Conquer Club

Troops' anger over US 'friendly fire'

By Patrick Barkham
On the RFA Argus in the Gulf


Three wounded UK soldiers have described how they survived an attack by a US A-10 Thunderbolt anti-tank aircraft that killed one of their troop and destroyed two armoured vehicles.
One of the survivors criticised the US pilot for showing "no regard for human life" and accused him of being "a cowboy" who had "gone out on a jolly".


The US A-10 aircraft circled and came around for a second attack
Another survivor said he stumbled out of the burning wreckage of his light tank and waved frantically to the American pilot to try to halt his second attack.

The so-called friendly fire incident, 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) north of Basra, left one soldier missing, presumed dead, and another in intensive care on RFA Argus, the UK forces' hospital ship in the Gulf.

Another soldier who had been in one of the two destroyed Scimitar light reconnaissance tanks, manned by the Household Cavalry, escaped without injury.

Nursing shrapnel wounds and burns, the three injured soldiers, Lieutenant Alex MacEwen, 25, Lance Corporal of Horse Steven Gerrard, 33, and Trooper Chris Finney, 18, spoke of their bewilderment and anger.

They said the US pilot apparently failed to recognise that their tanks were a British make, with special coalition identification aids and even a large Union flag on another machine in the five-vehicle convoy.

Advanced technology

Lance Corporal Gerrard said: "All this kit has been provided by the Americans. They've said if you put this kit on you won't get shot.

"We can identify a friendly vehicle from 1,500 metres [4,921 ft].

"You've got an A-10 with advanced technology and he can't use a thermal sight to identify whether a tank is a friend or foe. It's ridiculous.

I felt I was going to burn to death. I just shouted 'reverse, reverse, reverse'

Lance Corporal of Horse Steven Gerrard
"Combat is what I've been trained for. I can command my vehicle. I can keep it from being attacked.

"What I have not been trained to do is look over my shoulder to see whether an American is shooting at me."

The two Scimitars, followed by two armoured engineers' vehicles and another Scimitar light tank, set out on a "recce" of a road north west of Ad Dayr, north of Basra in southern Iraq, on Friday.

After coming under fire from Iraqi artillery, they were instructed to investigate a shanty town.

Troop leader Lieutenant MacEwen, 25, with special plastic bags now tied around his hands to treat his burns, described how the convoy tensed as villagers waving white flags approached from behind a large bank on the marshland by the Shatt al-Arab river.

"You could see the white flags above the bank but you didn't know whether they had any intention of surrendering or ambushing us," he said.

White light

Lance Corporal Gerrard said he suddenly heard the distinctive, relentless roar of an A-10's anti-tank gunfire.

"I will never forget that noise as long as I live. It is a noise I never want to hear again," he said.




Widow's emotional tribute
"There was no gap between the bullets. I heard it and I froze. The next thing I knew the turret was erupting with white light everywhere, heat and smoke.

"I felt I was going to burn to death. I just shouted 'reverse, reverse, reverse'.

"My gunner was screaming 'get out, get out'. How I got out of that hole I don't know. Then I saw the A-10 coming again and I just ran."

Lying on his hospital bed, he said the A-10 circled and made a return attack run.

"On the back of one of the engineers' vehicles there was a Union Jack," he said.

"For him to fire his weapons I believe he had to look through his magnified optics. How he could not see that Union Jack I don't know."

Tempting fate

The front two Scimitars, packed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, grenades, rifle rounds and flammable diesel fuel tanks, exploded into flames.

One of the soldiers' colleagues, Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, did not escape the explosion.


The British Scimitars have distinctive markings
Lance Corporal Gerrard also criticised the pilot for shooting when there were civilians so close to the tanks.

"There was a boy of about 12-years-old. He was no more than 20 metres [65.6 ft] away when the Yank opened up. There were all these civilians around.

"He [the pilot] had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy. He'd just gone out on a jolly."

He added: "I'm curious about what's going to happen to the pilot.

"He's killed one of my friends and he's killed him on the second run."

Trooper Finney, who was hit in the leg when the A-10 made its second attack, said all the British soldiers and their families joked about "friendly fire".

He said: "I got a letter off my dad the day before the attack and it said 'Be careful, come home soon and watch out for those damn Yanks'.

"Looks like he tempted fate a bit there."


This is pooled copy from Patrick Barkham of the Times on RFA Argus in the Gulf.

Jolly Roger wrote:

jay_a2j wrote:I mean COME ON! "23 March: UK jet shot down by US missile, 2 killed"


NOW WHY would we be shooting down jets???? Do the insurgents HAVE JETS????????????????????????

Why indeed? the incident ronnie is referring to took place in 2003.

ok - you can stick your head back in the sand now

minihaymanz wrote:well while were on friendly fire incidences

how about that time 4 canadians were killed by a heatseeking bomb launched by americans? not saying that it was on purpose, I guess they could have missed...with the laser guided systems, capable of hitting within 3 feet of the target, it MUST have been on accident.

minihaymanz wrote:oh yes, by the way, im better than you because I'm canadian

jay_a2j wrote:Ethnocentrisem at its best. I am American but do not concider myself "better" then anyone from any other nation. (I am better then alot of people in my own country though) lol <<< that was a joke folks!

jay_a2j wrote:

minihaymanz wrote:oh yes, by the way, im better than you because I'm canadian

Ethnocentrisem at its best. I am American but do not concider myself "better" then anyone from any other nation. (I am better then alot of people in my own country though) lol <<< that was a joke folks!

vtmarik wrote:

jay_a2j wrote:Ethnocentrisem at its best. I am American but do not concider myself "better" then anyone from any other nation. (I am better then alot of people in my own country though) lol <<< that was a joke folks!

No, but you consider yourself better because your a Christian.

Theocentrism is just as much a plague as Ethnocentrism.

mattywuh wrote:I personally don't want the nukes to try to hit you with...

Which leads me to some British politics... Trident anyone?

mattywuh wrote:I personally don't want the nukes to try to hit you with...

Which leads me to some British politics... Trident anyone?

Telvannia wrote:i oppose it
the other less developed nuclear power would not feel the need for nuclear weapons if the whole of the western powers did not have them
we tell them to disarm when we still remain armed
how do we know we will not be taken over by a a dictator that will not use our nuclear arsenal for the wrong perposes?

Joe McCarthy wrote:

Telvannia wrote:i oppose it
the other less developed nuclear power would not feel the need for nuclear weapons if the whole of the western powers did not have them
we tell them to disarm when we still remain armed
how do we know we will not be taken over by a a dictator that will not use our nuclear arsenal for the wrong perposes?

1. Of course those countries would want nukes anyways. Hell, more so, because if we didnt have them they could more easily use theirs. They arent aquiring nukes to defend themselves against the UK, please.

2. The UK isnt going to be taken over by a dictator. Even if it were, you dont scale back your military because you're afraid of what he will do with it, you ramp it up so he cant take over in the first place.