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Military.com Forums Hot Topics & Current Events In the News "Friendly Fire", Brits Kill 2 Danish G.I.'s in Afghanistan|
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From the Copenhagen Post
http://www.cphpost.dk/get/104243.html "A military spokesperson has confirmed that two Danish soldiers serving in Afghanistan were killed by British fire Two Danish army privates who died during a firefight with Taliban rebels in Afghanistan in September lost their lives after being hit by British friendly fire, confirmed a highly placed Danish military official in Afghanistan on Sunday. Although the military investigation into the 26 September deaths of privates Mikkel Keil Sørensen and Thorbjørn Ole Reese is still open, the official said friendly fire had been suspected from the start. 'We knew the day after it happened that it was British friendly fire,' the official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Nyhedsavisen newspaper. 'We found the log number for a British Javelin rocket at the site where Mikkel died.' Peter Otken, spokesperson for the military's Judge Advocate, gave no offical comment until the investigation was complete. Denmark currently has 650 soldiers in Afghanistan. Most of them are stationed in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, where they operate with the British military. Danish troops also served under British command in Iraq" Now one could make claims of Trigger Happy Incompetant British Soldiers, as Has been done here by British Posters about Americans, but the reality is this happens in War. Now they see as well. |
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Experienced Member |
Heartfelt condolences to the families of the Danish soldiers ... and sympathy too for the British soldier(s) responsible. I'm sure they are feeling the pain as well and will for a long time. Recriminations serve no purpose.
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"Recriminations serve no purpose"
Unless of course it's directed at Septics, Seppo's, Spams,Yanks Then its usually fair game. |
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Suspended. S_S |
Only if the Septics, Seppo's, Spams, Yanks, whatever, tried to cover it up, of course. |
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It's a shame and if somebody ballsed-up I hope there is some redress.
I wouldn't dream of offering the "It's a warzone, accidents happen," excuse unless it was an unavoidable accident and that if it was unavoidable the necessary lessons are learned from a proper inquiry. Bad drills, wishful thinking, trigger-happiness and breaking rules are unacceptable, as is blaming victims if it's not their fault or brushing things under the carpet to avoid embarrassment. |
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suspended 90 days as of 5/19/09 |
The javelin is a lock-on before firing infrared-guided anti-armor missile. It's not exactly an 'I fired a missile into the air, it fell to earth I know not where' incident. Somebody had to be looking through the 4x optics at what he didn't know were friendlies. 'Didn't know they were there', seems to be a standard explanation. |
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Super Member |
When have we tried to cover it up if it involved troops of a different nationality? I guess the poor ole Yanks can't be as pure as the driven snow like your guys, now can they Squiz? Respectfully, SUNINER81 |
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Well the Pentagon was not exactly forthcoming with regards to the A-10 Vs. HCR Scimitars incident in Iraq '03 was it? Or the A-10 Vs. Fusilier Warriors in Gulf '91. There's also the incident where a Landie full of Redcaps was shunted off the road by a US vehicle which the DoD denied until they were sued. Perhaps the lesson to be learned from that is "If you're going to run allies off the road it's probably a bad idea to do it to military police". To be fair "cover up" is the wrong expression, it's difficult to cover up fatalities, the usual practice seems to be as unforthcoming as possible (something the MoD is not innocent of I'll admit), to try to fob off external inquiries and to prevent US personnel taking the blame at all costs. |
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Yep, like the Sinkings of HMS Triton, ORP Jastrzab, HMS's Britomart, and Hussar, Salamander...
I'm sure it was announced with all due Gravity to the Country  |
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Super Member |
It does appear the we "fessed up" as we say over here and despite what was said in the British press, we stood for the incident, now didn't we... Respectfully, SUNLINER81 |
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pending ban Nemesis |
Obviously, such incidents can't be totally excluded, for it is all-out war, after all. However, if memory serves, the last blue-on-blue in the British Army was on Op Corporate (in 1982) when a troop of THEM topped (I think) two Booties in the dark.
And the last Septic blue-on-blue was when? But Bladesy's right. It's pointless apportioning blame at the moment. It's just as pointless pointing a grubby finger and saying: "See? We're not the only ones!", when these people have lost their lives in a tragic accident. I'm actually looking forward to how Swiss Des handles this situation, if he's time to spare from the Scottish Office, that is, the useless tosser. MsG |
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Not so Bugs, a Chally was Blued in 2003-2004 timeframe by another Chally, see pic:
 Royal Marine Chris Maddison was slotted by Royal Engineers in Al Faw when they mistook his craft for a enemy vessel http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6187414.stm Corporal Steven Allbutt & Trooper David Clarke, QRL were in the above Challenger2 Tank, hit by another British Tank http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2886715.stm |
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pending ban Nemesis |
Aah, thanks for that, LineDoggie. As the man in the orthopaedic shoes said: "I stand corrected".
 I did include the caveat, "if memory serves", but it obviously didn't in this case, did it? Mind you, my memory's not what it used to be - it used to be my digestive tract. However, I well remember that incident with Chris Maddison, though, and also the very shameful way in which the Brit MoD tried to snow-job the fact that it was a blue-on-blue. That's why I'm interested in what sort of spin they put on this latest accident. MsG |
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Actually Bugsy the last few Britsh blue-on-blue fatalities were much more recent than Corporate.
There was the incident in which the 2RTR Staff Sgt (Matty Hull?) was killed near Basra by the coaxial of another CR2 that was trying to clear people off his tank. There's the incident in which (some Sappers IIRC) fired a missile at an RM patrol boat in the wetlands. And there's that unlucky incident when one CR2 managed to knock out another CR2 in a sandstorm near Basra. These were all Telic 1, the first was a bit of a mystery until it was pointed out just how inaccurate CR2 coaxial MGs are at close range but the blue-on-blue element was secondary to the victims lack of body armour and the fact that his Browning jammed in the first place. The second was a bit hazy the two incidents weren't connected until the BBC (who had a crew near both firer and target) pointed out that shot and hit were too close together to be co-incidence. The MoD was a bit cagey about this but the Army and the RM sorted out better procedures as a result. The third lead to some of the grown-ups in the Black Watch BG getting a bollocking for not sorting out their arcs properly. Took the Oxon Coroner to bollock the CO though. Lindoggie, I hope we've moved on from that sort of WWII mentality. EDIT: I was writing this before Linedoggie posted his reply to Bugsy. |
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-Nah, I doubt there's any spin on this incident. A Javelin(if same as the US Version) has a very Good CLU sight with Thermal Capability, but again, historically Fratricide does happen, Look at the 17th Division in the retreat from Burma. the RAF Bombed and Strafed their column on the Sittang, causing numerous casualties, and actually speeding up Japanese gains |
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pending ban Nemesis |
I still reckon the Brit MoD (plus Cyclops Broon and his bunch of crooks) will try a bit of spin on this, even though it appears to be a clear-cut case. But you're right about fratricide happening. My Da was an RASC driver at Monte Cassino in WWII and when he jumped out of his cab to take a leak, his own muckers started to walk mortars onto a supposed enemy position. Only they walked them right across his petrol bowser and blew it to shite! Luckily, he'd seen what was about to happen and legged it to a safe distance. More recently, my currant-bun (on Telic 6) was fired upon four or five times by Septics, even though his vehicle had a huge Union Flag fluttering on the whip. Good job the Septics are such rotten shots, eh?  MsG |
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Well I can say from Personal Experience, I was Gunner in the Middle Vehicle of My Patrol when the rear Vehicle Gunner Lit up a British Security Contractor vehicle.
We were entering BIAP via the Flying Man in Summer 2005 and were being followed by a Black BMW fromm the Spaghetti Bowl by the Evil Mosque on Route Irish the whole time. Even the Iraqi Civilian Traffic was staying back from the Beemer quite a distance. This Particular Vehicle kept getting closer and closer to our Bubble. We were getting suspicious that it was a VBIED, so we traveled in echelon to keep 2 M240's ready to fire upon it if Neccessary. The Patrol was in the Military only lane when the Beemer got too close after being hand signalled and Lasered with Green Visible. "R-Dog"(Rear Gunner) put a slug into the hood, and Then a small Union Jack and VS-17 came out being waved about by 2 angry Aegis Dudes. At no time prior did the occupants show themselves to be Coalition Forces or PMC's.... I wouldnt trust just a Flag, whether US or British as My Only Identification of Friendly's(it's not like Flags/VS17's are hard to get) |
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Experienced Member |
Combined ops are always tough to control.
RIP, brave Danes. |
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Member |
Sounds like the occupants of the Vehicle were complete retards that didn't need to be in Iraq in the first place. When I was there in April 03 to July 04 no one got close to our convoys, but that was back when we could point our weapons at them the whole time, I've heard since then they tell you to keep your barrels pointed up unless in an engagement. |
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Military.com Forums Hot Topics & Current Events In the News "Friendly Fire", Brits Kill 2 Danish G.I.'s in Afghanistan
