A Service of Remembrance was held at sea yesterday in honour of the aircrew who died in a helicopter collision over the Northern Gulf during the conflict in Iraq.

The service was held close to the spot where two Mk 7 Sea King helicopters of 849 Squadron collided, killing seven people – six Royal Navy officers and one US Navy officer on exchange with the British squadron.

849 NAS was represented at the service on the American destroyer by Lt Paul Maloney, who flew out specially from the squadron’s base at Culdrose in Cornwall.

During the service, on board the American destroyer USS Fletcher, Rear Admiral David Snelson, Commander UK Maritime Forces, cast a wreath on to the sea, remembering not only the victims of the collision but all the Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel who died in the recent conflict.

Crew members of the Fletcher were formed up on their ship’s fantail for the service, conducted by rev Chris Luckraft RN, Fleet Staff Chaplain, and Capt Mark Tidd USN, Force Chaplain for US Naval Forces Central Command.

With the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Bayleaf lying close by, Admiral Snelson recited the Ode to the Fallen, which was followed by two minutes of silence.

Meanwhile, three of the handful of surviving World War I veterans led the Remembrance Sunday march-past at the Cenotaph in London – and two of them were Navy men.

Henry Allingham (107) and William Stone (103) rode in an open-topped Austin car dating from 1911 with fellow veteran Norman Robinson (102), an Army man.

Henry, who enlisted in 1915, served as a Naval air mechanic, while William was a stoker who was still under training when the war ended in 1918, and who served at Dunkirk and in the Arctic convoys during World War II – he was fast approaching retirement from the Navy after serving his 22 years when he was required for more active service.

Buglers of the Royal Marines sounded the Last Post after the single gun shot which signalled the end of the two-minute silence, and the Queen laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph.

The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, also attended – he is in the UK to unveil the Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park, London, tomorrow.

Around 10,000 ex-Servicemen and women took part in the march-past in Whitehall, along with more than 1,500 civilians. Among the groups represented were the three Armed Forces, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Merchant Navy, along with prominent civilian organisations such as the emergency services and the Bevin Boys – those who worked down the mines instead of serving in uniform.

Members of the War Widows’ Association marched with the ex-Service contingent.

It is believed there are only 27 surviving veterans who served in the Great War.

Similar services marking Remembrance Sunday took place around the world, including those organised by British troops in Iraq.