RAF MILDENHALL, England — A British soldier could face court-martial for allegedly relaying the wrong coordinates to a U.S. fighter jet in Afghanistan that led to the bombing of a British position and three soldiers’ deaths last year.
Citing privacy laws, British Ministry of Defence representatives would not identify the soldier, who potentially could be charged with failing to perform his duty. British Pvts. Aaron McClure and Robert Foster, both 19, and John Thrumble, 21, were killed Aug. 23, 2007, in Helmand province when a 500-pound bomb was mistakenly dropped on their position during a firefight.
After its investigation found the soldier to be responsible for the errant bombing, the MOD handed the findings and recommendations to the Army Prosecuting Authority this summer, spokesman Paul Starbrook said this week.
"They will decide which charges if any this guy could face," Starbrook said.
The case is unprecedented, Starbrook said.
APA Chief of Staff Col. Philip Smith said it’s anyone’s guess when the authority will decide if they will charge the soldier.
"It would be wrong of us to put a timetable on this," Smith said. "It could prejudice any outcome."
Independent of the military chain of command, the APA decides whether courts-martial are warranted and also oversees military prosecutions, according to the authority’s Web site.
McClure, Foster and Thrumble were deployed with the 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment. The unit is based in Bury St. Edmunds, a town of 50,000 people and home to scores of U.S. servicemembers.
The town is roughly 20 miles from RAF Lakenheath, and the F-15 Eagle that dropped the bomb was from the base’s 48th Fighter Wing.
The troops were under heavy enemy fire when a jet from the wing’s 492nd Fighter Squadron was called in to provide close-air support.
In February, a popular British reality show aired footage of the friendly-fire blast that was filmed by a soldier on the ground.
Allan McClure, the uncle of Pvt. Aaron McClure, told Stars and Stripes in January that the family wanted people to see what happened.
"It was never going to be easy to sit and watch your nephew get killed," he said. "We felt the effect of that, the shock waves, coming through the telly."
"People need to realize the real effects of war and what our boys are going through over there."
