GAZETTE & HERALD: WING Commander Mike Neville who commands 47 Squadron at RAF Lyneham and who lost five of his men in the crash in Iraq, has written about the squadron on the Lyneham website.

He said: "Number 47 Squadron is one of the largest and most distinguished squadrons in the RAF.

"As with all C130 squadrons we are always the first to arrive and the last to depart a theatre of operations. However, what many people fail to appreciate is what we do in between.

"Our tasks range from standard strategic air transport to the most demanding of low-level NVG missions, inserting Special Forces where they are most needed to affect the outcome of the larger strategic battle.

"No 47 Squadron is one of two C130 K Type squadrons at RAF Lyneham that operate in the Transport Support Role.

"Formed in March 1916, the squadron saw its first action in Salonika against the Bulgarians.

"In 1919 the Squadron was sent to southern Russia to help support White Russian Forces in their ill-fated attempt to repel the Bolshevik armies.

"During the Second World War the Squadron operated Beauforts and Beaufighters in the Mediterranean and Mosquitos in India and Burma.

"In 1971 it moved to Lyneham.

"The Squadron has been involved in numerous deployments and famine relief in the Sudan, Belize, Nepal, Australia, Italy, Cyprus, Turkey, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Somalia.

"In 1982 the Squadron was involved in the Falklands campaign and flew the first Hercules aircraft into Kuwait after the expulsion of the Iraq forces in the Gulf War.

"Following the break up of former Yugoslavia, the squadron operated daily resupply missions to relieve besieged cities, and has evacuated people from Eritrea and Sierra Leone.

"The Squadron also has close links with the community and has officially adopted the St Nicholas School for Mentally Handicapped Children at Chippenham.