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Should MoD Show Cocokpit Video - Matthew Hull killed by friendly fire in 2003

21 replies

JoolsToo · 02/02/2007 12:58

Allegedly someone says on the tape 'someone could go to jail for this' (it's been discussed on Jeremy Vine today)

This is taken from a blog

Lance Corporal of Horse Steven Gerrard, 33 said from his hospital bed on the Argus. ?We can identify a friendly vehicle from 1,500 meters, yet you?ve got an A10 with advanced technology and he can?t use a thermal sight to identify whether a tank is a friend or foe. It?s ridiculous.
LCoH Gerrard, the commander of the leading tank, described ?frightened and curious? villagers waving white flags. ?I stuck my hand up and waved at them. I could see they were frightened. I felt sorry for them.? Suddenly, LcoH Gerrard heard the distinctive, relentless roar of an A10?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.

?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 didn?t even have time to close my eyes or blink. I don?t know why I?ve still got hair or eyebrows.

?I felt I was going to burn to death. I just shouted, ?Reverse, reverse, reverse?. My headset had come off. My gunner was screaming, ?Get out, get out.? I was out of the turret in milliseconds. How I got out of that hole I don?t know. Then I saw the A10 coming again and I just ran.

?I?ll never forget that A10. He was about 50 meters off the ground. He circled, because he can turn on a ten-pence. He came back around. He was no more than 1,000 meters away when he started his attack run. He was about 500 meters away when he started firing.

?On the back of one of the engineers? vehicles there was a Union Jack. It?s about 18 inches wide by about 12 inches. 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. It was like Platoon. I was stood there on a little bank 25 meters away from my tank waving.?

The front two Scimitars, packed with ammunition, grenades, rifle rounds and diesel tanks, exploded into flames. Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, did not escape.

Trooper Finney was injured when the A10 returned for a second run. He said: ?The plane came over again and it started shooting. I saw sparks coming from the ground or my leg. It didn?t hurt, it felt like someone had kicked me in the back of my leg. I felt warm down the back of my leg. Blood was spurting everywhere. I thought I was dead.?

LCoH Gerrard criticized the A10 for shooting when there were civilians so close to the tanks. He said: ?There was a boy of about 12 years old. He was no more than 20 meters away when the Yank opened up. There were all these civilians around. He had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy.

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AttilaTheMeerkat · 02/02/2007 13:17

The tape should be shown to the family as a matter of course. What justification is there for withholding this information?. It is for fear of embarrassing the US yet again?

I think its also appalling that after the MOD told the family that there was no tape, a tape arrives at the Coroners Court in Oxford. The family has suffered more than enough already, the delay in showing the tape to them prolongs their agonies.

The people responsible for this friendly fire incident should be brought to book.

We seem to have backed down very quickly when the Enron three were extradited to the US; it certainly does not seem to work the other way with their citizens.

Scootergirl · 02/02/2007 13:25

My DH worked with Matty Hull in the past and it's a travesty that the video won't be shown, particularly because they are blaming it on non-clearance from the US.
It sucks and it always has done

ruty · 02/02/2007 13:58

presumably many innocent iraqis were killed on that day [and many other days] too. I dread to think what Iraqi people think of the troops and our countries, I really do.

JoolsToo · 06/02/2007 08:59

OOps no need

The Americans say the pilots won't be prosecuted but the person who leaked the video will!

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JoolsToo · 06/02/2007 09:16

Just watched the full video - don't think 'oops' is really appropriate

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JoolsToo · 06/02/2007 11:05

well?

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brandy7 · 06/02/2007 11:22

what a harrowing video, dont know how the pilots could carry on flying,they were obviously v.upset.

JoolsToo · 06/02/2007 11:24

Yes, very upset but there seemed to be a doubt as to what the vehicles were. They mentioned several times about the orange markings and still they continued.

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brandy7 · 06/02/2007 11:26

just gone back and read the blurb about all the errors the pilots made. think the family should be allowed to watch the vid

JoolsToo · 06/02/2007 11:28

well anyone can now it's on the Sun website!

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brandy7 · 06/02/2007 11:31

oh yea duh!

BarefootDancer · 06/02/2007 11:43

Looks like they might show it .
I think they should.

itsmeNDP · 06/02/2007 11:47

Show it to whom ?

Why do we need to see it ?

If someone is accountable for this man's death then it should be dealt with through the correct channels.

numberwang · 06/02/2007 11:54

They tried dealing with it through the correct channels.. The court ordered the MOD to hand over the tapes, but they said the US wouldn't let them!

Those responsible (and I don't just mean the pilots) should be accountable - it's the least his family deserve.

foxinsocks · 06/02/2007 11:56

NDP, I heard on the radio (but can't find anything on the bbc/papers) that the US have a policy of not allowing these tapes to be shown/released no matter what the circumstances. That's why this has become such a big deal.

BarefootDancer · 06/02/2007 12:03

itsme - I mean they should show it at the inquest into how this man died. Not that I want to see it.

numberwang · 06/02/2007 12:06

It's more about showing the conversations between the pilots etc, as there is nothing to actually see other than sky.

strangefruit · 06/02/2007 12:13

I heard on the news the family have seen it

LucyJu · 06/02/2007 12:19

Can you imagine the situation if it had been a British plane attacking a US cinvoy? How long do you think TB would hold out for before handing the tapes, the pilots, their commanding officers - and goodness knows who else - to the US?

LucyJu · 06/02/2007 12:19

convoy

JoolsToo · 06/02/2007 12:19

The MoD claimed to the family there was no cover up, that there was no tape - that's a complete lie. The video got sent to the coroner in error.

The link to the video is more about the communication between the pilots you can't make head or tail of the picture, not that you'd want to.

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