Charlene Ellis, 18, and her friend Letisha Shakespeare, 17, died in a hail of machine gun bullets as they stood outside a new year party in Aston, Birmingham, on 2 January 2003.

BBC: Families of Aston new year killers seek help to clear sons

The result was that swarms of British troops went over the top into a hail of German machine-gun fire.

BBC: News | UK | Earl Haig: Villainous victor?

Switching on radar, or an anti-aircraft gun firing a single salvo, now brings down a hail of bombs on anything deemed threatening, from command bunkers to radar stations, and even anti-ship missiles.

ECONOMIST: Why the bombs are falling on Iraq