MILBABE

When Lance Corporal Kylie Watson was summoned to the office of her commanding officer for a ‘fireside chat’ she feared the worst. ‘Do you know why you are here?’ he asked the combat medic. ‘Am I in trouble, Sir?’ she enquired. ‘No,’ he told her. ‘You’ve been awarded the Military Cross.’
The 23-year-old, whose tour of Afghanistan’s Helmand province was her first as a fully qualified battlefield medic, was stunned.
‘Are you sure you’ve got the right soldier?’ she asked. But there was no mistake. The extraordinary heroism she displayed by twice running into Taliban fire to treat wounded comrades had been recognised with one of the UK’s highest honours. Read more  HERE  

A soldier who battled Afghan insurgents despite breaking his back has been named in a list of military honours.

Cpl Josh Griffiths, 24, from Merseyside, is among 117 servicemen and women recommended for an award by their commanding officers for performing beyond the call of duty.He fought off insurgents in March, in Nad Ali, despite having been injured when a bomb exploded at his base.His Conspicuous Gallantry Cross is one of the highest military honours.Most of the awards, including eight Military Crosses, were for those who fought in Afghanistan last winter.The Queen will present the medals at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace later this year. Read more  HERE  

Tributes are paid to Shropshire Military Cross hero

A war hero who was awarded a Military Cross while serving with the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry has died at the age of 92.Lieutenant Colonel Richard Evans, of Eyton, between Ludlow and Leominster, received the award after serving in Italy in 1944.In February 1944 he was in the Anzio beachhead serving for the 1st Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (1 KSLI) when they became under relentless shelling from German soldiers.Mr Evans was sent forward in darkness and pouring rain with orders to contact them, and by morning they were ready to face the enemy again. The citation for the award of the Military Cross paid tribute to Evans’ courage, cheerfulness and determination.Mr Evans was born in Eyton on January 15, 1920 and educated at Stowe and Worcester College, Oxford, where he read agriculture.He married Marian Cuff in 1965 and died peacefully in hospital on November 12 last year. After the outbreak of War, he was commissioned into the KSLI in November 1940.He saw active service with the 1st Battalion throughout the war, first as part of the First Army in North Africa and then during the diversionary attack on the island of Pantelleria, the assault landing at Anzio and the series of fierce battles which followed.Read more HERE  R.I.P

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Royal Marine Receives Military Cross

Marine Mark Williams, from 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group Royal Marines, was on his second tour of Afghanistan in May 2011 when his patrol was ambushed by insurgents who shot one of the lance corporals in the chest, leaving him lying helpless between the opposing sides.Taking no notice of the extreme danger he was in, Marine Williams raced out to his colleague under a hail of bullets and began treating his wounds before dragging him 30 metres to what he thought was a safer position behind a compound wall.Read More HERE