ianstone
09-09-2010, 07:18 PM
Hero soldier who survived friendly fire died in grenade attack after Afghan child flashed warning to locals
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 7:08 PM on 9th September 2010
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http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B19E72D000005DC-657_233x423.jpg Lance Corporal of Horse Jonathan Woodgate died just minutes after a child apparently flashed a warning
A British soldier was killed in a grenade attack in Afghanistan shortly after a child used a mirror to flash a secret warning to locals to stay away, an inquest has heard.
The use of child accomplices by the Afghan insurgents emerged at the inquest into the death of Jonathan Woodgate, 26, of the Household Cavalry who died when a Taliban fighter hurled the explosive device over a wall.
Fifteen minutes earlier a child had flashed the mirror which villagers understood as signal to flee the area before the attack earlier this year.
Lance Corporal of Horse Woodgate had earlier said he was 'tempting fate' by returning to the front line as he had survived a notorious 'friendly fire' incident seven years earlier in Iraq when his armoured vehicle came under fire from tankbusting US bombers.
L/Cpl Woodgate walked away with holes in his bullet proof vest, but his colleague L/Cpl Matty Hull was killed.
An inquest at Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, heard on Thursday that L/Cpl Woodgate was on the second day of a two-day reconnaissance mission patrolling in a village in Sangin, in Helmand province when he came under attack on March 26.
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Lieutenant Colonel Justin Holt, a member of the Defence Inquest Unit, said locals had 'seemed friendly'. But the villagers returned to their compounds about 15 minutes before the attack after a child used a mirror to reflect the sun.
The inquest heard L/Cpl Woodgate and a colleague, L/Cpl Ronnie Rincon-Stewart, became suspicious as they sheltered behind a wall.
Lt Col Holt said the soldiers had been put on their guard by the incident but L/Cpl Woodgate had suffered "unsurvivable" wounds in an explosion after a grenade was thrown from behind a wall.
First aid was administered to wounds on the left side of L/Cpl Woodgate's face and left arm and leg, and also to a wound on his torso which caused a punctured lung.
The coroner, Dr Peter Dean was told Army medics had tried in vain to save L/Cpl Woodgate. He concluded that L/Cpl Woodgate had died on active service as a result of enemy action.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1B7CA6000005DC-419_468x502.jpg Lee Pool, seven, wipes away a tear as he watches the body of his father Corporal Joseph McFarlane Pool pass through Wootton Basset today
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1B72DD000005DC-160_468x286.jpg Mourners watch the coffin of Lance Corporal Joseph Pool passing through Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire following his repatriation ceremony at RAF Lyneham on Thursday
In the friendly-fire incident in March 2003, L/Cpl Woodgate and L/Cpl Hull were travelling in a Scimitar armoured vehicle which came under attack from American A-10 Thunderbolt jets.
L/Cpl Woodgate said after the attack: 'Part of me thinks I've already cheated death and I may be tempting fate by staying out here.
Footage of the bombing emerged in 2007 - after the Ministry of Defence had told L/Cpl Hull's family that a recording did not exist.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1B736F000005DC-642_468x321.jpg Paying their respect: Soldiers watch the body of Lance Corporal Joseph Pool, who was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan on Sunday, return to Britain
The film, which showed the horrified reaction of the US pilots as they realised their error, was later shown at L/Cpl Hull's inquest.
One pilot was heard to say 'We're in jail, dude' after realising the mistake. The second replied 'God dammit', while weeping.
A coroner at L/Cpl Hull's inquest called the actions of the US pilots - who did not give evidence - as 'a criminal and unlawful act'.
Earlier today the body of a Scottish soldier killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan on Sunday was repatriated back to Britain.
Mourners lined the streets of Wotton Bassett in Wiltshire to pay their respects to Lance Corporal Joseph Pool, of The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The 26-year-old was part of a team carrying out searches on compounds in the Nad-e-Ali district of Afghanistan when he was killed.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1BCB2C000005DC-874_468x288.jpg Thursday: An almost empty House of Commons during a debate on Afghanistan
Elsewhere on Thursday, MPs voted for the first time on whether UK troops should remain in Afghanistan, some nine years after troops first invaded.
However before the vote, on the question 'this House supports the continued deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan', the chamber was almost entirely empty as MPs debated the motion.
Since 2001, 334 UK troops have died in action in Afghanistan.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310579/Hero-soldier-survived-friendly-died-Afghan-child-flashed-warning-locals.html#ixzz0z4qiGWug
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 7:08 PM on 9th September 2010
Comments (0) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310579/Hero-soldier-survived-friendly-died-Afghan-child-flashed-warning-locals.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310579/Hero-soldier-survived-friendly-died-Afghan-child-flashed-warning-locals.html)
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B19E72D000005DC-657_233x423.jpg Lance Corporal of Horse Jonathan Woodgate died just minutes after a child apparently flashed a warning
A British soldier was killed in a grenade attack in Afghanistan shortly after a child used a mirror to flash a secret warning to locals to stay away, an inquest has heard.
The use of child accomplices by the Afghan insurgents emerged at the inquest into the death of Jonathan Woodgate, 26, of the Household Cavalry who died when a Taliban fighter hurled the explosive device over a wall.
Fifteen minutes earlier a child had flashed the mirror which villagers understood as signal to flee the area before the attack earlier this year.
Lance Corporal of Horse Woodgate had earlier said he was 'tempting fate' by returning to the front line as he had survived a notorious 'friendly fire' incident seven years earlier in Iraq when his armoured vehicle came under fire from tankbusting US bombers.
L/Cpl Woodgate walked away with holes in his bullet proof vest, but his colleague L/Cpl Matty Hull was killed.
An inquest at Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, heard on Thursday that L/Cpl Woodgate was on the second day of a two-day reconnaissance mission patrolling in a village in Sangin, in Helmand province when he came under attack on March 26.
More...
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Lieutenant Colonel Justin Holt, a member of the Defence Inquest Unit, said locals had 'seemed friendly'. But the villagers returned to their compounds about 15 minutes before the attack after a child used a mirror to reflect the sun.
The inquest heard L/Cpl Woodgate and a colleague, L/Cpl Ronnie Rincon-Stewart, became suspicious as they sheltered behind a wall.
Lt Col Holt said the soldiers had been put on their guard by the incident but L/Cpl Woodgate had suffered "unsurvivable" wounds in an explosion after a grenade was thrown from behind a wall.
First aid was administered to wounds on the left side of L/Cpl Woodgate's face and left arm and leg, and also to a wound on his torso which caused a punctured lung.
The coroner, Dr Peter Dean was told Army medics had tried in vain to save L/Cpl Woodgate. He concluded that L/Cpl Woodgate had died on active service as a result of enemy action.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1B7CA6000005DC-419_468x502.jpg Lee Pool, seven, wipes away a tear as he watches the body of his father Corporal Joseph McFarlane Pool pass through Wootton Basset today
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1B72DD000005DC-160_468x286.jpg Mourners watch the coffin of Lance Corporal Joseph Pool passing through Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire following his repatriation ceremony at RAF Lyneham on Thursday
In the friendly-fire incident in March 2003, L/Cpl Woodgate and L/Cpl Hull were travelling in a Scimitar armoured vehicle which came under attack from American A-10 Thunderbolt jets.
L/Cpl Woodgate said after the attack: 'Part of me thinks I've already cheated death and I may be tempting fate by staying out here.
Footage of the bombing emerged in 2007 - after the Ministry of Defence had told L/Cpl Hull's family that a recording did not exist.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1B736F000005DC-642_468x321.jpg Paying their respect: Soldiers watch the body of Lance Corporal Joseph Pool, who was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan on Sunday, return to Britain
The film, which showed the horrified reaction of the US pilots as they realised their error, was later shown at L/Cpl Hull's inquest.
One pilot was heard to say 'We're in jail, dude' after realising the mistake. The second replied 'God dammit', while weeping.
A coroner at L/Cpl Hull's inquest called the actions of the US pilots - who did not give evidence - as 'a criminal and unlawful act'.
Earlier today the body of a Scottish soldier killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan on Sunday was repatriated back to Britain.
Mourners lined the streets of Wotton Bassett in Wiltshire to pay their respects to Lance Corporal Joseph Pool, of The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The 26-year-old was part of a team carrying out searches on compounds in the Nad-e-Ali district of Afghanistan when he was killed.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/09/article-1310579-0B1BCB2C000005DC-874_468x288.jpg Thursday: An almost empty House of Commons during a debate on Afghanistan
Elsewhere on Thursday, MPs voted for the first time on whether UK troops should remain in Afghanistan, some nine years after troops first invaded.
However before the vote, on the question 'this House supports the continued deployment of UK armed forces in Afghanistan', the chamber was almost entirely empty as MPs debated the motion.
Since 2001, 334 UK troops have died in action in Afghanistan.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310579/Hero-soldier-survived-friendly-died-Afghan-child-flashed-warning-locals.html#ixzz0z4qiGWug