British Soldier Wins Victoria Cross

A British soldier serving in Iraq who saved 30 members of his unit from an ambush has been awarded the first Victoria Cross for more than 20 years.
Private Johnson Beharry, 25, twice saved the lives of colleagues while under enemy fire.

He is still recovering from head injuries caused in one attack by a rocket-propelled grenade round.

He was one of 140 soldiers honoured for tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia and Africa.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said: “These honours and awards recognise the outstanding achievements of these extraordinary men and women and their acts of great courage, bravery and determination.”

When I was told, I thought it was great to have received the award – I was speechless

Private Johnson Beharry

Award for courageous few

Pte Beharry, from 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, said he was “speechless” when told he was winning the VC.

The award is the first of the medals to be awarded since a posthumous VC given to Lt Col Herbert Jones and Sgt Ian John McKay during the Falklands conflict.

‘Doing the job’

It makes him the first living recipient of the VC – the highest award in the British and Commonwealth military – since 1965.

“When I was told yesterday I thought it was great to have received the award. I was speechless,” said Mr Beharry, who was born on the Caribbean island of Grenada but comes from London.

VC citation in full

The soldier was at the head of a five-vehicle convoy when it came under attack in the town of Al Amarah on 1 May 2004.

He guided the column through a mile of enemy ground to drop off wounded comrades at great risk to his own safety, his citation said.

Weeks later, his vehicle was hit by an rocket-propelled grenade round. Despite a head wound, he managed to reverse his Warrior to safety.

“Maybe I was brave, I don’t know. I think anyone else could do the same thing,” he said.

Mr Beharry is one of only 13 recipients of the award still alive.

“At the time I was just doing the job, I didn’t have time for other thoughts,” he said of his actions.

“I want to return to service, but I don’t know when that will be and I would go back to Iraq if I had to.”

His citation is an extraordinary story of one man’s courage in the way he risked his life for his colleagues, not once, but twice

Chief of Defence Staff Sir Mike Jackson

The former construction worker, who came to the UK in 1999 and joined the army in 2000, has also served tours in Northern Ireland and in Kosovo.

Mr Beharry has had brain surgery for wounds he received in the second enemy action.

Chief of Defence Staff Sir Mike Jackson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “His citation is an extraordinary story of one man’s courage in the way he risked his life for his colleagues, not once, but twice.

“We all know that the Victoria Cross is held in such high regard in our country and any holder of it is rightly given enormous respect for what he has done.”

Royal Marines reservist Col Paul Anthony Jobbins, 56, of Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, won the George Medal for peacekeeping work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The retired police fingerprint officer was responsible for control of UN forces in the town of Bukavu, which fell to rebels in June 2004.

The unarmed officer held negotiations with warring factions amid a wave of violence which killed hundreds.
==========================================================
Can i be the first to say how proud we all are of all our soldiers in the field- no matter if we disagree why they are there.
BARNOWL