User:Ryan4314/Sandboxes/Falklands War Gazelle friendly fire incident

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1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident

Shortly after arrival, she was involved in the final Exocet raid against HMS Invincible. In the early hours of 6 June, Cardiff shot down a friendly Army Air Corps Gazelle helicopter (no. XX377 of 656 Squadron), killing all four on-board, in the belief it was a low flying enemy C-130 Hercules. The Gazelle had been flying from 5th Infantry Brigade headquarters, at Darwin, to a radio rebroadcast station on Pleasant Peak. The station had been established there the previous day to provide a communications link between the headquarters and a battalion of the Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), at Fitzroy. However this link was suffering problems, so the Gazelle was tasked with bringing in spare equipment and two members of 205 Signal Squadron, the Officer Commanding (Maj Mike Forge) and a technician (SSgt Joe Baker). It had been intended that the Gazelle would then go on to Fitzroy and return to Darwin the next day. Cardiff had moved to the east of the islands, to give naval gunfire support to 3 Commando Brigade (the same mission in which she had fired 277 rounds). The Gazelle's "Identification Friend or Foe" transmitter was turned off as it interfered with other critical equipment and nobody outside of 5

Shortly after arrival, she was involved in the final Exocet raid against HMS Invincible. In the early hours of 6 June, Cardiff shot down a friendly Army Air Corps Gazelle helicopter (no. XX377 of 656 Squadron), killing all four on-board,[1] in the belief it was a low flying enemy C-130 Hercules.[2][3] The Gazelle had been flying personnel and spare equipment to a malfunctioning radio rebroadcast station recently established on Pleasant Peak. The Gazelle's "Identification Friend or Foe" transmitter was turned off as it interfered with other critical equipment and as per standard operating procedure, 5th Infantry Brigade was not required to alert the navy of the flight.[4] However a board of inquiry recommended that neither negligence nor blame should be attributed to any individual and that no action should be taken against any individual. The relatives of the deceased were not told the truth about the event until four years later, as "the deep concern of the Ministry of Defence has been not to cause further anguish to relatives until the facts were clear."[5] The number "205" was later painted at the crash site (51°47′01″S 58°28′04″W / -51.783600, -58.467786) as a memorial, the significance being that the helicopter's two passengers were from 205 Signal Squadron. Approximately an hour after the shootdown, Cardiff spotted four landing craft carrying troops from the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards. Having been told there were no other British forces in the area, Cardiff's crew assumed they were Argentine, and fired illuminating star shells over them in preparation to attack. When the Guards saw the star shells and realised Cardiff’s intentions, they exchanged signals with the ship via Aldis lamp, avoiding another "blue on blue" incident.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stanley, Mount Kent, Mount Longdon, Top Malo House in Falkland Area Operations - Falklands War 1982. Naval History Net. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.
  2. ^ Masakowski, Yvonne; Cook, Malcolm; Noyes, Jan (2007). Decision-making in Complex Environments. Ashgate Publishing, p. 197. ISBN 0-7546-4950-4. Retrieved on 2008-03-11. 
  3. ^ Bolia, Robert S. "The Falklands War: The Bluff Cove Disaster" (PDF). Military Review (November–December 2004): pp. 66–72. 
  4. ^ L/Cpl. S. J. Cockton. Hansard. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
  5. ^ Falkland Islands (Gazelle Helicopter). Hansard. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
  6. ^ Anderson, Duncan (2002). The Falklands War 1982 (Essential Histories). UK: Osprey Publishing, p. 58. ISBN 1-84176-422-1. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.