Imber Incident

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "A horrible friendly-fire accident takes place at Imber, Wiltshire, UK. In the "Imber Incident," a crowd of spectators is watching a firepower demonstration when pilot error and poor weather lead to a tragedy. Six Hawker Hurricanes and six Supermarine Spitfires fly in formation and fire their guns at a target (stationary vehicles). Everything goes well until one of the Hurricane pilots mistakenly fires at the crowd of spectators instead of the target. There are 25 military casualties (16 officers) and 71 wounded. The pilot is later found guilty of error in mistaking the spectators as target dummies but remains in the service.

 

Wild rumors spread after the incident about the number of deaths, the identity of the pilot as American (Sergeant William McLachlan is actually British, KIA 29 June 1942), and other matters. A similar live-fire demonstration on 16 April 1942 for Winston Churchill and US General George Marshall proceeds without incident."

 

"Targets at Imber"

[DD_Arthur]

7 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

 

"Targets at Imber"

 

Never heard of this incident before but I’ve been to Imber. The buildings pictured above were built in the seventies for urban warfare  and riot control training.

 

Our MoD has owned this area since around the turn of the twentieth century.  In the late nineteen eighties and not far from Imber, they built a mock German village for training mechanized infantry and armour.