Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill (née Poole; 10 June 1973 – 6 May 2006) was a flight lieutenant in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) who died in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, becoming the first British servicewoman to be

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

for more than 20 years. Born Sarah-Jayne Poole in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, she joined the RAF as an airwoman in May 1997. Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill was selected for officer training in October 2001. She graduated from the

RAF College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is respo ...

in April 2002 and was commissioned into the Air Traffic Control Branch. She changed branch in 2003 and after completing Flight Operations Officer Training she was posted to

RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...

. In May 2005 she was posted to

RAF Benson Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) List of Royal Air Force stations, station located at Benson, Oxfordshire, Benson, near Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line st ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

as the Flight Operations Officer with No. 28 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, from where she was detached to Iraq. Married to another serving member of the RAF, Lee Mulvihill, she was on her second deployment to Iraq. She died with four other members of a flight crew when their

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

helicopter was shot down over

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

in southern Iraq. She was 32 years old at the time of her death, and is survived by her parents, her brother and her husband.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulvihill, Sarah-Jayne 1973 births 2006 deaths Royal Air Force officers Women in the Royal Air Force People from Canterbury Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Women in the Iraq War Royal Air Force personnel of the Iraq War British military personnel killed in action in the Iraq War Royal Air Force airmen Aviators killed by being shot down 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Military personnel from Canterbury Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Iraq Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2006