Sailor 'risked life to save crew'

A YOUNG soldier was killed during his first firefight in Afghanistan while bravely protecting fellow troops from a Taliban attack, an inquest heard yesterday.

Courageous Private Christopher Gray, 19, was shot in the chest as he engaged a group of heavily-armed rebel fighters on their way to an under-fire British platoon in Helmand Province.

He was airlifted to a British base but was dead on arrival.

Pte Gray, of the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, was posthumously awarded the Command of British Force Afghanistan Commendation for bravery.

Colleague Corporal Robert Moore received the Military Cross.

The inquest in Loughborough, Leics, heard they had been in Afghanistan for just two weeks.

They had not even seen a Taliban fighter when their unit was sent to support a platoon pinned down by gunfire in Now Zad.

Pte Gray was chosen to lead as he was “a very good soldier”.

They saw four AK47-toting Taliban in an alley heading to join the attack and opened fire.

Cpl Moore told how Pte Gray said “I’m hit” and dropped to the floor.

Pte Gray’s parents Helen and Paul, of Ratby. Leics, said: “Chris died heroically.”

Verdict: Unlawful killing.

Published: 16 Jul 2008
A VERDICT of unlawful killing has today been delivered at the inquest into the deaths of Sgt Craig Brelsford and Pte Johan Botha.
The coroner paid a glowing tribute to the soldiers’ bravery and comradeship, and said their actions "exemplified bravery at its highest level brought about by the strength of comradeship."

He added: “I don’t think we can appreciate what it was like for those involved. Without exception everyone has demonstrated these qualities and also been honest enough to admit to sheer unadulterated fear.

“The courage to seek to rescue a fallen colleague in the face of such intense danger is merely beyond belief.”

Sgt Brelsford, of Nottingham, was shot as he crawled forward during a fierce firefight with Taliban militia to try to retrieve the body of Pte Botha, of Pretoria, South Africa.

Pte Botha’s body had to be left on the battlefield until the next morning due to the intensity of the incoming fire.

The inquest into the two 25-year-olds' deaths heard heroic accounts of the battle that raged for several hours as troops from the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, tried to destroy Taliban vantage points behind enemy lines at Garmsir in Helmand province on September 8, 2007.


"Incredible bravery"

Pte Luke Cole - who was later awarded the MC - told how despite being shot and wounded himself in the exchanges he spoke to Pte Botha, who was lying stricken on the ground, over the radio and tried to get him to crawl towards him.

The inquest heard although Pte Cole was shot three times in the leg, pelvis and stomach he continued to fire at the enemy, killing at least three of them, before colleagues rescued him and dragged him behind a wall.

Captain Simon Cupples, 25, later awarded the CGC, described crawling in the darkness, trying to locate casualties, as Taliban fire came in.

He helped pull two colleagues to safety, including Private Luke Cole but could not find Pte Botha.

Capt Cupples said he briefed Sgt Brelsford, in another section, who pushed forward to try to find Pte Botha while the Captain extracted the other two wounded men.

A few minutes later, after Sgt Brelsford had gone forward, he heard a cry of “Man down”. He had been shot in the neck.

Capt Cupples said: “All the blokes that night, they all went forward, there was incredible bravery.”

Advertisement

Another soldier, Pte Kyle Drury, told how Taliban bullets hit his backpack, ricocheted off his body armour and knocked a magazine out of his hand as he tried to reload.

He said he was pinned to the ground for at least 40 minutes while enemy fire whistled overhead.

Pte Kevin Latham described the firefight as like being “in a nightmare”.

He added: “This was by far the scariest moment of my life. I genuinely believed I might be shot and killed with so much ammunition flying around.”

Soldiers told the hearing that they were “anxious” about the operation as they were certain to encounter Taliban fighters and it was their last mission in the area.

Pte Cole said he and his colleagues nicknamed the mission “Operation Certain Death” but claimed it was “banter” between the troops to calm their nerves.

Following the inquest, Pte Botha’s father-in-law Gobie Ross said: “They were fighting so gallantly and had the equipment they needed. This is just what happens in war.”

His widow Mandie added: “I want to thank everybody for what they did.”

The inquest heard yesterday how kit shortages had “put lives at risk” in the Afghan battle.

Each squaddie should also have had night-vision goggles on the night attack — but there were not enough.

Under-fire troops also had to wait an HOUR while jet pilots debated whether they were allowed to attack the enemy a few metres from the soldiers.

Confusion arose when the men’s commander Major Jamie Nowell told his air support to open fire on four militants spotted in a trench.

He was told over the radio that the pilots were not allowed to as they had different rules of engagement.

It took an hour for the airmen to be put on the same rules.

Major Nowell said: “I could not understand how it had happened. . . . the opportunity to engage the Taliban was lost.”

He said the mix-up “dented the confidence of commanders on the ground”.

Wiltshire coroner David Masters said it would have “put lives at risk”.

He said the rules of engagement should have been “known from the outset”.

A series of Army blunders led to the death of a young soldier, an inquest heard.

Now the family of Fusilier Daniel Whinham may sue the MoD following hisdeath. Fusilier Whinham, 22, of Gateshead, died when the Land Rover he was in rolled
over and hit a tree in Cyprus. But at an inquest into his death, it was revealed army top brass knew that the soldier behind the wheel was not qualified to drive it.

And the coroner blamed a series of "systemic failures" for leading to the tragedy.

The hearing was told the Army had not received the driving licence paperwork for Lance Corporal Marc Dryburgh, 26, originally of Ashington, who was told to
drive the Land Rover regardless of his lack of training.

The dad-of-two, who now lives in Belfast was lucky to survive the crash in December 2005.It left him in intensive care and he is still recovering from the effects of brain damage, which has left his speech slurred and memory poor.



Daniel, who had wanted to join the army since childhood, was serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and had been in the country
for 10 days.



His parents and sister heard there was a "pattern of shortfall" and Daniel was the victim of "systematic failure".


After the inquest his family were too upset to comment but they are considering legal action against the Ministry of Defence.


Daniel was in the front seat of the Land Rover, which was on routine patrol with Fusiliers Raymond Robinson, then 22, from Morpeth and Craig Gibbs,from the West Midlands in the back. They were both injured in the crash.
Cpt Andrew Hopper, who was second lieutenant at the time of the incident and Daniel's platoon commander, told the inquest in Gateshead, how L/Cpl Dryburgh was not licensed to drive a Wolf Land Rover.

He said: "Lance Corporal Dryburgh was trained to drive a Snatch Land Rover but not the variant.

"The morning that we were deployed a member of the transport platoon said that we couldn't deploy as the drivers were not familiarised with the Wolf Land Rover.

"But after a 10 minute conversation it was decided that if the drivers had

driven Snatch Land Rovers they could drive Wolf until they had the conversion. It was an issue that we were aware of."

Retired Col John Adams, from the land accident prevention and investigation team, told the court the Motor Transport unit had undergone a inspection two
months before the crash and had failed. He said there were no seatbelts in the back and there was no evidence of the front seat passenger, Fus Whinham or the driver Lance Corporal Dryburgh wearing a seatbelt.

Col Adams said: "The inspection showed there were a pattern of shortfalls including the licences register which was incomplete. At the end of the month they had to show their files again and it was all done."However after investigating this incident it was quite clear it hadn't been done."

Col Adams went on to say the drivers from 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were not briefed as to the dangers of driving in Cyprus or had experience of driving the vehicle.

Gateshead coroner Terence Carney recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: "Accidents occur when systems designed to prevent their occurrence are not complied with.

"Your son was the victim of a systemic failure. Hopefully Daniel Whinham has not died in vain if these lessons are noted and properly learnt."

An MOD spokesman said: "Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the family and friends of Fus Whinham at this difficult time. We are immensely saddened by his
death in a tragic accident in Cyprus. At the inquest the coroner gave averdict of accidental death. We have noted his comments and with the Royal Military Police and the MoD own investigations have learnt lessons from this tragic incident."




    
    

Edited by Elaine - 26 Feb 2009 at 1:40pm

Bath sealant used on nuclear submarine


Anthony Huntrod

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryADVERTISEMENT Published Date:
12 March 2009
By James Johnston
Bathroom sealant was used to maintain vital naval equipment which may have been responsible for a fatal explosion on board a nuclear submarine, an inquest heard.

Anthony Huntrod, 20, of Town End Farm, and Paul McCann, 32, from the West Midlands, died when a self-contained oxygen generator (scog) blew up on board HMS Tireless in 2007.

Sailors battled for 40 minutes to reach the two mechanics via a hatch which had been buckled by the blast, but they were unable to save them.

An inquest in Sunderland was told civil servants and naval commanders agreed to return hundreds of abandoned scogs to military stores after they were left at a hazardous waste site at the Devonport Naval Base.

Christopher Clark, from the Defence Equipment and Support department, which equips the armed forces, said he received a call from the site in 2006 informing him of the scogs, said to have been left there by HMS Trafalgar after a recall.

Yesterday Mr Clark, who gave the go-ahead for up to 1,000 of the abandoned scogs to be returned to service, revealed how a silicone sealant typical in bathroom and other DIY applications was used to prevent them becoming contaminated with oil or grease, which can cause them to explode.

Defending the procedure under cross examination, he denied it was an "unsuitable" substance and said it was applied by experts.

Mr Clark also admitted stepping over a number of scogs during an inspection at the hazardous waste site in 2006, insisting they were "robust" enough to stand his weight.

"If the seals were intact then they could be brought back on board," he said.

"At the time in 2006, my state of mind was that if a cap was on, the seal was intact.

"They appeared to be serviceable in my opinion. They should not have been on the hazardous waste site."

Earlier the inquest was told some of the scogs issued to HMS Tireless were considered unserviceable on delivery and sent back.

However, it was not clear if the scog which exploded on board was one of the reissued 1,000.

Proceeding.

Well said Mrs. Gooch, I am pleased that the Coroner allowed her to speak and read her statement.