(31 Mar 2003) SHOTLIST
1. Mid shot of Trooper Chris Finney, D Squadron, Household Cavalry, in hospital bed on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus
2. Wide of Finney on bed with injured leg elevated
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Trooper Chris Finney, D Squadron, Household Cavalry:
"I've seen these Iraqis running away by now, so I wasn't too fussed about them anymore. I've thrown my helmet off, come round the side of the wagon thinking it was still the Iraqis that had fired on us, come round the other side to get a bit of cover. By this time Al (likely to be Lieutenant Alex MacEwen who was injured in same event, but cannot be confirmed) was sat on top of the turret, bleeding and whatever. So, I've got him down from there. I wasn't hit at this point, I was alright. I got him down and was trying to see to him as best I could. And I was trying to get his, he was lying with his, you have your morphine on your right pocket on your leg - he was lying on it, with his wound uppermost and he's asking me to put his morphine in him. So, I'm stood there trying to figure out how to roll him without getting him on his wound and get his morphine in him. And then we seen the A-10 coming over again for a second go and then hit him again. And I've sort of turned round to try and run away and it's just caught me in the back of the leg and my arse (laughs). And I just hit the deck and then that was pretty much it."
4. Wide of ward with patients and medical staff
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Trooper Chris Finney, D Squadron, Household Cavalry:
"I seen his (the pilot's) face and all that, noticed it was an American plane. I sort of didn't want to believe it was because it's friendly, isn't it? And then, I was feeling scared and that, and signalling him that we were in fact friendly and not Iraqis and all the rest of it. And then I just, there was just a sense of helplessness like there was nothing I could do about it."
6. Wide of ward with patients and medical staff
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Trooper Chris Finney, D Squadron, Household Cavalry:
"They (American pilots) were in the area anyway, told to be on the look out for enemy tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, et cetera. So, maybe he just got into it a bit too much and seen us - because we were very very close to a village at the time, an Iraqi village. So maybe it was just a mix up, I don't know."
8. Finney and nurse walk away, through ward

STORYLINE:

An injured British soldier on Monday described feeling helpless as he tried to signal to a US pilot that he was not the enemy during a "friendly fire" incident in southern Iraq on Friday.

British defence officials are investigating the incident in which Lance Corporal Matty Hull, 25, was killed and several other british troops were wounded.

Trooper Chris Finney of the Household Cavalry's D Squadron spoke about his ordeal on board the Argus of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the Gulf on Monday.

He said he was trying to administer morphine to a wounded colleague after a first attack when a plane with US markings passed over their vehicles for a second time and fired A-10 "tankbuster" rounds.

Finney received lower body injuries and reported seeing the soldier he was helping being struck a second time.

Talking from medical facilities on the Argus, the 18-year-old said he could see the pilot clearly and that the soldiers on the ground were indicating to him that they were coalition troops.

Finney said a "mix-up" by the pilot was possible because his unit was in an area near an Iraqi village where US pilots had been warned to look for opposition forces in armoured vehicles.



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