Flypast tribute to SW serviceman

An RAF Hercules plane flew over Newton Abbot on Sunday

An RAF Hercules aircraft performed a flypast in Devon on Sunday morning in memory of a local serviceman who was killed in Iraq last January.

Richard Brown, a 40-year-old flight engineer, was one of 10 people killed when their Hercules was shot down.

It was part of events marking the unveiling of a memorial stone in Newton Abbot to those who have died serving their country since World War II.

His mother Lynne Kelly said the ceremony was a fitting tribute.

Distress signal

Mrs Kelly, who lives in Kingskerswell, said: "I just feel that anyone who has given their life in service to their country should be recognised.

"When a small market town like Newton Abbot loses one of its own, it's important that it is recognised."

The RAF C-130K, from RAF Lyneham, sent a distress signal eight minutes after take-off on its way to a US airbase on 30 January 2005.

In December an RAF Board of Inquiry found the most likely cause of the accident, the biggest single loss of British forces in Iraq, was that it was hit by ground-to-air fire.

The other Lyneham crew members who were killed were Flt Lt David Stead, 35, Flt Lt Andrew Smith, 25, Flt Lt Paul Pardoel, 35, Master Engineer Gary Nicholson, 42, Flt Sgt Mark Gibson, 34, and Sgt Robert O'Connor, 38. Acting L/Cpl Steven Jones, 25, was a soldier serving with the Royal Signals and was also a crew member on the Hercules.

Cpl David Williams, 37, was also from on Lyneham and on board. The ninth RAF man on board, Sqn Ldr Patrick Marshall, 39, was from Strike Command Headquarters at RAF High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

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