces shouldn't be over there. And yet there's still young guys signing up," he told Canadian Press.

Jean, MacKay among dignitaries

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Canada's top soldier, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, were among the dignitaries at the ceremony.

Hamilton, 26, grew up in the small Nova Scotia community of Upper Musquodoboit and was the father of a five-year-old girl.

Curwin, from Mount Uniacke, N.S., was living in Oromocto, N.B., with his high school sweetheart and wife, Laura, and their three children.

Jones, 21, was from the small town of Baie Verte, N.L., and was on his first tour in Afghanistan. Friends described him as a "sweetheart" who actively volunteered in the community.

On the day they were killed, the soldiers were out checking reports that someone was trying to plant a bomb along a road west of the city, when their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb so powerful it flipped the vehicle over.

The three deaths pushed the Canadian death toll in Afghanistan to 103 soldiers and one diplomat. It came just over a week after three other soldiers lost their lives.

A memorial service is expected to be held at their base, CFB Gagetown, in the new year.

With files from the Canadian Press