A village in mourning

THERE was anger as well as sorrow in the streets of Lyneham today as it emerged that an Iraqi militant group has claimed it shot down the Lyneham-based Hercules.

Established after the 9/11, attacks, Ansar al-Islam is one of Iraq's older extremist groups and has been linked to al-Qaida.

Flags flew at half-mast and flowers were laid to remember the crew and soldiers who have died, and the church remains open for prayers all day.

And the heartache is not confined to the base.

The entire village is in sombre mood, with thoughts turning to the families left bereaved.

One parish councillor captured the feeling when she said: "Our hearts bleed for the families involved. They were our first thought."

Prayers were said in Lyneham this morning for the dead servicemen and their families.

St Michel's Church was packed with well-wishers wanting to pay their respects.

The Rev Anthony Fletcher a former RAF Chaplain at the airbase led the prayers and lit a special candle normally reserved for Easter.

He said: "We are all still in a state of shock. It's the responsibility of everyone in the village to pull together and help people come to terms with this tragedy."

Meanwhile, the headteacher of Lyneham Infants' School paid tribute to the men who had lost their lives.

Cathy Stanford said: "At this extremely difficult time our thoughts are with the families of all those affected by this tragedy.

"All of us at Lyneham Infants' and Junior schools will do everything we possibly can to provide a caring environment which will offer support to the whole community in whatever way necessary."

Many parents of pupils at the Preston Lane school have connections with the airbase.

Coun Malcolm Petch, chairman of Lyneham Parish Council, said that a letter of condolence would be sent to the station commander.

"Lyneham is a very close-knit community it always has been and it has reacted badly to this tragedy," he said.

"Many villagers have links with the camp either through themselves or through family members.

"It's very sad that the insurgents had to resort to such measures.

"Hercules are very safe aircraft and so we all suspected that this one was shot down." Parish councillor, Jenny Jardine, said: "Our hearts bleed for the families involved. They were our first thought.

"The whole village will share in the grief.

"It's very much one community, the base and the village."

James Gray MP for North Wilts said: "Our prime concern is obviously about the community as a whole. Everyone knows someone serving on the base. And the people who died could be anyone's dad or husband.

"Some people might take this opportunity to say that we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq and that we should pull out now, but I believe we should stay there and finish the job.

"Yesterday we saw some success in the region with 60 per cent of Iraqis going out to vote in the elections.

"Perhaps the families of those who have died may take a little comfort in that they have helped those people achieve democracy."

The Ministry of Defence said that nine RAF crew and a soldier died in the crash at 2.30pm yesterday our time.

The first victim's name to be released Australian, Flight Lieut Paul Pardoel, 35, a father of three from Victoria state who has joint British and Australian citizenship.

His father, John, 78, from Melbourne, said that British High Commission officials rang to tell him and his wife Margaret of their son's death.

"Nobody really knows what's happened," Mr Pardoel said. "I spoke to his group captain at the British High Commission, who happens to know him, and he said it's a pity, he is a nice, upstanding young man."

Paul Pardoel formerly served in the Royal Australian Air Force but was serving with the RAF at the time of his death.

The Australian Defence Force announced the death in a statement.

Investigators are at the crash site today, which has been secured by British and US forces. Wreckage was spread over a large area.

The aircraft one of six deployed to Iraq was travelling from Baghdad to Balad, which north-west of the capital and home to a large US airbase.

Wreckage was spread over a large area.

The disaster came on the first day of Iraqi elections a historic event Mr Blair said could not have happened without troops such as these.

"Without them there could have been no election," he said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the soldiers lost.

"They can be so proud of what their loved ones accomplished."

Base plays a vital role in support

RAF Lyneham has been involved in some of the world's major conflicts, its history entwined with that of the Hercules aircraft based there.

It is currently home to around 50 Hercules transport aircraft and 2,500 personnel.

The station opened as Number 33 Maintenance Unit on May 18, 1940. There were just four officers, one other rank and 15 civilians.

During the next few months the unit swelled and by the end of the year there were 422 civilians, 18 officers and 181 other ranks.

At first the airfield was a grass landing area and work had not even started on hard runways when the base was opened.

In September 1940, an enemy aircraft dropped three bombs on the base, killing five civilian workmen and destroying a building.

On May 1, 1949, the first of the permanent barrack blocks was opened to replace the basic huts.

In 1976, Lyneham became the largest operational base in the RAF when the Hercules aircraft of Number 70 Squadron arrived.

In the 1980s, the biggest operation was the station's involvement in the Falklands crisis.

In 1984, famine relief flights were made to aid the famine relief effort in Ethiopia and they continued until November, 1985.

In the early 1990s, former hostages Terry Waite, John McCarthy and Jackie Mann were flown into the base.

One of Lyneham's biggest operations began on August 6, 1990, when the Kuwait crisis began. Many staff were despatched overseas, including to Germany, Cyprus, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The base subsequently mounted relief operations in Somalia, Rwanda and Montserrat.