Two Soldiers Died After 'Undetected Design Flaw'

Corporal Matthew Hatfield (left) and Corporal Darren Neilson (right). (Images via Facebook).

Two soldiers fatally wounded after an explosion and fire on their tank at an Army live-firing range in Wales died after a design flaw went undetected on their armoured vehicle's gun barrel, a senior coroner has concluded at their inquest.

Corporals Matthew Hatfield and Darren Neilson, both of the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), succumbed to serious injuries after an incident on their Challenger 2 at the Castlemartin ranges, Pembrokeshire, Wales, on June 14 2017.

Louise Hunt, senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said the "main cause" was that the gun could be fired when a key component - the bolt vent axial (BVA) - was missing.

The device forms an air-tight seal blocking hot gases escaping into the crew turret.

Delivering her conclusions after a inquest lasting more than two weeks, Ms Hunt said: "The main cause of this incident was the tank being able to fire without the BVA being present.

"During production and manufacture of the gun, this hazard was not adequately considered or investigated and therefore the ability of the gun to fire without the BVA present... went undetected."

Listing a series of other contributing factors, the coroner added:

"There were other issues which contributed to the incident.

"At the time of the incident, there was no written process in place to check for the presence of the BVA assembly or any written process to confirm when it should be removed and where it should be stored.

"The 'prove the gun' drill was misunderstood and there was a grey area around when it should be done.

"The decision to undertake an experience shoot was opportunistic and not communicated adequately.

"There was no written handover procedure in place, and no handover occurred between the crews."

Ms Hunt also said there was a "long-standing practice" among tank crews of stowing high explosive shell-propelling bag charges outside their heat-proof bins, within the turret.

In the case of the Castlemartin incident, she added: "Failure to correctly stow charges caused a secondary explosion following failure of breech block due to absence BVA assembly.

"The practice of unstowed charges was routine in the regiment and not been identified or addressed by senior officers."

"We have learned lessons from it so we can prevent this from ever happening again" - Colonel Jim Taylor, Assistant Head of Training and Plans at the Land Warfare Centre, Warminster.

Cpl Neilson, 31, a father-of-one from Preston, Lancashire, was the tank commander and was thrown from the turret during the blast, while Cpl Hatfield, 27, and also a father, from Amesbury, Wiltshire, was loading ammunition.

Both men were evacuated from the scene but later died of their injuries.

Two other soldiers, Warrant Officer Stuart Lawson and Trooper Michael Warren, were also injured but survived.

Cpls Neilson and Hatfield, both highly-trained gunnery instructors with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, were taking WO Lawson out for a "guest shoot" experience, to show how the tank performed when firing.

But the inquest heard the RTR commanding officer Lt Col Simon Ridgway was supposed to have written authorisation from a more senior officer for the guest shoot, as required by Army rules, but told the coroner he "had not appreciated that at the time".

He also "failed" to spot a culture of crews wrongly storing high explosive charges in their turrets.

Asked if it was a failure of his leadership during his evidence, Lt Col Ridgway said: "I think I failed to identify it was happening.

"I'm not sure it's a failure of leadership."

He added: "I have to admit I sort of felt physically sick when I heard people were stowing them out of the bins.

"If for one moment I suspected they were storing them incorrectly, I would have been furious."

It also emerged Lt Col Ridgway did not know the guest shoot was happening that day and had not passed down his order for Mr Lawson to "sit on his hands", and leave firing to the tank's commander.

The inquest also heard how crews shared tanks, known as "hot-bedding", but that a simple whiteboard - used to assign crews and activities to tanks - was not always updated promptly.

The Army told the coroner it has tightened training and drills since the incident.