Matty Hull

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Matty Hull
31 March 1976 – 28 March 2003
Matty Hull
Place of death	25 miles north of Basra, Iraq
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	unknown – 28 March 2003
Rank	Lance-Corporal of Horse
Battles/wars	Operation Telic

Lance-Corporal of Horse Matty Hull (31 March 1976 – 28 March 2003) was a British soldier from D Squadron, The Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry.

L/CoH Hull was killed in a friendly fire incident whilst deployed on Operation Telic, the British element of the invasion of Iraq. The incident took place 25 miles north of Basra, on 28 March 2003.

Whilst not the only fratricide incident during Operation Telic, the circumstances of the inquest into the death of Matty Hull led to an alleged diplomatic incident related to the release of video evidence from the attacking aircraft.

1 Fratricide incident
2 Funeral
3 Inquest
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Fratricide incident

Main article: 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident - March 28, 2003

The incident occurred when two A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft of the Idaho Air National Guard, 190th Fighter Squadron, nearing the end of an operational mission, attacked a four vehicle British reconnaissance patrol of Scimitar armoured vehicles. The vehicles were fired upon by the A10s' GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon in a series of strafing runs.

As a result of the attack Hull died and five colleagues were injured. One of the A-10 pilots who attacked the British patrol was subsequently confirmed as Lieutenant Colonel Gus Kohntopp.

[edit] Funeral

L/CoH Hull was buried in a military funeral in Windsor on 16 April 2003. The band of the Blues and Royals, based at Combermere Barracks, and some 200 soldiers accompanied the bier at Holy Trinity Garrison Church, Windsor.^[1]

[edit] Inquest

Bodies of those servicemen dying overseas are repatriated to the UK via RAF Brize Norton. As a result, responsibility for inquests comes under the civilian jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire coroner. An inquest into the death of L/CoH Hull was convened in 2006, presided over by Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker.

The inquest generated significant media interest following comments made by Walker related to classified video footage and its subsequent leak to the British media.

On 16 March, the coroner returned a narrative verdict, stating that the killing of Hull was "unlawful". Walker said: "The attack on the convoy amounted to an assault. It was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it and in that respect it was criminal." ^[2]