The widow of one of the first British servicemen to die in the Gulf War today described her husband as the perfect father to their 20-month-old son.

Captain Philip Guy was one of two soldiers from the Bradford district to have been killed in the first week of the Iraqi war.

The first British serviceman known to have died in combat was today named as Sergeant Steven Roberts, a 33-year-old father, of Shipley.

And Captain Guy, 29, of Skipton, was named as being among eight Royal Marines and four US servicemen who were killed when a helicopter crashed on its way back to Kuwait after completing a mission early last Friday.

Cpt Guy and his wife Helen were married at Holy Trinity Church in Skipton in November 2000. They bought a house in the town only weeks before he was sent to Kuwait.

They have a 20-month son, Henry, and Helen is expecting their second child in the next few weeks.

Today, Mrs Guy said he was a perfect husband, father and soldier who had died "a true hero".

"My world has fallen apart. Phil was the most perfect, loving, special husband that I could have wished for," she said.

"He loved me and our son Henry so very, very much. All he ever wanted to do was to provide for us, to be a good husband to me, and father to Henry and our unborn child.

"He was a true professional in his job, always striving to be the best that he could be, the fittest that he could be.

"He was so very well loved and admired by all the people who he had met through his work; we had both made many lifelong friends.

"He was the most brave, courageous man you could ever imagine; tough and steadfast, honest and true.

"He would not have been afraid to go in that helicopter. He had been in helicopters countless times before. This would have been just another drop off for him.

"I know he died a true hero. He died for his Queen and country and to make the world a safer, better place for us to live in, for his children to grow up in."

Cpt Guy, whose parents Stuart and Anne Guy farm at Bishopdale in the Yorkshire Dales, joined the Royal Marines in 1995 after graduating with a BA from Salford University.

He was awarded the Marines Medal by his fellow officers for his courage and unselfishness during training.

He was qualified as a paratrooper and in mountain and arctic warfare, spending several weeks every year training in Norway.

During the past five years Cpt Guy has served in Bosnia during the Balkan crisis where he gained the Bosnia medal and then in Afghanistan where his troop was searching the caves for arms.

Sgt Roberts, who was serving with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was shot during a riot by civilians on Sunday near Al Zubayr, south west of Basra. He died yesterday, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

He was married with a child from a previous marriage. His wife Samantha and his family have been informed of his death.

An MoD statement said the death was announced "with deep regret" and appealed for privacy for his grieving family.

The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment is serving in Iraq as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Desert Rats, and is based in Fallingbostel, between Hanover and Hamburg, in Germany. The force is well known for its use of the Challenger 2 main battle tank.

Some of the strongest resistance of the war so far has been faced by the Desert Rats in the Basra area.

Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen militia and security services, some of them armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, have tried to trick British forces by flying white flags before opening fire and by wearing civilian clothes.

Iraq War latest from our US bureau