Soldiers who died in tank blast may have been showing off
Corporals took a colleague on a ‘guest shoot’ during a live fire exercise
TWO soldiers killed while taking a colleague on an unauthorised trip in a tank may have been “showing off”, an inquest has heard.
The men died after their tank exploded during a training exercise when live charges were incorrectly stored inside the armoured vehicle. Corporals Matthew Hatfield and Darren Neilson of the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) were killed when the Challenger 2 tank burst into flames in June last year.
Warrant officer Stuart Lawson was also inside the vehicle at the time of the explosion at the Castlemartin range in Pembrokeshire. He survived the blast but suffered severe burns and other life-changing injuries.
Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court heard that WO2 Lawson, 39, the deputy safety training officer, had requested to ride in the tank on a “guest shoot” during a live fire exercise at the range. Cpl Neilson, 31, was the tank commander and was in the turret, while Cpl Hatfield, 27, was loading ammunition.
The inquest heard that bag charges, the high-explosive ammunition, were incorrectly stowed, and an airtight seal stopping the explosive gases escaping into the tank turret was not in place before the lethal blast.
Cpl Neilson was blown from the turret by the force of the blast, and emergency services were called to free the other two men. Cpl Neilson and Cpl Hatfield were pronounced dead in hospital the following day.
Both men were married with a child, and had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Major John Poole, in charge of safety on the day of the incident, had said in a statement to a Ministry of Defence inquiry team: “To think those boys stowed those bag charges incorrectly is a little disappointing. I would have thought they’d have known better. Whether they were trying to show off to Mr Lawson, or trying to get through it [the firing] as quickly as possible, I don’t know.”
Major Poole was asked why he had previously said he was “not impressed” Mr Lawson had been in the tank. He replied it was only because his deputy had been injured. Lt Col Ridgway, the commanding officer of the RTR, said in a written statement there was “genuine military justification for [Mr] Lawson to be in the turret to observe firing”.
The inquest heard that a key part of machinery, the bolt vent axial (BVA), had not been returned to its correct position following a cleaning of the tank that morning.
Detective Sergeant Matthew Briggs, who investigated the incident, said: “As there was no BVA, there would be no gas tight seal, and the force of the bag charge would have come back into the turret.”
The court previously heard that the provisional cause of death for Cpl Hatfield, from Amesbury, Wiltshire, was burns, while Cpl Neilson, of Preston, Lancs, suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive, as well as the MOD, has been investigating. The inquest continues.