Veteran reservist nurse and grandmother of five Major Marie Semple, of 204 Field Hospital, is considering retirement from front line duties at the age of 55 upon finishing her third tour.The experienced sister of wards from Ballymena in Northern Ireland joined in 2003 at the age of 43 without telling her husband Ian, and was immediately mobilised to deploy to Iraq. When Maj Semple’s granddaughter saw her with a rifle for the first time she asked if, ‘Granny is shooting bad people?’
Marie went on to say: "I was managing a nursing home and I wanted a challenge but thought I was too old." Since Iraq she has deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 and again in 2013.Read more
HERE
Your Country is extremely proud of you Marie, time to put your slippers on and take it easy , you deserve it.
.jpg)
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service to Private Abbie Martin, who was supporting a company operation in the Green Zone to the southeast of a patrol base when insurgents initiated an ambush from multiple firing points.
Whilst under fire, Abbie – then 19 – headed across open ground with the platoon sergeant to treat a guardsman who had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. Due to the severity of his wounds, Abbie remained with the guardsman throughout the casualty evacuation, selflessly exposing herself to enemy fire in order to ensure that the clinical handover to the evacuating helicopter crew gave him the best possible chances of survival.
Throughout each action, Abbie was steadfast, putting her patients before herself, despite the dangers.
