Hercules crash servicemen named

Flags were flown at half-mast at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire

The 10 UK servicemen feared killed when an RAF Hercules crashed in central Iraq on Sunday have been named by the Ministry of Defence.

The plane crashed 25 miles (40km) north-west of Baghdad. Eight of the men were from RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire.

The al-Jazeera TV channel has broadcast apparent claims by insurgents that they shot down the aircraft. The MoD has not verified this.

The UK has sent a senior official to Iraq to investigate why it crashed.

Largest loss

The men's deaths would represent the largest single loss of British life in Iraq since military action began.

The eight men from RAF Lyneham were Flt Lt David Stead, 35, Flt Lt Andrew Smith, 25, Flt Lt Paul Pardoel, 35, Master Engineer Gary Nicholson, 42, Ch Tech Richard Brown, 40, Flt Sgt Mark Gibson, 34, Sgt Robert O'Connor, 38, and Cpl David Williams, 37.

Australian Flt Lt Paul Pardoel, 35, with wife Kellie

A ninth RAF man on board, Sqn Ldr Patrick Marshall, 39, was from Strike Command Headquarters, at RAF High Wycombe.

Acting L/Cpl Steven Jones, 25, was a soldier serving with the Royal Signals and a crew member on the Hercules.

The MoD said it was confirming their names with "very deep regret".

The plane had been on its way to Balad, where about 25,000 US troops are based.

The BBC's Mark Urban said, based on the squadron unit members on the flight, the aircraft was "clearly supporting special operations".

But the MoD said the plane had been on a routine transport flight.

A spokesman said he was not aware of British troops being based at Balad, but it was used on occasion by British forces. The MoD did not comment on special forces' operations, he added.

He was always such a happy guy, easy to be around. It's terribly sad Clare Bateman-Jones, cousin of crew member Details of crash victims

The Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair have both expressed their sympathy, and floral tributes have been left outside RAF Lyneham.

Princess Anne, who is Honorary Air Commodore of Lyneham, paid a visit to the base on Tuesday and spoke to colleagues of the missing crew.

"The Princess wished to show her support to the squadron who, this week, have lost a number of their colleagues in Iraq after the crash of a Hercules aircraft there," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

Station commander Gp Capt Paul Oborn paid tribute to "one of our best" crews.

"The whole of RAF Lyneham feels this loss intensely," he said.

Clare Bateman-Jones, a cousin of crew-member Flt Sgt Gibson, said the news had come as a "great shock".

Video footage

"Mark loved being in the RAF and couldn't wait to join when he left school at 18. He was always such a happy guy, easy to be around, very laid back. It's terribly sad," she said.

The video shown on al-Jazeera was reported to have come from insurgents who claim they shot down the plane.

It showed burning wreckage on the ground, although it was not certain that the wreckage was that of a Hercules C-130.

A spokesman for the news channel said the video came from a faction of the 1920 Revolution Brigade, a group named after the uprising against the British after World War I.

The MoD has said it will not be able to confirm the cause of the crash until investigators have completed the examination of the wreckage - something which could take weeks because of the marshy terrain and hostile local forces.

The MoD has a phone number for concerned relatives to call: 08457 800 900