When He Ran Out of Grenades He Started Throwing Empty Beer Bottles and Earned the Victoria Cross

Pvt. “Big Bill” Speakman from the British Army’s King’s Own Scottish Borderers Regiment received the first Victoria Cross medal handed out by Queen Elizabeth II of England, and to this day he is one of just eight living recipients of the British Army’s highest award for bravery in combat.  And while this alone is worthy Badass of the Week material, what puts this gigantic bearded warrior over the top is the fact that he’s better known as the “Beer Bottle VC” – an awesome-as-hell epithet he earned in 1951 on a frozen, bullet-riddled hill along the 38th Parallel where he single-handedly took on a bum-rushing Brigade of Chinese People’s Army Infantry in four hours of close-quarters combat that saw him chucking hand grenades, beer bottles, empty ration tins, pencils, small woodland creatures, kitchen silverware, cricket bats, and his own fucking hulking meaty fists at anything that passed into his field of vision until all that remained of Hill 317 was a humongous pockmarked explosion crater filled with sorrow, misery, broken glass, shrapnel-related mutilation, and lots and lots of dead enemy soldiers 
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The heroic actions of Sgt Ian McKay in the Falklands led to his being awarded a posthumous VC

On the day the Falklands war ended, Freda McKay heard by telephone that her eldest son Ian, who was 29, had been killed in action on Mount Longdon in the final push to Port Stanley. She was at work in the personnel department of British Steel in Sheffield when the phone rang. It was 9.30am. The major's wife came right to the point: "I'm very sorry to tell you that Ian's been killed." She added four words that have been deployed to soften the blow for stricken families since war was invented: "He died very courageously." In Sgt McKay's case, this was not a sympathetic platitude but the absolute truth. On the night of June 11/12, 1982, McKay had stormed and taken an Argentinian machine-gun post that was endangering his men during the British advance on the capital. Under a hail of fire, he led comrades from the Parachute Regiment forward. When the others fell, dead or wounded, he went on alone, lobbing grenades into the enemy bunker, well aware of how exposed he was. He was hit and collapsed on the bunker as it fell silent at the moment of victory. Read More Here

A paratrooper who showed "complete disregard" for his own safety during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan has been awarded the Victoria Cross - the highest British military honour. L/Cpl Joshua Leakey, 27, of the Parachute Regiment, was recognised for his valour during the 2013 attack. He is the third serviceman - and the first living servicemen - to receive the medal for service in Afghanistan. L/Cpl Leakey, from Hampshire, said he was "deeply honoured". He has been recognised with the VC almost 70 years after another member of his family was awarded the same honour. L/Cpl Leakey's second cousin twice removed, Sergeant Nigel Gray Leakey, was a posthumous recipient of the VC in November 1945, for his actions while fighting in Africa during the Second World War. Read more HERE


(RG) Congratulations L/Cpl Joshua Leakey , you are the epitome of a British soldier.

McKay VC: Untold story of the hero Para who sacrificed his life to help free the Falklands

Thirty years ago today Britain’s hastily assembled naval task force was on its way to ­recapture the Falkland Islands. The Argentine invasion – and our tough response – led to a savage conflict that cost the lives of 254 British servicemen. One of those courageous soldiers was Sergeant Ian McKay of the Parachute Regiment, who laid his life down in the push to liberate the islanders. His act of astonishing valour, single-handedly taking on an Argentine gun post, posthumously earned him the ultimate honour, the Victoria Cross. But until now his story has never been told. Here, for the very first time, his family and former comrades speak about the fears, inner struggles and hidden courage of this unassuming hero... Somehow, Ian McKay seemed to know the fate that awaited him on the freezing, windswept mountain. “Remember what I told you?” he said to a pal. “I’m not going to come back from this.” The premonition tragically came true. Little over three hours later, he was dead. Sgt McKay attacked an enemy machine-gun post alone, throwing himself into the Argentine trench with a ­grenade in his hand. Those who witnessed his last ­moments said he knowingly sacrificed his life to save theirs. His valour won swift praise. But as his widow Marica now reflects: “Ian would have wondered what all the fuss was about. He would probably have said he was only doing his job and that the award of the VC was not just for him but for ­everybody else as well.”Read more HERE  R.I.P.

'I never blamed the soldiers who shot Ian'

The heroic actions of Sgt Ian McKay in the Falklands led to his being awarded a posthumous VC. His mother, Freda, tells Elizabeth Grice how proud she was of his bravery - but how she has struggled for 25 years to accept his death 25 years on: full coverage of the Falklands War On the day the Falklands war ended, Freda McKay heard by telephone that her eldest son Ian, who was 29, had been killed in action on Mount Longdon in the final push to Port Stanley. She was at work in the personnel department of British Steel in Sheffield when the phone rang. It was 9.30am. The major's wife came right to the point: "I'm very sorry to tell you that Ian's been killed." She added four words that have been deployed to soften the blow for stricken families since war was invented: "He died very courageously." In Sgt McKay's case, this was not a sympathetic platitude but the absolute truth. On the night of June 11/12, 1982, McKay had stormed and taken an Argentinian machine-gun post that was endangering his men during the British advance on the capital. Under a hail of fire, he led comrades from the Parachute Regiment forward. When the others fell, dead or wounded, he went on alone, lobbing grenades into the enemy bunker, well aware of how exposed he was. He was hit and collapsed on the bunker as it fell silent at the moment of victory. His posthumous VC was one of only two awarded during the conflict. The other went to Colonel Herbert "H" Jones, who died at Goose Green. "Undeterred, he performed with outstanding selflessness, perseverance and courage," said McKay's citation. "With a complete disregard for his own safety, he displayed courage and leadership of the highest order, and was an inspiration to all those around him."Read more HERE  R.I.P.

Victoria Cross British Soldier Was 'Unlawfully Killed'

An inquest has found that a soldier who won a Victoria Cross for bravery in Afghanistan was unlawfully killed. L/Cpl James Ashworth 23, of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was fatally injured by his own grenade after he was hit by a Taliban bullet just as he went to throw the explosive device into an compound in June last year. At L/Cpl Ashworth's inquest today Anne Pember, the Northamptonshire Coroner, said a post mortem had revealed cause of death as blast injuries caused by an explosion. She recorded a verdict of unlawful killing while he was serving on operations in Afghanistan. L/Cpl Ashworth died after crawling along being peppered with bullets to throw his last grenade at a sniper who had his team pinned down. He was attempting to clear Taliban compounds in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand Province. Read More HERE R.I.P.

A HERO AMONG HEROES

Lance Corporal James Ashworth of 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards VC.

British soldier to be awarded rare Victoria Cross honour