Difference between revisions of "Friendly fire"

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*Companies A and C of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army engaged each other in an hour-long firefight in the Falkland Islands involving heavy weapons and artillery strikes, resulting eight casualties.
 
*Companies A and C of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army engaged each other in an hour-long firefight in the Falkland Islands involving heavy weapons and artillery strikes, resulting eight casualties.
 
*British Patrol units of 45 Commando Royal Marines fired on a British mortar section who were mistaken for an Argentinian unit in the Falkland Islands, killing five Royal Marines.  
 
*British Patrol units of 45 Commando Royal Marines fired on a British mortar section who were mistaken for an Argentinian unit in the Falkland Islands, killing five Royal Marines.  
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*June 2, 1982: British SBS Commando, Sergeant Ian Hunt, was killed in a firefight with British SAS Commandos in the Falkland Islands.<ref>[http://www.eliteukforces.info/special-air-service/history/falklands Special Air Service (SAS) - The Falklands Conflict]/</ref>
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*June 2, 1982: British Special Boat Service(SBS) Commando, Sergeant Ian Hunt, was killed in a firefight with British Special Air Service(SAS) Commandos in the Falkland Islands.<ref>[http://www.eliteukforces.info/special-air-service/history/falklands Special Air Service (SAS) - The Falklands Conflict]/</ref>
 
*June 6th, 1982: A British Royal Navy HMS ''Cardiff (D108)'' shot down a British Gazelle helicopter in the [[Falkland Islands]]. Four British soldiers on board were killed.<ref>[http://www.naval-history.net/F51opsweek10.htm Part 41. 3 COMMANDO REACHES STANLEY DEFENCES]</ref>
 
*June 6th, 1982: A British Royal Navy HMS ''Cardiff (D108)'' shot down a British Gazelle helicopter in the [[Falkland Islands]]. Four British soldiers on board were killed.<ref>[http://www.naval-history.net/F51opsweek10.htm Part 41. 3 COMMANDO REACHES STANLEY DEFENCES]</ref>
 
*June 11th, 1982: A British Royal Navy HMS ''Avenger (F185)'' ship fired a 4.5 inch explosive shell into a house while shelling a port in Stanley, Falkland Islands, killing three British women and several others were wounded. They are the only British civilian casualties of the war.<ref>[http://www.sama82.org.uk/1982-history-pages/june.aspx Falkland Wars]</ref><ref>[http://www.ppu.org.uk/falklands/falklands3.html Remembering the victims of the Falklands war]</ref>
 
*June 11th, 1982: A British Royal Navy HMS ''Avenger (F185)'' ship fired a 4.5 inch explosive shell into a house while shelling a port in Stanley, Falkland Islands, killing three British women and several others were wounded. They are the only British civilian casualties of the war.<ref>[http://www.sama82.org.uk/1982-history-pages/june.aspx Falkland Wars]</ref><ref>[http://www.ppu.org.uk/falklands/falklands3.html Remembering the victims of the Falklands war]</ref>

Revision as of 14:50, March 25, 2011

Friendly fire incidents are caused by miscommunication among military and friendly forces on the same side. The two most common types stem from errors of targeting and errors of identification.

  • "Fratricide is the employment of friendly weapons and munitions with the intent to kill the enemy or destroy his equipment, or facilities, which result in unforeseen and unintentional death or injury to friendly personnel."[1]

In the confusion of battle, it is easy to shoot one's own comrades in arms, accidentally. [2] Nonetheless, U.S. troops are required to exercise care and can be prosecuted if their negligence results in death.[3]

Friendly fire losses are common in wars, as exemplified by friendly fire attacks on 53 US naval vessels during World War II that killed 186 sailors and wounded 438. These incidents mostly occurred in large-scale amphibious or aircraft carrier operations late in the war.[4]

Historical examples

American Civil War

World War 2

  • August 14, 1944: During Operation Tractable in north of Falaise, Normandy, France, RAF heavy bombers bombed Canadian and Polish troops in error, causing about 490 casualties including 112 dead. The bombings also wiped out 265 Allied vehicles, 30 field guns and two tanks.[5]

Suez Crisis

  • November 6th, 1956: During a raid to capture Port Said, Egypt, a British Royal Navy carrier-borne aircraft attacked the British Army of No. 45 Commando Royal Marines and HQ, causing heavy casualties.[6]

Vietnam War

  • August 11th, 1966: The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Point Welcome (WPB-82329) was on a routine patrol off the coast of Vietnam when they were attacked by USAF warplanes, killing two U.S. sailors and wounded five others. An inquiry blamed the incident on a lack of coordination between the air force and navy on rules of engagement identification procedures.[7]

Falklands War 1982

  • Companies A and C of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army engaged each other in an hour-long firefight in the Falkland Islands involving heavy weapons and artillery strikes, resulting eight casualties.
  • British Patrol units of 45 Commando Royal Marines fired on a British mortar section who were mistaken for an Argentinian unit in the Falkland Islands, killing five Royal Marines.
  • June 2, 1982: British Special Boat Service(SBS) Commando, Sergeant Ian Hunt, was killed in a firefight with British Special Air Service(SAS) Commandos in the Falkland Islands.[8]
  • June 6th, 1982: A British Royal Navy HMS Cardiff (D108) shot down a British Gazelle helicopter in the Falkland Islands. Four British soldiers on board were killed.[9]
  • June 11th, 1982: A British Royal Navy HMS Avenger (F185) ship fired a 4.5 inch explosive shell into a house while shelling a port in Stanley, Falkland Islands, killing three British women and several others were wounded. They are the only British civilian casualties of the war.[10][11]

First Gulf War

War in Afghanistan

  • April 22, 2004: American Ranger Pat Tillman, a former famous football player, was shot and killed by American fire in Afghanistan.
  • August 23, 2007: A USAF F-15 aircraft called in to support the British troops dropped a bomb on these forces due to the incorrect coordinates given to a U.S. pilot by the British Forward Air Controller, killing three privates of 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment with two others wounded. The British Forward Air Controller is currently facing manslaughter charges.[12]
  • September 26, 2007: Two Danish soldiers from the Royal Life Guards were killed by British Javelin anti-tank missiles attack during combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.[13]
  • July 9, 2008: A British Army Apache helicopter open fire on British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, wounding 9 in Upper Gereshk Valley, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.[14]
  • December 5, 2010: A Kiwi-born Private John 'Jack' Howard of 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, serving in the British military was killed by a low-cannon fire from a USAF F-18 aircraft in Nad 'Ali district of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, during a firefight with the Taliban in a bad weather.[15]

Iraq War

  • March 24, 2003: Sergeant Steven Roberts, a tank commander with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was killed when a fellow British soldier manning a tank-mounted machine gun mistakenly fired at him while trying to shoot a wielding Iraqi protester near Basra, Iraq.[16]
  • March 25, 2003: Two British soldiers, Corporal Stephen John Allbutt and Trooper David Jeffrey Clarke, were killed when their Challenger 2 tank was hit by a round fired on from another British tank in southern Iraq.[17]
  • April 2, 2003: A U.S. F/A-18 fighter aircraft was shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile in west of Karbala, Iraq, killing U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Nathan Dennis White of VFA-195, Carrier Air Wing Five.[18]

Further reading

  • Garrison, Webb. Friendly Fire in the Civil War: More than 100 True Stories of Comrade Killing Comrade. (Nashville: Rutledge Hill, 1999). 229 pp.
  • Gauker, Eleanor D. and Blood, Christopher G. "Friendly Fire Incidents During World War Ii Naval Operations." Naval War College Review 1995 48(1): 115-122. 0028-1484

External links


References

  1. ↑ (Eliminating Fratricide In Ground Combat), Defense Update
  2. ↑ It's this combination of increasingly lethal firepower, fluid battlefields, complex communications, and the notorious "fog of war" that can add up to friendly fire losses. (Brad Knickerbocker), The Christian Science Monitor
  3. ↑ Military commanders have occasionally leveled charges of involuntary manslaughter in high-profile friendly-fire cases, such as one in 2002 when Maj. Harry Schmidt, an Illinois National Guard pilot, mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan. But ... there is no uniform, openly published military case law about when friendly-fire cases cross the line from accident to crime . . . " [1]
  4. ↑ Gauker and Blood, (1995)
  5. ↑ Bickers, Air War Normandy, p.122 and p.251,Ian Gooderson, Air Power at the Battlefront, Allied Close Air Support in Europe 1943-45 (London, Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1998)
  6. ↑ The Suez Crisis of 1956
  7. ↑ William R. Wells, II, "Friendly Target," Naval History 1998 12(3): 33-36. 1042-1920
  8. ↑ Special Air Service (SAS) - The Falklands Conflict/
  9. ↑ Part 41. 3 COMMANDO REACHES STANLEY DEFENCES
  10. ↑ Falkland Wars
  11. ↑ Remembering the victims of the Falklands war
  12. ↑ British soldier faces manslaughter charges over Afghanistan 'friendly fire' deaths
  13. ↑ Danish soldiers killed by British friendly fire
  14. ↑ Nine British soldiers injured in 'friendly fire
  15. ↑ Soldier killed by US friendly fire was a New Zealander in British army
  16. ↑ Bureaucratic delay resulted in soldier's death The Guardian
  17. ↑ UK soldiers killed by 'friendly fire'
  18. ↑ Widow of U.S. Naval Pilot Shot Down by Friendly Fire in Iraq Sues Raytheon Company for Wrongful Death
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