Branch of Service

Air Force

Conflict

Iraq (1991-2013)

Gender

Male

Address (at enlistment)

Melbourne, Victoria

School(s) Attended

St Patrick's Catholic College, Ballarat, Victoria

Occupation

Pilot

Next of Kin

Son of John Pardoel; husband of Kellie Merritt of Canberra ACT; father of two daughters, Jordan and India, and a son Jackson.

Burial Place

Woden Cemetery, Canberra: CA/L/B/504Q Catholic Lawn Cemetery.

Final Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Final Unit

47 Squadron RAF

Died in the crash of a RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft north of Baghdad Airport on 30 January 2005 aged 35 years.

Flight Lieutenant Pardoel grew up in Victoria. He enlisted in the RAAF and spent some time studying at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. Flt Lt Pardoel held dual Australian and British citizenship and, after his RAAF service, he enlisted in the RAF. At the time of his death, he and his family had been living in England for three years. His wife and children lived near the RAF Lyneham base in Wiltshire. Pardoel and his wife planned at the expiry of his RAF service in July 2005 to settle in Canberra where her parents lived and they had bought a house in Canberra for this purpose. Pardoel was the navigator in the RAF aircraft in which he lost his life.

The RAF C-130K Hercules crashed 30 kilometres north-west of Baghdad on Sunday, 30 January 2005 at approximately 1635 local time. The aircraft was on a flight between Baghdad International Airport and Balad airbase. In May 2009 the British Ministry of Defence admitted negligence in sending Pardoel "and his nine comrades to war in a plane that was 'not fit for purpose'". It is believed that a single bullet struck the plane's fuel tank, causing it to crash. His funeral service was held at St. Christopher's Cathedral in Manuka. Paul Pardoel is buried in Woden Cemetery.

The Canberra Times - 1 February 2005 (p.1), 2 February 2005 (pp.1,2), 9 April 2005 (p.3), 25 May 2009 (p.1)
Canberra Public Cemeteries http://www.canberracemeteries.com.au/cem_gravesearch.asp