British hero soldiers to get VCs for Afghanistan role
28th September 2006
Honour: Hero soldiers will be awarded the Victoria Cross for their role in the Afghanistan conflict
Around half a dozen soldiers are in line to receive Victoria Crosses for their bravery in Afghanistan.
In three months of combat, senior officers have recommended almost 180 awards for gallantry.
The number of Victoria Crosses being considered would dwarf the number handed out in other recent conflicts.
Four were awarded during the Korean War, two for service in the Falklands, none in the first Gulf War and one in the second invasion of Iraq. The number of Victoria Crosses up for consideration is being seen as an indication of the severity of the fighting.
When the deployment was announced in January, John Reid, then defence secretary, said he hoped British troops would be able to get in and out of the southern Helmand province without firing a shot. A total of 33 British soldiers have lost their lives since June with more than 400,000 small arms rounds fired.
Of the recommendations made, over half are among the 650 men of 3 Battalion The Parachute Regiment which has borne the brunt of the fighting.
Among those under consideration are understood to be Pte Peter McKinley after he helped to save the life of an American sergeant while under fire.
He ran across open ground through machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks after a US convoy was ambushed near the town of Sangin. For 15 minutes the 21-year-old soldier stemmed the flow of blood from serious injuries to the sergeant as 30 Taliban fired at them.
Cpl Bryan Budd is expected to be among several posthumous awards after he single-handedly took on a building filled with Taliban fighters in Sangin. Leading his eight-man section, the paratrooper used hand grenades and rifle fire to kill the enemy before he was fatally wounded.
Other posthumous awards under consideration could go to three men who were killed while fighting off an insurgent ambush as they went to resupply Paras stuck in the town of Musa Qala.
Lt Ralph Johnson, Capt Alex Eida and LCpl Ross Nicholls left their armoured vehicles to fight their way out of the attack after their convoy was assaulted by 50 terrorists. Other awards, according to the Daily Telegraph, have been recommended for the crews of Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters who have landed and rescued troops under intense fire as well as the two-man crews of Army Air Corps Apache helicopter gunships.
dailymail.co.uk
28th September 2006
Around half a dozen soldiers are in line to receive Victoria Crosses for their bravery in Afghanistan.
In three months of combat, senior officers have recommended almost 180 awards for gallantry.
The number of Victoria Crosses being considered would dwarf the number handed out in other recent conflicts.
Four were awarded during the Korean War, two for service in the Falklands, none in the first Gulf War and one in the second invasion of Iraq. The number of Victoria Crosses up for consideration is being seen as an indication of the severity of the fighting.
When the deployment was announced in January, John Reid, then defence secretary, said he hoped British troops would be able to get in and out of the southern Helmand province without firing a shot. A total of 33 British soldiers have lost their lives since June with more than 400,000 small arms rounds fired.
Of the recommendations made, over half are among the 650 men of 3 Battalion The Parachute Regiment which has borne the brunt of the fighting.
Among those under consideration are understood to be Pte Peter McKinley after he helped to save the life of an American sergeant while under fire.
He ran across open ground through machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks after a US convoy was ambushed near the town of Sangin. For 15 minutes the 21-year-old soldier stemmed the flow of blood from serious injuries to the sergeant as 30 Taliban fired at them.
Cpl Bryan Budd is expected to be among several posthumous awards after he single-handedly took on a building filled with Taliban fighters in Sangin. Leading his eight-man section, the paratrooper used hand grenades and rifle fire to kill the enemy before he was fatally wounded.
Other posthumous awards under consideration could go to three men who were killed while fighting off an insurgent ambush as they went to resupply Paras stuck in the town of Musa Qala.
Lt Ralph Johnson, Capt Alex Eida and LCpl Ross Nicholls left their armoured vehicles to fight their way out of the attack after their convoy was assaulted by 50 terrorists. Other awards, according to the Daily Telegraph, have been recommended for the crews of Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters who have landed and rescued troops under intense fire as well as the two-man crews of Army Air Corps Apache helicopter gunships.
dailymail.co.uk
