The 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident was a friendly fire incident involving two United States Air Force (USAF) Air National Guard 190th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft, and vehicles from the British D Squadron, The Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry, and took place on 28 March 2003 during the invasion of Iraq 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 Matty Hull – and the subsequent verdict of unlawful killing – 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. Four vehicles from D Squadron, two FV107 Scimitars and two FV103 Spartans, 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 markings including orange overhead canvas panels, thermal reflectors and Union Flags.
Two A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft of the Idaho Air National Guard, 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. The aircraft were guided to their targets by US Marine Corps forward air controllers, embedded with British ground units, and flown by a major and an lieutenant colonel 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.
Trooper Christopher Finney, 18, driver of the lead Scimitar, re-entered his burning vehicle calling a Mayday 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 and heat. For his actions, Trooper Finney was later awarded the George Cross, 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 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 officials, however, cleared both pilots of any wrongdoing.
A British Army 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
At the time, the bodies of those service personnel dying overseas were repatriated to the UK via RAF Brize Norton, leading to the responsibility for inquests being under the civilian jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire coroner. An inquest into the death of L/CoH Hull was convened in 2006, presided over by Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker.