[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by TonyK

In today's Washington Post newspaper (12/8/05) is an Obituary for Lt. Gen. William Yarborough (92 years old) and it comments that he was a battilion commander who encountered one of war's grimmest task, friendly fire. During the invasion of Sicily on the night of July 10, 1943 at least 23 Air Transport planes (C-47s) loaded with airborne troops were shot down by US Navy ships and land AA fire who had been firing at retreating Lutftwaffe aircraft. I've done a little research and seen varying reports of up to 37 total Allied aircraft downed that night by friendly fire, with up to 400 troops as casaulties.

One of the most notorious friendly fire accidents of all time, but it could have been worse. It's my understanding that U.S. Navy ships did not do all the shooting from the seaward side; they were mixed together with other Allied ships that also opened fire on the C-47s.

However, '400 casualties' or anything close to that number is probably an exaggeration. Of the 23 transports known to be shot down in error, 17 transports were hit after they had dropped their paratroopers. One cause for inflated loss estimates is that the carrier planes (and the parachutists) were widely dispersed because of the AA fire. Many of the troops were initially reported missing, but turned up later.