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friendly fire

 
Dictionary: friendly fire

n.
Discharge of a military weapon that injures or kills a member of one's own armed forces or an ally.


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Insurance Dictionary: Friendly Fire
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Kindling intentionally set in a fireplace, stove, furnace, or other containment that has not spread beyond it. Property insurance does not protect against damage from a friendly fire. For example, smoke damage to the inside of a fireplace is not covered because the fire is in its normal habitat; to insure it would be insuring against a certainty. Insurance is designed to provide coverage against the fortuitous loss. See also Hostile Fire.

Military History Companion: friendly fire
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Modern circumlocution for attacks on soldiers by their own side, a decidedly unfriendly act but a well-established reality of war. It even occurred in hand-to-hand combat because men were not recognized as being friendly or because, in the press of battle, a weapon drawn back to strike a foe might hit a friend instead. The sharp bronze butt of the hoplite spear often caused casualties in the rear ranks when it was drawn back to strike: Plutarch (see Greek historians) describes how in a battle in the streets of Argos in 272 ‘many died from the accidental blows which they inflicted among each other’.

The adoption of gunpowder weapons complicated matters. The smoke they produced so liberally made IFF difficult. At Rezonville/Gravelotte in 1870 a French regiment was gently reproved by a strange brigadier who arrived to announce: ‘Mes enfants, you probably do not know it, but you are firing on my brigade.’ Accidents were frequent when weapons were handled in closely packed ranks, and their avoidance was one aim of drill. Front-rank soldiers who knelt to fire and bobbed up to load were often shot by their rear-rank comrades: Marshal Saint-Cyr attributed one-quarter of French infantry casualties in the Napoleonic era to this cause.

Carelessness and misunderstandings kill men even off the battlefield. A corporal of the British 43rd Regiment survived the storming of Badajoz in 1812, only to be killed when a soldier fired his musket while cleaning it. During the British civil wars Lt Col Arthur Swayne ‘was slain by his boy, teaching him to use his arms. He bid the boy aim at him (thinking the gun had not been charged) which he did only too well.’ Lt Col Thomas Gonne of the 17th Lancers was supervising pistol practice the very day his regiment received orders to leave for the Zulu war, and accidentally shot himself. Any army in the field will produce a steady trickle of casualties as friendly patrols are engaged: WW I poet Siegfried Sassoon was shot by one of his NCOs when coming back from patrol. Weapon handling is worsened by tiredness, fear, and poor training. During the Vietnam war the US army recorded 846 cases of ‘accidental self-destruction’ and 939 ‘accidental homicides’, in all over 4 per cent of the total ground-action fatalities.

As engagement ranges increased so too did the propensity for friendly fire to cause casualties. Once artillery was used primarily in indirect fire, engaging a target invisible to the gun's detachment, all sorts of errors were possible. The position of gun or target might be inaccurately located on the map; barrels might be worn or charges faulty; and the members of the detachment might load the wrong charge or set an incorrect bearing or elevation on the sight. The tactical situation might have not been grasped by the gunners: the gallant French defence of the village of Samogneux, outside Verdun, collapsed when a newly arrived battery of French 155 mm guns engaged it. Commanders and their staff sometimes made lethal errors and engaged positions their own men held. Gen Charles Percin reckoned that 75, 000 French soldiers were killed by their own artillery in WW I.

Aircraft made their own lethal contribution. Guderian's panzer corps was struck by its own supporting Stukas the day after it crossed the Meuse in 1940, and a brigade commander was among the killed. The German practice of placing the national flag on the engine-deck of tanks (and painting it on the decks of warships) arose not from patriotism but a desire to make IFF clear. Allied ground forces in Normandy used a white star for the same reason, and in the Gulf war in 1990-1 Allied vehicles bore a distinguishing chevron. Yet despite this there were still casualties from friendly air power. American troops preparing for COBRA in 1944 were struck twice by strategic bombers. In one incident 111 men were killed (including Lt Gen Leslie J. McNair, the highest-ranking US army fatality of the war) and another 490 were wounded. Accidental American air attack on a British unit in the Gulf war caused both casualties and resentment.

The fact remains that casualties from friendly fire are, as John Horsfall says, ‘a hazard inseparable from war’. Good training and slick procedures will help reduce them. When they occur they will be likely to generate disproportionate impact, especially if the friend producing the fire is an ally or coalition partner.

Bibliography

  • Holmes, Richard, Firing Line (London, 1985).
  • Horsfall, John, The Wild Geese are Flighting (Kineton, 1976)

— Richard Holmes

US Military History Companion: Friendly Fire
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So‐called friendly fire, sometimes termed fratricide or amicicide, is officially defined by the U.S. Army as “the employment of friendly weapons … which results in unforeseen and unintentional death or injury to friendly personnel.” Intentional firing on friendly troops and true accidents are properly excluded from the definition.

The difficulties posed by terrain, poor visibility, and the type and size of operations all contribute to friendly fire. The immediate causes include mechanical defects, simple carelessness, poor spatial orientation, misidentification of the target, and miscalculation of firing data. Poor coordination of the movement of forces on the battlefield, lack of training, and poor discipline also play a role; but the fear, uncertainty, and excitement of the combat environment are perhaps the most important factors.

The statistical dimensions of the friendly fire problem have yet to be defined; reliable data are simply not available in most cases. Operational and medical reports suggest, however, that the relationship of friendly fire casualties to overall friendly casualties is between 2 percent and 25 percent. In the Persian Gulf War of 1991, there were 615 American casualties; 23 percent of the personnel (35 killed and 72 wounded) and 77 percent of the combat vehicle losses were attributable to friendly fire.

Whatever the statistical reality, friendly fire is known to have occurred in all of America's wars, and the victims have ranged from the rawest recruits to very senior officers. The Confederate general “Stonewall” Jackson died after being mistakenly shot by one of his own soldiers at Chancellorsville in 1863. In World War II, Lieut. Gen. Lesley J. McNair and 813 other Americans were killed or wounded near St. Lô in Normandy in one of the most costly incidents of friendly fire ever to occur. The use of American medium and heavy bombers to provide close support for ground troops in Operation Cobra, the breakout of Allied forces from Normandy, resulted in mistaken bombing of American positions on two successive days, 24–25 July 1944. The planned ground attack was delayed but ultimately succeeded despite the frightful toll.

Earlier, in July 1943, nervous American naval and ground troops Gela, Sicily, fired on aircraft carrying paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division and caused 319 casualties (88 dead, 162 wounded, and 69 missing) plus 80 aircraft destroyed or badly damaged. In the Pacific, a month later, 15–16 August, 28 Americans and Canadians were killed and 55 wounded during the invasion of Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. There were no enemy troops on the island; all of the casualties were from friendly fire.

As weapons have become more complicated and more deadly, the ability of human beings to control them has been stretched to its limits, and both the number and the severity of friendly fire incidents have increased. Modern armies search earnestly for ways to reduce or eliminate friendly fire. Improved training and sophisticated electronic devices are sure to have a positive effect, yet it is equally certain that the problem cannot be eradicated altogether. As long as men make war, friendly fire will continue to occur.

[See also Casualties.]

Bibliography

  • Charles R. Shrader, Amicicide: The Problem of Friendly Fire in Modern War, 1982.
  • Charles R. Shrader, Friendly Fire: The Inevitable Price, Parameters: The Journal of the U.S. Army War College, 22, no. 3 (Autumn 1992), pp. 29–44.
  • Kenneth K. Steinweg, Dealing Realistically with Fratricide, Parameters: The Journal of the U.S. Army War College, 25, no. 1 (Spring 1995), pp. 4–29
US Military Dictionary: friendly fire
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Weapon fire coming from one's own side, especially fire that causes accidental injury or death to one's own forces.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Law Encyclopedia: Friendly Fire
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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Fire burning in a place where it was intended to burn, although damages may result. In a military conflict, the discharge of weapons against one's own troops.

A fire burning in a fireplace is regarded as a friendly fire, in spite of the fact that extensive smoke damage might result therefrom. Ordinarily, when an individual purchases fire insurance, the coverage does not extend to damages resulting from a friendly fire but only to loss resulting from an uncontrollable hostile fire.

Military Dictionary: friendly fire
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(DOD) In casualty reporting, a casualty circumstance applicable to persons killed in action or wounded in action mistakenly or accidentally by friendly forces actively engaged with the enemy, who are directing fire at a hostile force or what is thought to be a hostile force. See also casualty.

Wikipedia: Friendly fire
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Friendly fire is an expression meaning fire from one's own side or allied forces, as opposed to fire coming from enemy forces, and was a term originally adopted by the United States military.

Friendly fire occurs when there was intent to do harm to the enemy which causes injury to one's own side. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire. Neither is murder, whether premeditated or in the heat of the moment, and nor is deliberate firing on one’s own troops for disciplinary reasons classified as friendly fire as in these cases there is no intent to harm the enemy. [1] Similarly, inadvertent harm to non-combatatants or structures, usually referred to as "collateral damage" is also not considered to be friendly fire.[2]

Many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) militaries refer to these incidents as blue on blue, which derives from military exercises where NATO forces were identified by blue pennants, hence "blue", and Warsaw Pact forces were identified by orange pennants. Another term for such incidents is fratricide, a word that originally refers to the act of a person killing their brother.

Contents

Addressing friendly fire

Friendly fire is often seen as an inescapable result of combat. Attempts to reduce this effect by military leaders generally come down to identifying the causes of friendly fire and overcoming repetition of the incident through training, tactics and technology.

Causes

The primary cause of friendly fire is commonly known as the "fog of war" which attributes friendly fire incidents to the confusion inherent in warfare. Friendly fire that is the result of apparent recklessness or incompetence may fall into this category. The concept of a fog of war has come under considerable criticism, as it can be used as an excuse for poor planning, weak or compromised intelligence and incompetent command.

Fog of war incidents fall roughly into two classes:[1]

Errors of position
Where fire aimed at enemy forces accidentally ends up hitting one's own. Such incidents are exacerbated by close proximity of combatants and were relatively common during the First and Second World Wars, where troops fought in close combat and targeting was relatively inaccurate. As the accuracy of weapons improved, this class of incident has become less common but still occurs, the most significant recent case was during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan where a laser-guided bomb was mistakenly called in on friendly forces, causing heavy casualties.
Errors of identification
Where friendly troops are mistakenly attacked in the belief that they are the enemy. Highly mobile battles, and battles involving troops from many nations are more likely to cause this kind of incident as evidenced by incidents in the first Gulf War, or the shooting down of a British aircraft by a U.S. Patriot battery during the Invasion of Iraq.[3] According to CNN, the best-known case of such an accident was the death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, although the exact circumstances of that incident are yet to be definitively determined. [4]

A number of situations can lead to or exacerbate the risk of friendly fire. Poor terrain and visibility are major factors. Soldiers fighting on unfamiliar ground can become disoriented more easily than on familiar terrain. The direction from which enemy fire comes may not be easy to identify, and poor weather conditions and combat stress may add to the confusion, especially if fire is exchanged. Accurate navigation and 'fire discipline' is vital.[5]

In high-risk situations, leaders need to ensure units are properly informed of the location of friendly units and to issue clear, unambiguous orders, but they must also react correctly to responses from soldiers who are capable of using their own judgement. Miscommunication can be deadly. Radios, field telephones, and signalling systems can be used to address the problem, but when these systems are used to co-ordinate multiple forces such as ground troops and aircraft, their breakdown can dramatically increase the risk of friendly fire. When allied troops are operating the situation is even more complex, especially with language barriers to overcome. [5]

Solutions

Training

Most militaries use extensive training to ensure troop safety as part of normal co-ordination and planning, but are not always exposed to possible friendly-fire situations to ensure they are aware of situations where the risk is high. Difficult terrain and bad weather can't be controlled, but soldiers must be trained to operate effectively in these conditions, as well as trained to fight at night. Such simulated training is now commonplace for soldiers worldwide. Avoiding friendly fire can be as straightforward as ensuring 'fire discipline' is instilled in troops, so that they fire and cease firing when they're told to. Firing ranges now also include 'Don't Fire' targets. [6]

The increasing sophistication of weaponry, and the tactics employed against American forces to deliberately confuse them has meant that while overall casualties have fallen for American soldiers in the late 20th and 21st centuries, the overall deaths due to friendly fire in American actions have risen dramatically. In the 1990 Gulf War, most of the Americans killed by their own forces were crew members of armored vehicles hit by anti-tank rounds. The response in training includes recognition training for Apache helicopter crews to help them distinguish American tanks and armored vehicles at night and in bad weather from those of the enemy. In addition, tank gunners must watch under fire in drills for "friendly" robotic tanks that pop out on training courses in California's Mojave Desert. They also study video footage to help them recognize American forces in battle more quickly. [7]

Technology

Improved technology to assist in identifying friendly forces is also an ongoing response to friendly fire problems. From the earliest days of warfare identification systems were visual and developed into extremely elaborate suits of armour with distinctive heraldic patterns. When radar was developed during World War II, IFF systems to identify aircraft developed into a multitude of radio beacons.

Correct navigation is vital to ensuring units know where they are in relation to their own force and the enemy. Efforts to provide accurate compasses inside metal boxes in tanks and trucks has proven difficult, with GPS a major breakthrough. Government contractors are rushing to perfect infra-red and carbon dioxide laser beacons that can be mounted on armored vehicles and that will identify themselves to their own forces. [7]

Other technological changes include hand-held navigational devices that use satellite signals, giving ground forces the exact location of enemy forces as well as their own. The use of infra-red lights and thermal tape that are invisible to observers without night-goggles, or fibres and dyes that reflect only specific wavelengths are still in their infancy, but may prove to be key identifiers for friendly infantry units at night.

There is also some development of remote sensors to detect enemy vehicles - the Remotely Monitored Battlefield Sensor System (REMBASS) uses a combination of acoustic, sesmic vibration, and infrared to not just detect, but identify vehicles. [6]

Tactics

Some tactics make friendly fire virtually inevitable, such as the practice of dropping barrages of mortars on enemy machine gun posts in the final moments before capture. This practice continued throughout the 20th century since machine guns were first used in World War I, and the high friendly fire risk has generally been accepted by troops since machine gun emplacements are tactically so valuable, and at the same time so dangerous that the attackers wanted them to be shelled, considering the shells far less deadly than the machine guns.[6] Tactical adjustments include the use of "kill boxes", or zones that are placed off-limits to ground forces while allied aircraft attack targets, which goes back to the beginning of military aircraft in World War I.[7]

The shock and awe battle tactics adopted by the American military - overwhelming power, battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force - are employed because they are believed to be the best way to win a war quickly and decisively, reducing casualties on both sides. However, if the only people doing the shooting are American, then a high percentage of total casualties are bound to be the result of friendly fire, blunting the effectiveness of the shock and awe tactic. It is probably the fact that friendly fire has proven to be the only fundamental weakness of the tactics that has caused the American military to take significant steps to overturn a blasé attitude to friendly fire and assess ways to eliminate it.[6]

Historical examples

Wars of the Roses

  • 1461 – At the Battle of Towton, wind conditions resulted in arrows falling amongst friendly troops as well as the enemy.
  • 1471 - Battle of Barnet: The ‘radiant star’ battle standard used by the troops commanded by the Earl of Oxford was misidentified as an enemy standard (which depicted a ‘brilliant sun’) and were fired on by their own archers.
  • 1471 - Lancastrian division led by the Earl of Warwick, while out of position and in fog, fired at a division led by the Earl of Somerset, inflicting heavy casulties. This is one of the earliest recorded incidents of friendly fire.

Nine Years' War

  • 1690 - Two French regiments accidentally attacking each other during the Battle of Fleurus led to the habit of attaching a white scarf to the flags of the regiments - white being the colour of the kings of France.[citation needed]

Napoleonic Wars

  • 1796 – Battle of Fombio: Amédée Emmanuel François Laharpe was killed by his own men while returning from reconnaissance.
  • 1801 - Battle of Algeciras Bay: Spanish ships Real Carlos and San Hermenegildo mistakenly engaged each other in the dark after a British ship sailed between them and fired at both. 1,700 were killed when the two ships exploded.
  • 1809 - Battle of Wagram: French troops mistakenly fired on their allies from the Kingdom of Saxony. The grey uniforms of the Saxons were misidentified as white, the colour of uniform worn by their Austrian enemy.
  • 1815 – Battle of Waterloo: Famously, Marshal Blücher's Prussians came to the aid of the British, and defeated Napoleon decisively. It is less well known that Prussian artillery mistakenly fired on British artillery causing many casualties, and British artillery returned fire at the Prussians.

American Revolutionary War

American Civil War

  • Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded as a result of friendly fire and died eight days later. He and some of his men had been returning from an intelligence-gathering mission when Confederate troops mistakenly fired, thinking they were a Union patrol.
  • Confederate General James Longstreet was wounded by friendly fire on 6 May, 1864, four miles from Chancellorsville, Virginia, and was unable to attend the rest of the Overland Campaign until he had recovered.

World War I

  • During the attack on the main wagon bridge over the Marne at Chateau-Thierry, American machine gunners described a night attack on 1 June 1918 of massed German troops, who were singing gutturally as they made a suicidal charge, some linked arm in arm. It was later discussed between American and French soldiers that the victims were the French 10th colonial division from Senegal, who had been trying to get back across the river. There are no German records of any attack on the wagon bridge.[8]
  • The French estimated that more than 75,000 French soldiers were casualties of friendly artillery in the four years of World War I.[9]

World War II

1939

  • 6 September - Just days after the start of World War II, in what was dubbed the Battle of Barking Creek, an RAF Spitfire squadron shot down two Hurricane aircraft from another RAF squadron. One of the Hurricane pilots was killed.
  • 10 September - British submarine HMS Triton sank another British submarine, HMS Oxley, mistaking it for a German U-boat and having received no responses to challenges. Oxley was the first Royal Navy vessel to be sunk and also the first vessel to be sunk by a British vessel in the war, killing 52 with only two survivors.
  • 16 October - Mureaux 115 damaged by a Morane 406 over Saar Valley.[10]
  • 22 November - Bloch MB.131 shot down by a Morane 406 over Aisne[10]
  • 21 December - Potez 637 shot down by 2 Hurricanes over Meuse[10]

1940

  • 19 February - Operation Wikinger: German destroyer Leberecht Maass sunk by Luftwaffe bombs, another sunk by mines during confusion[11]
  • 14 April - Dutch submarine O10 bombed in error off Noordwijk by two V.156-F[10] (other reports attribute attack to British aircraft[12])
  • 10 May - bomber claimed shot down by 3 pilots over Dendermonde was probably a Bristol Blenheim (L9246 of 57 Squadron RAF)[10]
  • 12 May - Fairey Fox of (Belgian Air Force) shot down by French aircraft near Huy[10]
  • 13 May - two Potez 631 damaged by Hurricanes near Bétheniville, Marne[10]
  • 14 May - four Fairey Battles of 142 Sqn RAF shot down in Sedan area[10]
  • 15 May - Bloch MB.152 possibly shot down by friendly fire (in fight, another pilot of the same unit fired on an aircraft that he was unable to identify and saw him crash, no German loss in the area)[10]
  • 17 May - three Blenheims of 82 Sqn RAF shot down off Ostend[10]
  • 18 May - LeO 451 shot down by French anti-aircraft fire near Meaux[10]
  • 18 May - Potez 631 hit by He 111, Bf 110, French anti-aircraft fire and Morane 406 near Creil, survived and returned to base[10]
  • 18 May - two Potez 631 shot down by a Blenheim of 248 Sqn RAF off Nieuwpoort, Belgium[10]
  • 18 May - Blenheim of 235 Sqn RAF shot down off Ostende (shot down by Spitfire/Hurricanes according to RAF)[10]
  • 19 May - LN.411 shot down by French AA at Evreux[10]
  • 20 May - Potez 631 damaged by D.520[10]
  • 21 May - D.520 shot down by return fire of Potez 631 over Oise[10]
  • 23 May - Potez 631 shot down by Bloch 152 [10]
  • 23 May - French ships opened fire against a formation of V.156-F off Boulogne[10]
  • 24 May - two Martin 167F shot down by Allied anti-aircraft fire (probably British) near [10]
  • 24 May - Hurricane landing at Rouen attacked by a "French Curtiss" (?)[10]
  • 25 May - 2 pilots wounded by French anti-aircraft fire[10]
  • 26 May - two Martin 167F shot down in Amiens area[10]
  • 28 May - two Blackburn Skuas of 806 Sqn FAA reported attacks by Curtiss off Dunkerque. No trace in French claims.[10]
  • 1 June - Bloch 152 damaged by Hurricanes off Dunkerque[10]
  • 2 June - Potez 631 hit by French AA over Lassigny.[10]
  • 2 June - two Potez 631 hit by French AA over Villers-Cotterêts.[10]
  • 3 June - confused battle between 501 Sqn RAF, and French squadrons in the morning. Only two Hurricanes shot down, one possibly by a French pilot.[10]
  • 3 June - Potez 631 attacked by French AA, 7 Bf 109s and 1 Bloch 152 during German raid on Paris. Pilot reported the Bf 109s were the less dangerous.[10]
  • 3 June - two Potez 631 fired on by French AA (of their own airfield) during German raid on Paris.[10]
  • 4 June - L-N.411 shot down by a Polish pilot of Romorantin defence patrol.[10]
  • 10 June - Laté 298 hit by AA of French ships off Honfleur and sank after landing. [10]
  • 12 June - Bloch 152 shot down "in error", no more details, between Chaumont and Troyes. [10]
  • 22 June - CAMS 55.10 of 4S1 shot down by Morane GC III/5 near Cape Zerbib, Tunisia.[10]
  • 28 June - Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo shot down by Italian anti-aircraft fire at Tobruk.

1941

1942

1943

  • General Omar Bradley recalled that his column was attacked by American A-36s in Sicily. The tanks lit yellow smoke flares to identify themselves to their own aircraft, but the attacks continued, so the tanks were forced to fire and downed an aircraft. The parachuting pilot was brought before Bradley. 'You stupid sonofabitch!' Bradley fumed. 'Didn't you see our yellow recognition signals?' The pilot replied 'Oh, is that what that was?'[16]
  • Sinking of the submarine Surcouf was initially attributed to a collision with the U.S. freighter Thompson Lykes, but a later report stated that the Surcouf was mistaken for a U-boat and destroyed by U.S. planes. Historians differ on which account is true.
  • Sinking of the submarine USS Dorado by U.S. planes. This sinking is also disputed.[citation needed]
  • Likely sinking of the submarine USS Seawolf by destroyer escort USS Richard M. Rowell[citation needed]
  • During Operation Husky (Allied Invasion of Sicily), 144 C-47 transport planes passed over Allied lines shortly after a German air raid, and were mistakenly fired upon by ground and naval forces. 33 planes were shot down and 37 damaged, resulting in 318 casualties.[17]
  • Near damage of the battleship USS Iowa (with President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard) by the destroyer USS William D. Porter. This incident led to the "Willie D." being greeted thereafter with the hail, "Don’t shoot, we’re Republicans!"

1944

  • Allied heavy bombers bombed the headquarters of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Polish Armoured Division during Operation Totalize, causing several hundred Allied casualties.
  • British flotilla attacked by RAF Hawker Typhoons, off Cap d'Antifer, Le Havre. HMS Britomart and HMS Hussar sunk. HMS Salamander damaged beyond repair and scrapped. HMS Jason escaped major damage.
  • During Operation Cobra, bombs from the Eighth Air Force landed on American troops on two separate occasions, killing 241 and injuring 620. Lieutenant General Lesley McNair was among the dead — the highest-ranking victim of American friendly fire.
  • July 25 1944, Allies order the bombing west of Saint-Lo, (a mistake by Leigh Mallory) and the RAF inflicted heavy casualties on the 13 US infantry [18]
  • Two battalions of the 77th Infantry on Guam exchanged prolonged fire on 8 August 1944, possibly started from firing of mortars to calibrate them. Small arms and then armour fire was exchanged. The mistake was realized when both units tried to call in the same artillery battalion to bombard the other.[6]
  • In October 1944, Soviet troops liberated the city of Niš from occupying German forces and advanced on Belgrade. At the same time the U.S. Air Force was bombing German-Albanian units entering from Kosovo. The U.S. planes mistook the advancing Soviet tanks as enemies (probably due to lack of communication) and began attacking them, whereupon the Soviets then called in for air support from Nis airport and a five-minute dogfight ensued, ending after both the U.S and Soviet commanders ordered the planes to retreat.[citation needed]
  • An airplane carrying famed big band musician and US Army Air Force bandmaster Major Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944 en route from England to France. Most evidence[citation needed] indicates that the aircraft strayed into a zone designated for the safe dropping of unexpended bombs by allied aircraft, and was knocked out of the sky by the blasts of British Royal Air Force bombers returning from an aborted mission over Germany.
  • The death in Belgium on Christmas Day 1944 of Major George E. Preddy, commander of the 328th Fighter Squadron and the highest-scoring US ace still in combat in the European Theater at the time. Preddy chased a German fighter over an American anti-aircraft battery and was hit by their fire aimed at his intended target.

1945

Korean War

On September 23 1950, Hill 282 was attacked by 1st Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, part of the British 27th Brigade in the United Nations force. Having captured it and facing strong North Korean counter-attacks, the Argylls, devoid of artillery support, called in an allied air-strike. A group of F-51 Mustangs of U.S. Air Force’s 18th Fighter Bomber Wing circled the hill. The Argylls had laid down yellow air-recognition panels correctly in accordance with that day’s planning, but the North Koreans imitated similar panels on their own positions in white. The Mustangs, confused by the panels, mistakenly napalm-bombed and strafed the Argylls’ hill-top positions. Despite a desperate counter-attack by the Argylls to regain the hill, during which Major Kenny Muir was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the Argylls, much reduced in numbers, were forced to relinquish the position. Over 60 of the Argylls’ casualties were caused by the friendly air-strike.

Six Day War

  • USS Liberty incident - A neutral American communications ship is attacked by Israeli air and naval forces after being mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.
  • The day before the Liberty incident, Israeli aircraft bombed a friendly armored column in the Sinai after it being mistaken for an enemy column.

Vietnam War

8,000 such incidents have been estimated for the Vietnam War;[27][28][29] one was the inspiration for the book and film Friendly Fire.

  • A U.S. F4 Phantom aircraft dropped a 500 lb. bomb on the command post of the 2nd Battalion (Airborne) 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade while they were in heavy contact with a numerically superior NVA force on 19th of November 1967, at 1858 hours. At least 45 paratroopers were killed and another 45 wounded. Also killed was the Battalion Chaplain Major Charles Watters who was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.
  • USCGC Point Welcome was attacked by USAF aircraft, with two deaths resulting.
  • USS Boston, USS Edson, USCGC Point Dume, HMAS Hobart and two U.S. Swift Boats, PCF-12 and PCF-19 are attacked by US aircraft on June 17, 1968.[30] Several sailors were killed and PCF-19 was sunk.[31]
  • On May 11, 1969, during the Battle of Hamburger Hill, Lt. Col. Weldon Honeycutt directed helicopter gunships, from an Aerial Rocket Artillery (ARA) battery, to support an infantry assault. In the heavy jungle, the helicopters mistook the command post of the 3/187th battalion for a Vietnamese unit and attacked, killing two and wounding thirty-five, including Honeycutt. This incident disrupted battalion command and control and forced 3/187th to withdraw into night defensive positions.
  • Sergeant Michael Eugene Mullen killed by American artillery on 18 February 1970.

Turkish Invasion of Cyprus 1974

  • The Turkish destroyer D-354 Kocatepe is sunk by Turkish warplanes after being mistaken for an enemy ship.
  • A flight of Greek Nortalas aircraft transports carrying reinforcements from Greece is mistaken for a flight of Turkish aircraft by the defenders of Nicosia International Airport, who open fire. Heavy Greek casualties are sustained.

Falklands War 1982

First Gulf War

War in Afghanistan

  • In the Tarnak Farm incident of April 18, 2002, four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured when U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt, dropped a laser-guided 227-kilogram (500 lb) bomb from his F-16 jet fighter on the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry conducting a night firing exercise near Kandahar. Schmidt was charged with negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of the latter charge, was fined nearly $5,700 in pay and was reprimanded. During testimony Schmidt blamed the incident on his use of "go pills" (authorized mild stimulants), combined with the 'fog of war'.[32]
  • On 5 December 2006, an FA-18C on a Close Air Support mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, mistakenly attacked a trench where British Royal Marines were dug-in during a 10-hour battle with Taliban fighters, killing one Royal Marine. [33]
  • Pat Tillman, former famous American football player is shot by American fire in Afghanistan. The subsequent cover-up and untruths told regarding his death provoke a bigger outrage than the actual incident.
  • Operation Medusa (2006): 1 - Two U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts accidentally strafed NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, killing Canadian Private Mark Anthony Graham.
  • Canadian Pte Robert Costall and Vermont National Guard Sgt. John Thomas (2006) accidentally shot (from behind) and killed by a U.S. machine gunner near Kandahar, in Afghanistan.
  • A USAF F-15 called in to support British ground forces in Afghanistan drops a bomb on those forces, killing 3 privates of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, and severely injuring two others.[34]
  • A statement issued jointly by the American and the Afghan military commands said a contingent of Afghan police officers fired on United States forces on 10 December, 2008 after the Americans had successfully overrun the hide-out, killing the suspected Taliban commander and detaining another man. The US forces after securing the hideout came under heavy small arms fire and explosive grenades from the Afghan Police forces. “Multiple attempts to deter the engagement were unsuccessful,” and the US forces returned fire. Afghan police have stated that they came under fire first and that the initial firing on the US forces came from the building next to the police station. This has lead the US forces to conclude that the Afghan police forces might have been compromised. Initial reports indicate this was a tragic case of mistaken identity on both parts. Date required[1][35]
  • Two Danish soldiers from The Royal Life Guards, Thorbjorn were killed by British Javelin anti-tank missiles during combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.[36] It is also confirmed from Danish forces that the British fired a total of 6-8 heat-seeking Javelin missiles, over a 1 1/2 hour period and only after the attack was completed did they realize that the missiles were British, based upon the fragments found after the incident.[37]
  • Of two helicopters called in to support operations by the British Grenadier Guards and Afghan National Army forces in Helmand, the British Westland WAH-64 Apache engaged enemy forces, while the accompanying American AH-64D Apache opened fire on the Grenadiers and Afghan troops.[38]
  • First British on British friendly fire in Afghanistan, nine British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment were injured, after being fired upon by British Army Apache Helicopter while on patrol in Afghanistan July 9, 2008[2]
  • LCpl Ford, from Zulu Company of 45 Commando Royal Marines, died after receiving a gunshot wound in Afghanistan on January 15, 2007, which was later found to be due to friendly fire. The final inquest has ruled he died from NATO rounds from a fellow Royal Marine machine gun. The report added there was no "negligence" by the gunman, who had made a "momentary error of judgment".[3] [4]

2003 invasion of Iraq

  • In the Battle of Nasiriyah, two U.S. Air Force A-10 jets mistook an American force of AAV's and infantry for an Iraqi armored column, and bombed and strafed it. Six U.S. Marines were killed.
  • American aircraft attacked a friendly Kurdish & U.S. Special Forces convoy, killing 15. BBC translator Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed was killed and BBC reporter Tom Giles and World Affairs Editor John Simpson were injured. The incident was filmed.[39]
  • American Patriot missile shot down a F/A-18C Block 46 Hornet 164974 of VFA-195 50 mi (80 km) from Karbala, Iraq, killing the pilot Lieutenant Nathan Dennis White (U.S. Navy). This was the result of the missile design flaw in identifying hostile aircraft.[40]
  • American Patriot missile shot down a British Panavia Tornado GR.4A ZG710 "D" of No. 13 Squadron RAF killing the pilot and navigator.
  • 190th Fighter Squadron/Blues and Royals friendly fire incident - March 28, 2003. A pair of American A-10s from the 190th attacked four British armoured reconnaissance vehicles of the Blues and Royals, killing one and injuring five.
  • An American airstrike kills eight Kurdish Iraqi soldiers. Kurdish officials advised US helicopters hit the men who were guarding a branch of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Mosul. The US military said the attack was launched after soldiers identified armed men in a bunker near a building reportedly used for bomb-making, and that American troops called for the men to put down their weapons in Arabic and Kurdish before launching the strike.[41]
  • American soldier Mario Lozano is suspected of killing Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari and wounding Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena in Baghdad. Sgrena had been kidnapped and subsequently rescued by Calipari; however, it is claimed that the car they were escaping in failed to stop at an American checkpoint, and U.S. soldiers opened fire.
  • Bulgarian Junior Sergeant Gardi Gardev was shot southeast of Diwaniya in southern Iraq. Gardev's patrol had fired warning shots to stop an Iraqi civilian car when it received heavy fire from the direction of a U.S. Army communications facility 150 meters (165 yards) away.
  • A British Royal Marine was killed when his river patrol boat was hit by missiles after being wrongly identified as an enemy vessel approaching a Royal Engineers checkpoint on the Al-Faw Peninsula, Iraq.[42]
  • British Challenger 2 tank came under fire from another British tank in a nighttime firefight, blowing off the turret and killing two of the crew.[43]

Gaza War

  • An Israeli tank fires on a building occupied by Israeli troops after mistaking them for enemy fighters. Three soldiers are killed and another twenty wounded.[citation needed]
  • A misdirected Israeli artillery shell hits an Israeli position, killing paratroop brigade officer Yonatan Netanel.[citation needed]

Other incidents

  • 1948 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Col. Mickey Marcus, returning on foot to base, was shot dead by a young Israeli soldier, due to confusion and miscommunication.
  • 1956 - Suez Crisis: Attacks from British Royal Navy carrier-borne aircraft caused heavy casualties to 45 Commando and HQ.
  • 1987 - Two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter during the Iran–Iraq War hit the USS Stark. 37 sailors were killed and 21 were injured.
  • 1999 - Maj.Predrag Milutinović flying in his MiG-29 was shot down by Yugoslav Army Air Defense SAM (SA-6 probably) while it was trying to land at Niš airport during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 1999.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Regan, G. Backfire: a history of friendly fire from ancient warfare to the present day. Robson Books, 2002.
  2. ^ http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA468785&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf
  3. ^ The Economist Closing in on Baghdad March 25, 2003
  4. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/07/01/afghan.probe/index.html U.S. military probes soldier's death.
  5. ^ a b no author given (no date given). "What is Friendly Fire?". wisegeek.com. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-friendly-fire.htm.  ]
  6. ^ a b c d e http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uYxiz6P0KsEC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=friendly+fire+technology&source=web&ots=_fu_xsiQJJ&sig=xSFG0xQBR0YutM6Yt8jnv0ytL40&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA78,M1
  7. ^ a b c U.S. Striving to Prevent 'Friendly Fire' - New York Times
  8. ^ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=MfSM14o6uqgC&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=friendly+fire+'world+war+I'&source=web&ots=_7Ejhh1Ugv&sig=V3pe3gjtPEoe689VukcBJN_aDwk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result
  9. ^ This figure comes from a 1921 book by an artillery expert, General Percin, called Le massacre de notre infanterie, 1914–1918. The book claims 75,000 French soldiers were casualties of their own artillery. Percin supports his claim with hundreds of battlefield correspondence from all parts of the Western Front.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "Friendly Air to Air Kills. Blue on Blue incidents". WWII Forums. May 9th, 2008, 09:26 am. http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-wwii/22475-friendly-air-air-kills-blue-blue-incidents-2.html. Retrieved 9 Mar 2009.  This is a discussion forum. The entry, however, cites "Martin's book about Armée de l'Air losses (Ils etaient la); Gillet's books on French victoires (tome 1, 10-15 May; tome 2, 16 May - 4 June); AéroJournal no.3 (about Potez 631) and no.18 (about Aéronavale)"
  11. ^ Operation Wikinger
  12. ^ "O 10". Dutch submarines. 1997-2006. http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_o10.htm. Retrieved 10 Mar 2009. 
  13. ^ Kennedy, Ludovic (1975). Pursuit, the Sinking of the Bismarck. London: Book Club Associates. pp. 153-154. 
  14. ^ Channel 4 - History - Douglas Bader
  15. ^ Daniel Ford, Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and his American Volunteers, 1941-1942 (HarperCollins, 2006), pp.203-4
  16. ^ Hallion, Richard. Strike from the Sky: The History of Battlefield Air Attack, 1911-1945, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989
  17. ^ "Airborne Reinforcement". US Army in World War II. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-Sicily/USA-MTO-Sicily-9.html. Retrieved 10 Mar 2009. 
  18. ^ IKE An Amercian Hero,Michael Korda,P509 ISBN 9780060756666
  19. ^ http://www.comandosupremo.com/Winter.html
  20. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2000/07/13/MN77341.DTL
  21. ^ a b White-Harvey, Robert J. (April 18, 2007). "The Friendly Fires of Hell". Jerusalem Post.
  22. ^ US Holocaust Museum Name Lists Catalogue
  23. ^ The Encyclopedia Of The Third Reich, ISBN 9780306807930
  24. ^ Duncan, Gl. Maritime Disasters of World War II. p. 3, 1944 & 1945.
  25. ^ Noel Till, Report on Investigations, WO 309/1592
  26. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/raf-pilots-tricked-into-killing-10000-camp-survivors-at-end-of-war-634445.html
  27. ^ "Accusations fly over lack of action on friendly fire deaths.". The Guardian. GlobalSecurity.org. 2003-04-08. http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030408-friendlyfire01.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
  28. ^ Bower, Amanda (2003-04-07). "Misfiring in the Fog.". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004597,00.html?promoid=googlep. Retrieved 2009-02-01. 
  29. ^ Steinweg, K. K. (Spring 1995). "Dealing Realistically with Fratricide". Parameters. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/USAWC/parameters/1995/steinweg.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-01. 
  30. ^ Royal Australian Navy Gun Plot HMAS Hobart Vietnam 1968
  31. ^ Royal Australian Navy Gun Plot
  32. ^ CNN.com - U.S.: Friendly fire pilot reported being fired upon - April 18, 2002
  33. ^ Bruce Rolfsen, “F/A-18C Linked to British Marine’s Death,” Navy Times Online, 08 December 2006, accessed at http://www.navytimes.com/legacy/new/1-292925-2412022.php on 11 Jan 2007.
  34. ^ BBC NEWS | UK | 'Friendly fire' kills UK soldiers
  35. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070612/ap_on_re_as/afghan_violence
  36. ^ Danish soldiers killed by British friendly fire - Times Online
  37. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/27/military.world
  38. ^ Friendly fire | Matthew Lyne-Pirkis | Grenadier guardsman | The Sun |HomePage|News
  39. ^ BBC NEWS | In Depth | Photo Gallery | In pictures - The Iraq friendly fire incident
  40. ^ http://www.aviationtoday.com/pressreleases/8587.html
  41. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | US air strike kills Iraqi troops
  42. ^ BBC NEWS | England | North Yorkshire | 'Failings' behind death of marine
  43. ^ BBC NEWS | UK | UK soldiers killed by 'friendly fire'

References

  • Shrader, Charles R. Amicicide: the problem of friendly fire in modern war, University Press of the Pacific, 2005. ISBN 1-4102-1991-7
  • Regan, G. More Military Blunders. Carlton Books, 2004.

External links


 
 

 

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