UK Marine killed in river ambush

A British Royal Marine was killed in action in today when his boat was ambushed in southern Iraq.

Several others were injured in the attack on the Al Faw peninsula, which came as Royal Marines launched their biggest offensive of the war so far, seizing a suburb of Basra a few miles to the north and capturing a clutch of senior Iraqi army officers, according to the latest reports.

The ambush took place as 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines were clearing the waterways on the Al Faw peninsula, where Iraqi resistance is still holding out in pockets. Friday's rocket attack on Kuwait City was launched from the peninsula.

Marines in two landing craft vehicle platforms were checking the river when they came under attack. As the two boats came to a "Y" junction in the river, the first craft continued forward, taking one of the branches while the second, which had halted, came under gunfire, David Sharrock of The Times reported in a pooled despatch.

The first craft retreated immediately out of the firing zone. As the second returned to give support it came under a sustained attack from the riverbank. The wheelhouse was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade and heavy machine gun rounds, seriously injuring three marines.

Another marine was thrown into the river as the craft began to spin and a comrade dived in to rescue him. That left just a corporal to regain control of the craft as the Iraqis continued to fire.

The corporal reached the badly damaged wheelhouse and dragged his comrades to safety behind a bulkhead.

He then drove the craft out of the area, attempting to return to recover his comrades in the water, but was driven back by the intense firing.

The men were later recovered from the water unharmed. The injured Marines were taken to the nearest medical aid unit and given emergency assistance then flown out to a field hospital.

One of the injured was saved by his flak jacket: a ceramic plate insert bore a direct hit. But one of the most seriously injured later died from his injuries. The Ministry of Defence in London said his next of kin had been informed.

An officer who knows the corporal said: "There is no doubt about it, what this corporal did was outstandingly brave.

"It is a tragedy that one died but undoubtedly there would have been more fatalities without this corporal's actions."

The ambush occurred as fierce fighting continued in the satellite town of Abu al Khasib, a few kilometres to the south west of Basra.