16225/13GAZETTE & HERALD: THE MAN in charge of RAF Lyneham has paid a poignant tribute to the servicemen killed in the Hercules crash in Iraq, saying: "They were brothers in arms, united in the love and pride they took in what they did."

Salisbury Cathedral was packed with around 1,600 people, including new Defence Secretary John Reid, for a rousing memorial service on Friday.

The station commander, Group Captain Paul Oborn, spoke movingly of how the events of January 30 2005 had changed the community of Lyneham forever.

Addressing the congregation, he said: "Since then we have tried our best to make some sense of their deaths. Today, I wondered if I should try to link those that we remember to great causes and purposes. But of course this is unnecessary. The truth has nobility enough.

"This team, our boys, gave their all for a people that they barely knew, they fought in a conflict and against an enemy they did not really understand.

"They did not choose to die, but such is the honourable nature of our profession that when the moment of sacrifice alighted upon their own personal battlefields, their feet stood fast, they knew their duty and they honoured the loyalty of their friends and colleagues, their squadrons, their regiments and their service.

"They were professionals, and because of their mission, they were the best. They were great characters, all of them full of fun, mischief and laughter. They lived, laughed and fought together as a team and they died together."

He said the men could be best remembered by "painting them on to our memories and never forgetting them".

Gp Capt Oborn added: "We honour them by remembering their friendship, speaking of them or laughing at their antics, crying over them, raising a glass to them."

He paid tribute to each of the ten men.

He concluded: "Even if you knew few of these men personally, you will remember their names, you will remember the date of their death, you will remember how they died and you will remember those they left behind.

"And for the remainder of our days their lasting memorial will be that remembering."

As servicemen filed into the cathedral the Central Band of the Royal Air Force played Elgar's Nimrod.

The service was filled with many stirring moments, including The Airmen's Hymn, the Dambusters' theme and readings by Wing Commanders Mike Neville and Carolyn Gill.

Speaking after the service, North Wiltshire MP James Gray said the loss left a "huge hole in the centre of the community".

He added: "The tributes Paul Oborn paid were especially apt."

Before the 75-minute service, Gp Capt Oborn declined to comment on the outcome of the ongoing investigation into the cause of the crash.