The 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident was a
friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while eng ...
incident involving two
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
(USAF)
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
190th Fighter Squadron A-10
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republi ...
, and vehicles from the United Kingdom's D Squadron, The
Blues and Royals
The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) (RHG/D) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment. The Colonel of the Regiment is Anne, Princess Royal. It is the second-most senior regiment in ...
of the
Household Cavalry
The Household Cavalry (HCav) is made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). These regiments are divided between the Household Cavalry Regiment st ...
, and took place on 28 March 2003 during the
invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
by armed forces of the United States and United Kingdom. In the incident, the two USAF A-10s fired on and destroyed two Blues and Royals armored vehicles, killing one British soldier, and wounding five others.
Although not the only fratricide incident during the invasion, the circumstances of the inquest into the death of British
lance-corporal of horse
Lance Corporal of Horse (LCoH) is an appointment unique to the Household Cavalry of the British Army, equivalent to Lance Sergeant in the Foot Guards. It was introduced in 1971. On promotion to Corporal, an NCO is automatically appointed Lance ...
Matty Hull – and the subsequent verdict of
unlawful killing
In English law, unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales when someone has been killed by one or more unknown persons. The verdict means that the killing was done without lawful excuse and in breach of ...
– led to much media scrutiny in the UK. This was related to the release of video evidence from the attacking aircraft, and perceived levels of cooperation by government agencies of both the United States and United Kingdom with the British inquest.
Operation Telic – 28 March 2003
The Blues and Royals were serving as an armoured reconnaissance element for
16th Air Assault Brigade
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...
. Four vehicles from D Squadron, two
FV107 Scimitar
The FV107 Scimitar is an armoured tracked military reconnaissance vehicle (sometimes classed as a light tank) used by the British Army. It was manufactured by Alvis in Coventry. It is very similar to the FV101 Scorpion, but mounts a high-veloci ...
s and two
FV103 Spartan
FV103 Spartan is a tracked armoured personnel carrier of the British Army. It was developed as the APC variant of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family. The vehicle can carry up to seven personnel, including three crew members. Armed ...
s, were moving north of the main force, patrolling the
Forward Edge of Battle Area. The area of the patrol had been declared as a ''no engagement zone'' to the allied forces and the vehicles were marked with the agreed coalition
Combat Identification
Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is an identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an ''interrogation'' signal and then sends a ''response'' that identifies the broadcaster. IFF systems usual ...
markings including orange overhead canvas panels, thermal reflectors and
Union Flag
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
s.
Two
A-10 Thunderbolt II
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...
aircraft of the
Idaho Air National Guard
The Idaho Air National Guard (ID ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Idaho, United States of America. It is, along with the Idaho Army National Guard, an element of the Idaho National Guard.
As state militia units, the units in the Idaho Ai ...
,
190th Fighter Squadron were completing a two-hour mission; engaging artillery and rocket launchers of Iraq's
6th Armoured Division, dug in north of
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
. The aircraft were guided to their targets by US Marine Corps
forward air control
Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC).
...
lers, embedded with British ground units, and flown by a major and an
lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
on their first operational flight of the invasion. According to media reporting of the subsequent investigation, the flight was commanded by the major.
From an altitude of , the aircraft spotted Iraqi vehicles 800 yards north, and the British patrol less than three miles (5 km) west. Following dialogue with the Forward Air Controller (FAC) and between the aircrew, the British convoy was engaged by the A-10s in a gun and rocket attack which left the vehicles disabled. The British soldiers exited the vehicles, taking cover underneath the hulls. The aircraft conducted a second attack, resulting in the death of L/CoH Hull, still within his
Scimitar
A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...
.
Trooper
Christopher Finney
Christopher Finney, (born 23 May 1984) is a former British soldier of the Blues and Royals who was awarded the George Cross for bravery under friendly fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Finney grew up in Marple, near Stockport, before moving ...
, 18, driving the lead Scimitar, re-entered his burning vehicle calling a
Mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
report on his still-functional radio. Trooper Finney then dragged a badly wounded L/Cpl Tudball from the burning vehicle before attempting to recover Hull in the second Scimitar, but being beaten back by exploding
munitions
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
and heat. For his actions, Trooper Finney was later awarded the
George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
, the highest award for gallantry "not in the face of the enemy."
As well as the death of Hull, a further five soldiers were injured.
Boards of inquiry
The
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
conducted an investigation into the incident in 2003, but the results of that investigation were not publicly released, and did not result in a court-martial. Subsequent reporting of the US Air Force investigation states that the investigation found fault with both pilots' actions in the incident, including, "findings of cognitive and physical task overload, ineffective communication and failure to recognise identification panels by the two pilots." The investigation report recommended administrative or disciplinary action against both pilots. Higher
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
officials, however, cleared both pilots of any wrongdoing.
A
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
Board of Inquiry (BoI) was held in 2004, the findings of which, among others, stated that the major authorised the lieutenant colonel to attack, but no authorisation was given by controllers on the ground.
The report was released to the family of Lance Corporal Hull and later to the public. It has been alleged that certain
classified material available to the BoI was withheld from the family.
Inquest into the death of L/CoH Hull
![FV107 CVR(T) Scimitar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/FV107_CVR%28T%29_Scimitar.png)
At the time, the bodies of those service personnel dying overseas were repatriated to the UK via
RAF Brize Norton
Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney.
The station ...
, leading to the responsibility for inquests being under the civilian jurisdiction of the
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
coroner
A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
. An inquest into the death of L/CoH Hull was convened in 2006, presided over by Assistant Deputy Coroner
Andrew Walker.
Discussion prior to the inquest
The stated position of the United States government is that US servicemen do not attend non-US courts, with written statements normally being provided.
British media reported that the UK government had pressured the US government, via the US embassy in London, to release all evidence related to the incident. A meeting between Constitutional Affairs Minister
Harriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...
and Deputy Head of Mission, David Johnson, was reported on 20 November 2006 where assurances were given that concerns of the UK government over the US policy on attendance were to be relayed to Washington.
Harman reiterated this position on 1 February 2007, highlighting the request for evidence and indicating that the US personnel could not be compelled to attend the inquest.
Conduct of the inquest
The inquest took oral testimony from the various British personnel associated with the incident, including those in the convoy, and a FAC who expressed the opinion that the aircrew were acting independently. Walker commented on the actions of L/Cpl Finney GC, stating: ''"You are a brave man. You are to be commended for what you did."''
It was publicly acknowledged during the inquest that a cockpit video of the
head-up display
A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
from one of the aircraft existed, which media reports indicated had been shown to the BoI, but not released to Hull's family with the findings.
The video was shown to the coroner in private, although permission to use it in public was refused by the Ministry of Defence, citing international agreements related to the release of classified information, and the US classification of the tape as
secret
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controvers ...
. This adherence to international protocols led to significant criticism in the British media, leading to a public statement by Armed Forces Minister
Adam Ingram which reiterated the requirement for US de-classification of the video and highlighting ongoing engagement to achieve that.
Media reporting indicated that the MOD had previously denied the existence of the video.
On 2 February 2007 Walker opted to adjourn the inquest until the video could be displayed in open court.
Unauthorised leak and subsequent de-classification of video evidence
The video was leaked to ''
The Sun''
tabloid newspaper, and reported on 6 February 2007, as well as published on the newspaper's website. The newspaper indicated that the leak had come from a US military source. The US government subsequently announced that the video would be declassified, but noted that the leak was likely to be a criminal offence.
The video released was 19 minutes long, and was accompanied with recordings of cockpit audio and radio communications.
British media allege six errors on the part of the aircrew:
![190thKohntopp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/190thKohntopp.jpg)
# The pilots asked the Forward Air Controller ("Manila Hotel") if friendly forces were around the Iraqi vehicles – not to the west.
# Neither pilot gave the precise grid references for the Household Cavalry patrol to double check its identity.
# The pilots convinced themselves that the orange identification panels were in fact orange rocket launchers.
# POPOV36 decided to attack, saying he is "rolling in" without permission from the
Forward Air Controller
Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC).
...
.
# POPOV35 asked for artillery to fire a marker round into the target area to clear up confusion, but POPOV36 attacked without waiting for it.
# POPOV36 strafed the column for a second time, but still doubted its identity.
The audio track includes debate over the identity of the targets and the order, from the FAC, to disengage identifying a likely "
blue-on-blue" incident. The audio track also includes notification of one death and several injuries with the order to return to base. Subsequent audio indicates the pilots crying and their frustration.
A statement released by the Oxfordshire coroner's office later confirmed that Walker was of the view that, being in the public domain, the video could now be presented as evidence without the approval of the US government, and that the inquest would resume on 12 March 2007.
On 6 February 2007 the ''Sun'' named POPOV36 as Colonel Gus Kohntopp, a commercial pilot for
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
and member of the
Idaho Air National Guard
The Idaho Air National Guard (ID ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Idaho, United States of America. It is, along with the Idaho Army National Guard, an element of the Idaho National Guard.
As state militia units, the units in the Idaho Ai ...
. The British inquest was set to resume on 12 March 2007.
Inquest reconvened
The Oxfordshire inquest resumed as scheduled on 12 March with testimony from a British FAC involved in the incident, who stated that the incident would not have happened if the two U.S. pilots involved had followed the same procedures that UK pilots must follow in the same type of situation. On 13 March, the same British FAC testified that POPOV36 committed a "catalogue of serious failures" when he shot at the British vehicles in the incident, including "ignoring crucial warning signs, attacking without permission, and failing to wait for an artillery shell marker on a proposed target." After the inquest revealed that portions of relevant evidence from the U.S. investigation into the incident were blacked out in the copy of the report given to the inquest, Matty Hull's widow made a personal appeal to U.S. president
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
for the information to be released to the inquest.
Inquest verdict
On 16 March, coroner Andrew Walker returned a narrative verdict, stating that the killing of Hull was "
unlawful". Walker said: "The attack on the convoy amounted to an assault. It was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it and in that respect it was criminal." Neither of the two U.S. pilots involved nor any other representative from the U.S. government appeared at the inquest, despite numerous requests from Walker, Harman, and Hull's family to do so.
Research focused on the incident
As a rare case where video of an incident of fratricide or 'friendly fire' has become publicly available, the case has attracted a great deal of interest among researchers interested in exploring the question of why such incidents occur and what might be done about them. Drawing on the sociological research traditions of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, the work of Nevile and the work of Elsey, Mair, Smith and Watson, among these, has offered detailed accounts of how the incident unfolded in real-time as well as how it was subsequently investigated by the various military and non-military inquiries after-the-fact. In the course of their research, Elsey, Mair, Smith and Watson developed an alternative version of the transcript, based in part on the detailed information released in the USAF Friendly Fire Investigation Board Report,
to make it easier to follow the incident's interactional dynamics. The transcript is available open access.
See also
*
List of post-1945 U.S. friendly-fire incidents with British victims
*
East Knoyle War Memorial
The East Knoyle War Memorial is a monument that commemorates the lives of soldiers from East Knoyle, Wiltshire, England, who were killed in war. Unveiled on 26 September 1920, it was originally intended to commemorate the 20 soldiers from the p ...
References
Notes
Web
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:190th Fighter Squadron, Blues And Royals Friendly Fire Incident
21st-century history of the British Army
21st-century military history of the United States
Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft
Conflicts in 2003
Friendly fire incidents
Household Cavalry
Iraq War legal issues
Articles containing video clips
March 2003 events in Iraq
United Kingdom–United States military relations
2003 in Iraq