The Imber friendly fire incident took place on 13 April 1942 at Imber in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

of Wiltshire during the Second World War. One of the Royal Air Force fighter aircraft taking part in a firepower demonstration accidentally opened fire on a crowd of spectators, killing 25 and wounding 71. Pilot error and bad weather were blamed for the incident.

Incident

On 13 April 1942, the weather was hazy, and six Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hurricanes from No. 175 Squadron RAF and six

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

s from No. 234 Squadron RAF were being used for a demonstration of tactical airpower at Imber, a British Army training ground on

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

in Wiltshire. The event was a dress rehearsal for an upcoming visit by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

and General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and was attended by a number of military personnel. The Spitfires overflew followed by the Hurricanes. Five of the Hurricanes hit the correct targets: several armoured vehicles and mock tanks. The pilot of the sixth Hurricane opened fire at the spectators before continuing with the demonstration. Casualties were personnel killed and The following day the War Office and Air Ministry issued a joint statement: First reports were that 14 had died with forty to fifty injured but this was later revised to 23 killed on the day (16 officers and seven soldiers). Four of the officers were members of the Home Guard. Two other officers died from wounds in the next few days, one on 14 April the other (a Home Guard officer) on 15 April, to bring the total deaths to 25.

Inquiry

The Court of Inquiry found the pilot, 21-year-old Sergeant William McLachlan, was guilty of making an error of judgement and that the weather at the time contributed to the incident. The pilot of the Hurricane had misidentified the spectators as dummies, thinking that they were part of the demonstration when he opened fire. An inquest held at Warminster into the 27 deaths recorded that the deaths were caused by gunshot wounds and attributed to misadventure. The RAF pilot told the inquest he lost sight of the aeroplane he was following in the haze and realised he had made a mistake after he fired. While the coroner said that the pilot was British and not American, McLachlan was an American-born Canadian pilot serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Aftermath

The demonstration for Churchill and Marshall went ahead as planned three days later. McLachlan was killed when he was shot down in his Hurricane over France during a night raid on 29 June 1942. On 13 April 2012, a plaque was unveiled on the 70th anniversary of the incident at St Giles' Church, Warminster.

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Citations

{{coord, 51.234, -2.051, display=title Friendly fire incidents of World War II Accidents and incidents involving Royal Air Force aircraft 1942 in England History of Wiltshire Military history of Wiltshire 20th century in Wiltshire 1942 in military history 1942 disasters in the United Kingdom April 1942 events in the United Kingdom Disasters in Wiltshire 1940s fires in the United Kingdom 1942 fires