List of U.S. friendly-fire incidents since 1945 with British victims
This is a list of friendly fire incidents by the U.S. Military on allied British personnel and civilians. The topic has become prevalent in British culture due to some recent incidents, and is often satirically portrayed in the media.
Camera footage from a U.S. A-10, as it begins an attack on a British vehicle squadron, March 2003.
Korean War
- 23 September 1950: During the "Battle of Hill 282", three United States Air Force F-51 Mustang aircraft attacked a position held by the British Army's 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, with cannon fire and napalm, killing 17 and wounding 76.[1] This was a result of a improper radio contact by British ground forces with the F-51s and the pilots not being informed by several British forward air controllers of proper air recognition panels.[2]
Gulf War
- 26 February 1991: Nine British soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, were killed and further 11 injured after their Warrior armoured vehicles were hit by Maverick missiles fired by two U.S. A-10 ground attack aircraft.[3] An Oxford inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killings.[4]
- 27 February 1991: Two British soldiers of the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars were injured when their Scorpion armoured vehicles were fired on and hit by U.S. M1 Abrams tanks.[3]
Iraqi no-fly zones
- 14 April 1994: Two British officers were among the 26 Coalition personnel killed in the 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident caused by two USAF F-15s.
War in Afghanistan
- 5 December 2006: Royal Marine Jonathan Wigley died by gunfire from a U.S. F-18 aircraft.[5]
- July 2007: British Guardsman Matthew Lyne-Pirkis, of the Grenadier Guards, was wounded along with three other allied soldiers of the Afghan National Army after being hit by gunfire from a U.S. Apache helicopter gunship.[6]
- 23 August 2007: A bomb dropped by an F-15 killed three soldiers of the Royal Anglian Regiment and wounded a further two.[7] During the subsequent inquest, issues such as inadequate communication equipment and incorrect coordinates from a British forward air controller were raised.[8] The coroner finally stated it was due to the "flawed application of procedures" rather than individual errors or "recklessness".[9]
- 21 December 2009: A British soldier was fatally shot by a US helicopter crew in Afghanistan who thought they were attacking an enemy base. Gunfire from the helicopters left 11 injured on the ground.[10] The coroner criticised the British commanders for the fact Patrol Base Almas was not marked on military maps, for the 'unprofessional' use of grainy images and for insisting there were no friendly forces in the area to the Apache crew.[11]
Iraq War
- 23 March 2003: An RAF Tornado jet was shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile, killing two crewmen.[12][13] Investigations showed that the Tornado's identification friend or foe indicator had malfunctioned and hence it was not identified as a friendly aircraft.[14][15]
- 28 March 2003: British Lance-Corporal of Horse Matty Hull was killed by U.S. A-10 jets as well as five others wounded in the 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident.
- 6 April 2003: During the Battle of Debecka Pass, BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson and members of his crew were injured when a bomb dropped from a U.S. F-15 aircraft hit a friendly Kurdish and U.S. Special Forces convoy, killing 15 people, including BBC translator Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed.[16][17]
gollark: Do most redstone computers even have central clock things? I don't think they can, the delay on redstone wires is really high.
gollark: No, they run on logic gates like in real ones, the underlying principles are very different.
gollark: Electricity does not run on remotely similar laws to redstone.
gollark: Not really, it's more like weird logic gates.
gollark: I've never actually had to do either of those, but my wireless card is a pretty common one.
References
- "Friendly Fire on Hill 282". britains-smallwars.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
- Ian C. McGibbon (1992). New Zealand and the Korean War: Combat operations. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9-7801-9558-3434.
- "Friendly Fire Incidents (Hansard, 24 July 1991)". hansard.millbanksystems.com. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
- "Soldiers' Deaths (Gulf War) (Hansard, 19 May 1992)". hansard.millbanksystems.com. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
- "Pilot error led to marine death". BBC. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- Kay, John (15 January 2008). "New friendly fire shock: Brit hit". forums.canadiancontent.net. London: The Sun. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- "'Friendly fire' kills UK soldiers". BBC News. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- "'Grid mix-up' before Afghanistan 'friendly fire' deaths". BBC. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- "'Flawed' actions led to fatal 'friendly fire' bombing". BBC. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- "Christopher Roney in US 'friendly fire' Afghanistan death". BBC News. 3 September 2012.
- Doward, Jamie (4 September 2012). "US pilots who killed British soldier thought they were attacking Taliban". The Guardian. London.
- "Two die as Patriot missile takes down RAF jet". Stars and Stripes. 24 March 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- "Pilot 'dreamed of RAF career'". BBC News. 26 March 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- Patriot missile: friend or foe? theregister.com
- Tornado crew shot down after friend-or-foe system failed timesonline.co.uk
- "The Iraq friendly fire incident". BBC News. 7 November 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- "'This is just a scene from hell'". BBC News. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
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