A deep sense of loss was felt yesterday by Royal
                     Marines deployed in Kuwait after the deaths of eight
                     colleagues killed with four US aircrew in a helicopter
                     crash during the first hours of the ground war
                     against Iraq.

                     They were the first coalition fatalities of the
                     campaign although their deaths were the result of
                     mechanical failure rather than enemy fire, according
                     to US military sources.

                     The eight British soldiers, attached to 3 Commando
                     Brigade, were travelling with four American marines
                     on a US Sea Knight, a helicopter designed 40 years
                     ago and first used in Vietnam.

                     All 12 died instantly. None of their names will be
                     released until all their relatives have been informed.

                     The 7,000-strong Corps of Royal Marines is a
                     close-knit and fiercely proud body of soldiers and the
                     sorrow yesterday was all too apparent at the desert
                     headquarters of 3 Commando Brigade deep in the
                     Kuwaiti desert.

                     So tight is the community that even in the short time
                     I have spent living with them in the desert I had met
                     several of the men who died. We had shared a cup
                     of tea in a tent or chatted in the queue for food at
                     the galley.

                     They struck me as deeply professional soldiers who
                     were proud to call themselves Royal Marines and
                     who would never shirk from following orders into
                     battle if need be.

                     To their colleagues who had known them for years
                     they were also close friends and the shock and grief
                     at the brigade headquarters was strong as the
                     news spread and soldiers heard about old friends
                     who would not be coming back.

                     Defence sources said that while all of the dead were
                     members of 3 Commando Brigade not all of them
                     were Royal Marines. The brigade has a number of
                     British army commando units which provide artillery,
                     engineer and other support. The men's deaths were
                     a dark stain on a day of otherwise positive military
                     news for the Royal Marines as they carried out the
                     highly successfully assault on the Faw peninsular in
                     southern Iraq.

                     A full investigation into the cause of the accident,
                     which happened some miles from Iraq in Kuwaiti
                     airspace, has been launched.

                     Lt Col Ben Curry, a Royal Marines spokesman, said
                     that the crash occurred as troops were being
                     deployed to seize oilfields on the Faw peninsula in
                     southern Iraq.

                     He said: "The aim of the assault was to capture
                     intact an oil pumping station and pipeline valve in
                     order to prevent their destruction by Iraqi forces and
                     the subsequent environmental pollution of the
                     Persian Gulf."

                     The Sea Knight is a bus-like helicopter with two
                     large rotors, used to fly troops from ships at sea or
                     base camps to forward positions.

                     At the headquarters of 3 Commando - the
                     Stonehouse Barracks in Plymouth, Devon, floral
                     tributes were laid. One local resident, Teresa Pope,
                     said: "It's like the Falklands all over again. It is
                     starting to hit home now. You can't live in a city of
                     soldiers and sailors and not feel something."

                     More than 100 telephone calls have been made by
                     relatives anxious to clarify whether the accident
                     involved one of their loved ones.

                     Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday
                     expressed his "personal, and the British
                     Government's condolences to the family and loved
                     ones of the service personnel who perished in the
                     accident".

                     Speaking in Brussels, he said: "This is an illustration
                     of the risks which our very brave young men and
                     women face when going into active service."

                     It is the second accident by a military helicopter in
                     two days following a "hard landing" in northern Iraq
                     by a US aircraft picking up special forces.