Bloodiest month: UK suffers largest post-war losses

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In May, 11 Britons were killed in Iraq. These are the worst losses since the war ended, prompting more calls for a British withdrawal

If proof were really needed of the bloodbath that Iraq has come to represent for occupying British forces, then May 2006 has delivered it. The month which ends today has been the bloodiest for Britain since Iraq was occupied three years ago, leaving 11 Britons dead, many injured and the calls for withdrawal more urgent than ever before.

As the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, admitted yesterday that the "spike " in insurgent violence was a source of "major concern," two former defence ministers warned that withdrawal was imperative amid the signs of deepening chaos. Doug Henderson, a former defence and foreign minister, called for an "orderly withdrawal" of British forces. " It is very difficult for our troops. There is no sense of the job being done," he said. Peter Kilfoyle, a former armed forces minister, added: "A decision has to be made very shortly whether we are serving any useful purpose in Iraq any longer. I don't believe that is the case."

Their comments came as details emerged of the latest young British soldiers to perish in Iraq: Lt Tom Mildinhall, a brilliant sportsman, scientist, musician and army officer, and L/Cpl Paul "Fas" Farrelly, of Runcorn, Cheshire, a committed family man who leaves a wife and three children. Lt Mildinhall was more acutely aware than most of the risks attached to serving in Iraq. On 15 April, he lost his friend Richard Palmer, a member of the same Durham University college tutor group, to a roadside bomb near Ad Dayr, north of Basra.

Lt Mildinhall and L/Cpl Farrelly died in the same way, when their armoured Land Rover was hit by a roadside bomb at Gizayza, north-west Basra, on Sunday evening. "We have lost a beautiful, talented and loving son for ever," said Lt Mildinhall's parents, Colin and Susan, from their home in Battersea, south London. "Our world is in pieces and our country has again lost one of its best."


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article622117.ece