Commander blamed over Iraq friendly fire tragedy

Two soldiers were killed during the battle for Basra when one British Challenger tank mistakenly opened fire on another in the darkness after the crew were wrongly told there were no other friendly forces nearby.

The coroner conducting the inquest issued a withering rebuke to Lieutenant Colonel Lindsay MacDuff, commander of the Black Watch infantry battalion.

Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker accused him of failing to pass on vital information to his men which he said might have prevented the "completely avoidable tragedy".

He effectively accused Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff of lying to cover up his blunder.

In a tearful statement, the widow of tank commander Corporal Stephen Allbutt, who was killed along with Trooper David Clarke, demanded the lieutenant colonel's resignation and urged the Ministry of Defence to prosecute.

Mr Walker accused Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff of having a "fatally flawed" grasp of the danger of friendly fire on the battlefield.

He concluded: "It will fall to others to question the fitness of this officer to hold this command, and give consideration to prosecution under the Army Act."

The Ministry of Defence ruled out any action, however, saying he had already been cleared following a Royal Military Police investigation.

Father-of-two Corporal Allbutt, 35, and 19-year-old Trooper Clarke, both members of the Queen's Royal Lancers and from Staffordshire, were among seven British servicemen killed by 'friendly fire' in Iraq in 2003.

The tragedy happened in the early hours of March 25, four days after the war began, as UK units advanced on Basra city.

Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff was then a major commanding B company of the Black Watch regiment, with tanks from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment under his command, defending a captured bridge over a canal outside the city.

One of the Challenger tank crews spotted what they believed were Iraqi troops almost a mile away.

In fact, they were watching two Challenger tanks from the Queen's Royal Lancers, attached to the neighbouring battle group.

A Royal Tank Regiment tank crew were given permission to attack and fired two high explosive shells. The second hit and destroyed one of the Queen's Royal Lancers tanks, killing Corporal Allbutt and Trooper Clarke, who were inside.

No inquest into Trooper Clarke's death was possible because his remains were never found.

Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff - since promoted to command the Black Watch battalion - was aware of the location of the friendly tanks.

He claimed in his evidence to the inquest in Oxford that he passed on a radio message to his units pointing out the positions of the friendly tanks, and that the call was acknowledged.

Other soldiers and fellow officers later gave evidence that they heard no such message, prompting the coroner to call the lieutenant colonel back to the witness box.

The inquest heard that the official log recording all radio messages had mysteriously gone missing.

Concluding the inquest, Mr Walker said: "Major MacDuff is clear that he sent his message and it was acknowledged.

"I do not accept his evidence. If it had been done, it would have been heard by someone in that platoon."

He blamed Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff and his colleague, Major David Catmur, for failing to pass on vital information, claiming they "demonstrated a fatally-flawed appreciation of the potentially serious nature of the forces as they were positioned".

Mr Walker stopped short of delivering an unlawful killing verdict - although he said he had considered it - and instead recorded a narrative verdict.

Coporal Allbutt's widow Deborah said: "I want Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff to resign. He should be prosecuted now and removed from command. Maybe the mothers, fathers, husbands and wives of the soldiers in that regiment should question whether they want this man in charge. I wouldn't."

Last night, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said Lieutenant Colonel MacDuff would not be commenting on the findings.

He said an internal board of inquiry had "identified failings that contributed to this incident and it made recommendations, all of which were accepted and action taken to implement them".