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He was adamant about the justice of this war, says widow of the first Briton killed in action

Cahal Milmo
Wednesday 26 March 2003 01:00 GMT
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When Samantha Roberts went on national radio a fortnight ago to explain her reasons for supporting the war her husband had just left to fight, she said her biggest wish was that "he would be back home".

That hope died on Sunday night with her husband, Steven, a sergeant in the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, and the first British soldier in the Gulf to die in combat. The 33-year-old tank commander, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was shot after he left his vehicle to help comrades trying to quell a civilian riot near the southern Iraqi port of Zubayr.

Relatives said yesterday that he had gone into battle with the flag of his native Cornwall flying from his tank. That flag, which his mother, Marion Chapman, said he took everywhere, was found close to him.

Yesterday, in a statement, Mrs Roberts said: "He was adamant he was doing the right thing and said he was doing it for the people back home and the Iraqi people."

A week after her husband left for the Gulf on 5 March, Mrs Roberts was in a discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live and said she wanted him to stay in Britain but accepted war was inevitable. "If there wasn't a war, he would be back home," she said. "That is really what I want to believe; I want to believe he would be back home. But I think it's the only thing to do; I think that's all that's left now."

Sergeant Roberts, who had a child by a previous marriage, was a keen rugby player who had dedicated his life to the Army, joining after he left school, friends said. His mother said: "He made us laugh. He was the most perfect son ever."

The death of the tank commander was followed late on Monday by that of a second British soldier, named yesterday as Barry Stephen, a lance corporal in the 1st Armoured Infantry Battalion of the Black Watch. Friends of the 31-year-old, from Scone, Perthshire, who had been supporting infantry fighting in Zubayr, said he had recently rejoined the Army after a spell as a civilian. He was a veteran of Northern Ireland and had been a member of the regiment's recruitment team. He was sent to Germany this year for mortar training. The Black Watch last lost a soldier in action in 1971.

Sergeant Mark Hudson, a comrade and family friend, said: "We are absolutely devastated. He loved the Army and his family and I take comfort from the fact that he died a hero, doing the job he loved."

Further stories of the 18 British personnel killed in accidents or combat also continued to emerge. Captain Philip Guy, 29, was among eight Royal Marines and attached artillerymen who died when a US Sea Knight helicopter crashed in Kuwait last Friday.

His wife, Helen, is to give birth to their second child within two weeks. She said from the family home in Yelverton, Devon: "My world has fallen apart. Philip was the most perfect, loving and special husband that I could have wished for. I know he died a true hero. He would not have been afraid to go in that helicopter. He had been in helicopters countless times. This would just have been another drop-off to him."

Another marine killed in the crash was named as Major Jason Ward, the highest-ranking British casualty of the war so far. Colour Sergeant John Cecil, of Plymouth, married and with three children, was another victim. Two more of the Cornwall-based Navy personnel killed when two Sea King helicopters collided were named as Lieutenant Philip West, 32, known as "Stretch" because he was 6ft 4in. He was to marry this summer. His comrade, Lieutenant James Williams, 28, was on his first operational tour with the Royal Navy. He lived with his fiancée, Sarah, in Falmouth.

The two RAF Tornado aircrew killed when their jet was hit by a US Patriot missile were named as Kev Main and Dave Williams, from 9 Squadron, at RAF Marham, near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

The death toll

Combatants

American
Killed in combat: 12
Accidental and other
deaths: 7
Missing: 14
Captured: 7

British
Killed in combat: 2
Accidental and other
deaths: 16
Missing: 2

Iraqi
Killed in combat: about 500
Missing: N/A

Other
Killed: 57 Kurds, most from the Komala Islami group

Civilians

American
None

British
Killed: 1 (ITN journalist
Terry Lloyd)
Missing: 3 (one "human shield", two ITN crew members)

Iraqi
162 killed in bombing, according to Iraqi
authorities

Other
Killed: 8 (one French TV journalist, one Australian cameraman, five Syrian bus passengers on the Iraqi border, returning to Damascus, one Jordanian taxi-driver in Baghdad)

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