Family, friends and colleagues in their hundreds paid their final respects yesterday to Flight Lieutenant Sarah Mulvihill, the first British servicewoman to be killed on duty in Iraq.

Flt Lt Mulvihill, who was based at RAF Benson near Wallingford, died when the helicopter she was in came down following a suspected rocket strike in Basra on May 6. Yesterday the life and achievements of the 32-year-old airwoman were remembered by more than 450 mourners at her funeral at Canterbury Cathedral.

Her coffin, draped in the Union Jack with her hat, sword and medals on top, was followed into the cathedral by 15 members of her family, including her parents Sue and Terry Poole, brother Jason and husband Lee.

Jason paid an emotional tribute to his sister, saying: "Hello sis'. I know I've said so much to you already these past few weeks but you need to know a few things today.

"I miss you so much, we all do, every single one of us here. You meant so much to so many people in so many different ways."

He closed his speech by saying: "I want you to know I'm so proud of you, I still look up to you. I love you, sis'."

This was followed by a tribute from Group Captain Duncan Welham, station commander at RAF Benson, who described Flt Lt Mulvihill as "confident, talented, cheeky, sociable, cheerful, reliable, trustworthy, supportive, loving and outgoing".

He said: "To some she was a good kid, to others our Sarah'," adding: "Her career was full of joy and fun but it was always underwritten by an all-consuming professionalism."

Flt Lt Mulvihill started her career in air traffic control, having caught the RAF bug after joining the local cadets in Canterbury as a youngster. She showed a "healthy disregard" for the rules, "hurtling around the gym" at RAF Benson, said Gp Capt Welham, surpassing everyone "regardless of rank and file".

"This commitment to her sport, and lust for adventure, pervaded everything she did. If I had to choose someone to stand shoulder to shoulder with in the trenches facing the enemy, Sarah would be that person."

He said she met her match "in terms of strength of character and will and determination" in her husband Lee.

Her mischievous character was to the fore when she hid some gin in the air-conditioning ducts so that the "girls could enjoy a civilised gin and tonic", said Gp Capt Welham.

Terry Poole read the poem Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep and the James Blunt song, Goodbye My Lover, chosen by her husband, was played.