Friendly fire tank deaths 'tragic', says Hoon

Britain's Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed regret today over the “tragic” deaths of two British soldiers whose tank was mistaken for Iraqi armour and destroyed by “friendly fire“.

An investigation was under way into the deaths of Corporal Stephen Allbutt, 35, and Trooper David Clarke, 19, whose Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank was hit by a British tank round during combat on the outskirts of Basra.

Married father-of-two Cpl Allbutt, from Stoke-on-Trent, and Trooper Clarke, a single man from Littleworth, Staffordshire, were from the Queen’s Royal Lancers, part of the 1st Royal Regiment of Fusiliers battle group.

Cpl Allbutt saw action in the 1991 operation Desert Storm.

Two other soldiers were seriously injured in the incident, which blew the turret from the tank. They have undergone surgery.

Crew members from the Black Watch battle group fired on the vehicle while engaging pockets of Iraqi soldiers and militia near a bridge over the Shatt Al Basrah canal running along the western edge of the city. It was pitch dark at the time.

The incident brought the death toll of British troops in the war to 20.

But 18 of the deaths have been a result of so-called “blue-on-blue” friendly fire and accidents.

An opinion poll out today suggested widespread public concern about the number of deaths suffered by British troops not in direct combat.

The Telegraph poll found that 75% of people believe the number of soldiers killed in accidents was “more than would be expected“.

Mr Hoon, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, described the latest friendly fire deaths as “another tragic incident“.

“It appears that in the heat of battle, when one tank was coming under attack, it turned and fired on another tank, and sadly another tank was also a British tank,” he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Riddell-Webster, commander of the Black Watch battle group, said: “I have spoken to the person involved and he is clearly distraught.”

The investigation will centre on why the tank’s sophisticated new identification technology failed to prevent the attack.

A new tank recognition system was developed after a string of friendly fire mistakes during the last Gulf War.

Four British servicemen have been killed in friendly fire and another 14 in accidents since conflict began.

On Sunday two RAF servicemen were killed when their Tornado GR4 was downed by a US Patriot missile battery near the Kuwaiti border.

Flight Lieutenant Kevin Main, a pilot, and Flight Lieutenant Dave Williams, a navigator, both of 9 Squadron, were hit as they returned from an operational mission over Iraq.

Less than 24 hours into the war, eight Royal Marines and four US servicemen were killed when a Sea Knight helicopter crashed over the Kuwaiti desert.

Six of the British victims have been named as Captain Philip Guy, 29, and Colour Sgt John Cecil, Ian Seymour, Mark Stratford, Sholto Hedenskog and Llywelyn Evans.

They were all from Plymouth-based 3 Commando Brigade.

Captain Guy’s wife was expecting a baby in two months.

The family of Colour Sgt Cecil praised a man who was “proud to be a Royal Marine, proud to be British and proud to represent his country“.

At the weekend Lieutenants James Williams, 28, Philip West, 32, and Antony King, 35, were among six Royal Navy officers killed when two Sea King helicopters collided.

A fourth officer from the same base – Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, near Helston, Cornwall – who also died was named in reports as 31-year-old Philip Green.

Lt West, who lived in Budock, near Falmouth, was engaged to Nicky, a nurse at Tresliske Hospital in Truro.

“His loss is hard to bear,” said a Navy statement.

Lt Williams’s parents, Vernon and Liz, said their son “died doing the job he loved most”.

Lt King, who served in the last Gulf War, was recently selected for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He lived in Helston with his wife Sarah and their children David, five, and Molly, four.

The two British soldiers killed in combat were Sgt Steven Roberts, 33, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, and Barry Stephen, 31, a lance corporal with the 1st Battalion The Black Watch, from Scotland.

Sgt Roberts became the first British combat victim after being shot on Sunday while trying to calm civilian rioting at Al Zubayr.

Lance Cpl Stephen died the next day in combat in the same area.

Meanwhile, two British soldiers are still missing after their Land Rover was ambushed on Sunday by Iraqi forces with a rocket-propelled grenade in Al Zubayr.