How many US troops have been killed by British friendly fire in Iraq war?

Question

In the first gulf war Britain lost more troops to US 'friendly fire' than they did to enemy action from Iraq. How many troops has the US lost to 'friendly fire' from British troops in the current Iraq war?

Toby - could you give examples? Of US troops killed by British friendly fire (not the other way round)?

As for Turbo - words fail me - and him, it seems!

doctdon - can't really believe you said this - why on earth would any country ever send troops to fight alongside US troops if it doesn't matter if the US kills them?

Answer 1

There have been no well-publicised incidents of US losses to British friendly fire that I know of, and considering how the British media loves bashing the government over the Iraq war, any incident like this would have been well-publicised.

This may however be due to the fact that the US forces have most of the military hardware (aircraft, helicopter gunships etc) that's most capable of inflicting remote damage to a target. The further away you are from what you're shooting at, the more likely it is you're going to hit something you weren't supposed to.

I do agree that some troop losses, even by friendly fire, are inevitable, and that people do seem to have forgotten that in the First World War there were 700,000 men lost just by the UK, making the numbers lost in Iraq in the same amount of time barely a drop in the ocean.

However, every time soldiers are killed or wounded, especially by friendly fire, there should be an analysis of what went wrong. The most simple answer, to paraphrase from House, is almost always "somebody screwed up". But an investigation isn't necessarily about pointing the finger, it's about isolating what went wrong, be it incorrect intelligence, lack of co-ordination between allies as may have been the case with the most recent incident, or simple human error. Anything learned from the investigation could save lives, among armed forces and civilians, and this is exactly why such investigations are conducted.

Answer 2

'Friendly fire' casualties, or Blue on Blue's, as the British (and probably American) armies call them, are an inevitable part of modern warfare. In previous wars, less reliable munitions and weapons systems caused far more of them. In the First World War, getting hit by artillery 'falling short', and killed by your own gunners was a real danger.
A friends grandfather - a machine gunner during WW1 - recounted that when faced with a massed infantry attack it had been necessary to lay down continuous fire in the direction of the enemy, even when it was clear that the fire would kill many of your own troops between the machine guns and the enemy.
In WWII, during the assault on Berlin, a huge artillery fire plan was executed by the soviets on a wood packed with their own forward troops.
In the Falklands, poor visibility at night combined with tight operational security, resulted in two groups of special forces (marines and SAS) engaging in a fire-fight.

This is tragic, and unavoidable. What is contemptible is when people try and make political capital out of these incidents, and when those who would run a mile before intervening in a schoolyard fight or helping a policeman in a pub brawl, use the chance to criticise those in the armed forces.

Armchair generals seem to be getting younger.

-

Answer 3

I think that this is a very unfair question. No soldier whether US or Brit want to kill another soldier on his own side. But in the heat of a gun fight tragic mistakes are sometime made. I am an ex British soldier with the Royal Artillery and have been engaged in a few fire fights and have seen how easy mistakes can be made such as wrong coordinates or wrong range given to the guns. You guys sitting at home in front of your computers my message is this. The brave soldiers of both countries need these remarks like a hole in the head

Answer 4

Many US & UK troops have died in Iraq in non combative situations, accidents & friendly fire. This is not the time or situation to be slinging mud at the Americans for a very embarrasing and grave mistake they have made. It does not help anyone. My thoughts are with the families of those young brave men.

Answer 5

There have been thousands of deaths in many battles caused by "friendly fire" or "blue on blue". The battle of the Bulge in WW2 was probably the worst case.
Dont think that it only happens to British soldiers. The Americans have killed plenty of their own troops too. Its that good ole "gung ho" spirit...!

Answer 6

Why does it matter? I don't think this is something that should be published because all it does is create unnessessary hard feelings. And for what? When a soldier dies in combat, why tarnish the heroic memory of the soldier by pointing fingers. Friendly fire has happened since battles were fought with stones and spears. You missed my point. This happens to all sides. British, U.S. etc. I'm saying it happens and these arguments just cause trouble and you wind up in discussions like this one. It's pointless.

Answer 7

None that I am aware of. I'm sure the Americans wouldn't have let it happen without bringing it up. (Not having a go, just stating a fact, they're not exactly backwards at coming forward is all I meant).

As for Turbo, I think he needs to read your question again and actually pay attention to the wording this time!

Answer 8

Britain has 2000 years of history many of which were fighting wars! and winning many of them. the Americans have what? around 500 years of history! and the wars the've participated in have in almost every case ended with American loss...

Look at the mess your in in Iraq, can't even sort out a bunch of ill trained under funded iraq'is....

And the Americans look on themselves as the worlds police force, God help us all.......


edit: almost forgot, The most advanced weapons in the world, spy systems, air force,thousands of troops and still caos!

Answer 9

The British are just as equally as responsible for friendly fire incidents in Afghanistan. More British soldiers were shot by their own side than the Americans. The reason why Americans have more friendly fire incidents because we did most of the work there than 25 NATO nations combined. The USAF and the USN provided more air support to the allies than all 25 NATO nations combined, therefore friendly fire incidents will likely occur among the US.

The U.S. has been responsible for 4 British military deaths in Afghanistan/Iraq:

Iraq - March 23 2003: A U.S. Patriot missile shot down a British Panavia Tornado GR.4A of No. 13 Squadron RAF, killing the pilot and navigator. Investigations showed that the Tornado's identification friend or foe indicator had malfunctioned and hence it was not identified as a friendly aircraft. Therefore, a faulty maintenance and equipment failure caused it, not the U.S. so who's to blame?

Iraq - March 28, 2003: A pair of U.S. A-10s from 190th attacked 4 British armored reconnaissance vehicles of the Blues and Royals, killing 1 and injuring 5.

Afghanistan - 5 Dec 2006: An F/A-18C on a Close Air Support mission in Helmand Province mistakenly attacked a trench where British Royal Marines were dug-in during a 10-hour battle with Taliban fighters, killing 1 Royal Marine.

The British have been responsible for 15 British military deaths in Afghanistan/Iraq:

Iraq - March 30 2003: Royal Engineers killed a Royal Marine Chris Maddison when his river patrol boat was hit by a Milan Missile after wrongly identified as an enemy vessel in Al-Faw Peninsula.

Iraq - March 26 2003: A British Challenger 2 tank came under fire from another British tank in a nighttime firefight. The turret was blown off and 2 crew members were killed.

Afghanistan - Jan 15, 2007: L.Cpls. Ford, Zulu Company of 45 Commando Royal Marines, died after receiving a gunshot wound which was later found to be due to FF. The final inquest has ruled he died from a Royal Marine machine gun bullet. The report added there was no "negligence" by the gunman, who had made a "momentary error of judgment".

Afghanistan - Dec 20 2009: A Royal Military Police Officer Michael David Pritchard was killed by a British Sniper while on observation post.

Afghanistan - Aug 23 2007: A U.S. F-15 called in to support British forces dropped a bomb on those forces due to wrong coordinates given to the pilot by a British Forward Air Controller. 3 privates of 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed and 2 others were injured. A British FAC is now facing manslaughter charges. There is no way you can blame the U.S. for this one. The wrong coordinates were given to a U.S. pilot by a British FAC.

Afghanistan - Jan 14 2009: Captain Tom Sawyer, age 26, of 29 Commando Royal Artillery, and Corporal Danny Winter, age 28, of 45 Commando Royal Marines, were killed when they were hit by a Javelin anti-tank missile fired in error by British troops in Gereshk, Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan.

Iraq - Fusilier Kelan Turrington, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed by machine-gun fire from a British tank.

Iraq - During a raid on 16 July 2006 to apprehend a key terrorist leader and accomplice in a suburb of North Basra, Cpl John Cosby, of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, was killed by a 5.56 mm round from a British-issued SA80. It was ruled to be a case of friendly fire by the coroner. It was reported that the British forces who shot him were unclear about the rules of engagement.

Afghanistan - A British female soldier and a Royal Marine was mistakenly killed by another British unit on patrol after her unit opened fire on an Afghan policeman assuming he was a Taliban insurgent. The British unit who killed a female soldier and a Royal Marine assumed they were under attack after the firing happened.

Afghanistan - Sapper Mark Antony Smith, age 26, of the 36 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, was killed by a smoke shell fired upon by British troops in Sangin Province, Afghanistan. The MoD is investigating his death and said a smoke shell, designed to provide cover for soldiers working on the ground, may have fallen short of its intended target.

Afghanistan - In Sangin Province, an RAF Harrier mistakenly strafed British troops missing the enemy by 200 metres during a firefight with the Taliban on 20 August 2006. This angered British Major James Loden of 3 PARA, who in a leaked email called the RAF, "Completely incompetent and utterly, utterly useless in protecting ground troops in Afghanistan".

Afghanistan - On 9 July 2008, nine British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment were injured after being fired upon by the British Army Westland WAH-64 Apache helicopter while on patrol in Afghanistan.

Answer 10

none...what i don't understand is why these stupid politicians create stupid policies in the 'shoot first..think later' style where innocent lives are lost and the criminals/terrorists end up getting away unscathed...and aren't the american jets etc. meant to have ultimate equipment to avoid such incidents...