Woman among five Basra dead
Flight Lieutenant Sarah Mulvihill, who died in Basra crash
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Monday, 08, May 2006 05:51
The names of the five British troops killed after their military helicopter crashed in Basra have been released and include that of the first British woman to die in action in Iraq.
Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials confirmed that Wing Commander John Coxen, Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman, Flight Lieutenant Sarah Mulvihill, Lieutenant David Dobson and Marine Paul Collins all died following the incident on Saturday.
The Lynx helicopter they were travelling in crashed in the southern city on Saturday, with reports suggesting that it may have been shot down.
Investigations continue to establish the cause of the crash, but the violent and jubilant reaction of Iraqis to the crash has increased tensions in the area, which is usually viewed as more peaceful than more northern regions of Iraq.
Flight Lieutenant Mulvihill, 32, was serving as a flight operations officer at RAF Benson when she died.
She had been an airwoman with the RAF since May 1997 and was described as "one of the RAF's finest" by Captain Duncan Welham, the station commander at RAF Benson. She leaves behind a husband, who is also in the RAF.
Wing Commander Coxen, also from RAF Benson, was born in 1959 and has been with the RAF since January 1983. He was married.
Lieutenant Commander Chapman, 40, of the Royal Navy, was the Commanding Officer of 847 Naval Air Squadron based at Yeovilton, Somerset. He was married with three children.
Two other men stationed at the same squadron also died in the crash. Lieutenant David Ian Dobson, 27, and Marine Paul M Collins, 21, who were both single, were killed.
Marine Collins had only been sent to Iraq in March this year and was almost unable to pursue his "dream" of joining the navy after a motorcycle accident earlier in his life.
"He loved outdoor pursuits and from an early age of ten had wanted to be a Royal Marine," his family said in a statement.
"This dream was nearly spoilt due to injuries sustained in a motor cycle accident; however he fought back, recovered and fulfilled his dream passing out from Commando Training Centre in February 2004. Though his time with the Corps was only short he made many good friends and was never happier than being with his 'brothers in arms'."
At prime minister Tony Blair's monthly press conference this afternoon, he paid tribute to the "heroism" of the five dead Britons and expressed his sympathies to their families.