frame, right
Sergeant
Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
Steven Mark Roberts (1969–2003) was the first British soldier to die in the
2003 invasion of Iraq on 24 March 2003. He was accidentally shot by a colleague using a tank-mounted machine gun while he was
struggling with an Iraqi protester at a check point in Az Zubayr, near
Basra
Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
. The Iraqi protester was also killed in that same incident. The gunner who shot Roberts had not been properly trained that the gun was inaccurate at short range.
Sgt Roberts had been ordered to give up his body armour 3 days before he was fatally shot. The inquest held almost 4 years later into his death concluded he would have survived had he been wearing enhanced combat body armour.
After a lengthy campaign by Sgt Roberts family, in July 2006, the
MOD
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US
* ...
changed their policy on Enhanced Combat Body Armour. Now no British soldier will go to a theatre of war without the option of wearing
Enhanced Combat Body Armour.
Sgt Roberts had been serving with the
2nd Royal Tank Regiment
The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps and the 1st Mechanized Brigade.
History
Founded as B Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917 ...
, Cyclops Squadron.
Announcement of death of Sergeant Steven Roberts by the MOD
References
External links
Kit delays led to soldier's death
- BBC news report on the Coroners hearing
Sergeant Steven Roberts killed by friendly fire
- Police probe tank commander death
- Steven Roberts killed by friendly fire in March 2003
* https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/52729
1969 births
2003 deaths
Deaths by firearm in Iraq
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers
People from Wadebridge
British military personnel killed in action in the Iraq War
British Army personnel of the Iraq War
Place of birth missing
Friendly fire incidents of the Iraq War
Military personnel killed by friendly fire
20th-century British Army personnel
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