The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
also killed
as a result of the operation, through injuries sustained from small
arms fire
attack, and
a third soldier was injured.385
713.
On 31 July,
Corporal Steve Edwards was killed when the Warrior vehicle in
which
he was
patrolling was struck by an IED in Basra City.386
714.
On 9 August,
Lance Sergeant Chris Casey and Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath
were
killed when
their Snatch Land Rover was hit by an IED during an operation to
the west of
715.
On 3
September, UK forces withdrew from Basra Palace and moved to Basra
Air
Station.
The move and the arrangements surrounding it are addressed in
Section 9.6.
716.
In its review
of UK land operations in Iraq, published on 3 December 2007,
the
House of
Commons Defence Committee acknowledged the introduction of Mastiff
and
Bulldog.388
It stated
that that had “significantly improved the force protection
available
to our
Forces in Iraq”.
717.
Major General
Graham Binns became GOC MND(SE) in August 2007. He told
the
Inquiry
that when he arrived in Basra, the security situation was
“difficult”:
“Every move
outside our bases required detailed planning and was high
risk.
I thought
that we were having a limited effect on improving the security
situation
in Basra.
90 percent of the violence was directed against us
…”389
718.
Maj Gen Binns
told the Inquiry that the move to Basra Air Station in
September
2007
coincided with other changes that helped to reduce the threat to
forces.390
He
said
that
protected mobility of vehicles “improved significantly” with the
upgrade of Warrior
vehicles
and introduction of Mastiff, the latter being “a very good vehicle
for the role
on roads”.
719.
On 13
September 2007, the Defence Board endorsed a request to use
MOD
funding to
pay for additional Mastiff vehicles as a UOR.391
In
discussion, it was said that
procuring
more Mastiff vehicles “was the right thing to do. They had already
proved their
worth in
theatre in Iraq and Afghanistan and there was a clear operational
requirement.”
720.
On 2 October,
a DCRS official advised Lord Drayson that the MOD had
initiated
the
procurement of an additional 147 Mastiff vehicles.392
Force
Protection Inc, the
385
GOV.UK,
7 July
2007, Corporal
Christopher Read 3rd Regiment Royal Military Police killed in
Iraq.
386
GOV.UK,
2 August
2007, Corporal
Steve Edwards 2nd Royal Tank Regiment killed in Iraq.
387
GOV.UK,
10 August
2007, Lance
Sergeant Chris Casey and Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath killed in
Iraq.
388
First
Report of the House of Commons Defence Committee, Session
2007‑08, UK land
operations in
Iraq
2007, HC
110.
389
Public
hearing, 15 January 2010, page 3.
390
Public
hearing, 15 January 2010, page 35.
391
Minutes, 13
September 2007, Defence Management Board meeting.
392
Minute DCRS
[junior officer] to APS/Minister(DES), 2 October 2007,
‘Announcement of Additional
Mastiff’.
124