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Double VC for Afghan heroes First officer to receive citation since Falklands by MARK NICOL - More by this author » Last updated at 00:27am on 2nd September 2007  Two British soldiers from the same battalion have been nominated for the Victoria Cross in recognition of their incredible bravery in the face of the enemy.  The citations for Britain's highest gallantry award came after the men were involved in fierce fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The first is Captain David Hicks – who would become the first officer to win the VC since Falklands hero Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert 'H'...

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~CPT Charles Hazlitt Upham VC             Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham VC and bar (September 21, 1908 - November 22, 1994) was a New Zealand solider who won the Victoria Cross twice during World War II. Earning the Victoria Cross and Bar for outstanding gallantry and leadership in Crete in May...

Kiwi wins medal in Iraq The Nelson Mail | Wednesday, 25 July 2007 A Kiwi soldier who returned to Iraq on a second tour of duty has been awarded one of Britain's highest military awards for bravery under fire. Corporal Terry Knights - a former territorial solder in New Zealand - has been honoured with the Military Cross for bravery and leadership. The recognition is bitter-sweet for the soldier, who serves with the British Royal Marines. He returned home this month for his mother's funeral. His father John Knights, of Motueka, said he was very proud of his son. "When...

THE attack came under cover of darkness. Without warning, rocket-propelled grenades slammed into two of the New Zealand SAS troop vehicles, the force of the blast throwing Lance Corporal Willy Apiata to the ground and wounding two of his fellow soldiers. One of the men, members of an SAS patrol in Afghanistan in 2004, was bleeding heavily after shrapnel had severed an artery, and was lapsing in and out of consciousness. Without immediate medical assistance, the soldier, identified only as Corporal D, would have died. The three men were isolated, pinned down by machinegun and rifle fire from an estimated...

A NEW Zealand soldier has become the first person since World War II to be awarded the country's highest honour for bravery, after a daring rescue of a wounded comrade in Afghanistan in 2004. ACorporal Bill Apiata of the New Zealand Special Air Service (SAS) was given the Victoria Cross for New Zealand. The medal is based on Britain's Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for British soldiers. Prime Minister Helen Clark said Cpl Apiata, 35, was awarded the medal for carrying a severely wounded soldier across open ground while coming under heavy fire. Cpl Apiata's patrol came under attack from...

TED Kenna's skin hung from his bones and he stank of rotting flesh when Marjorie Rushberry first laid eyes on him in June 1945. For the young nurse, it was not love at first sight, but horror. The wounded soldier's face was torn apart, with entry and exit holes in the cheek where a bullet had ripped through flesh and then ricocheted off teeth, reversing and entering the young private's chest. It did not strike Miss Rushberry that this could be exactly the kind of Casanova her father had warned her about. "Be careful of those boys, you know what...

    Honour ... widow Lorena holds VC at palace Queen: Always be proud of him By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence EditorMarch 08, 2007           THE Queen presented the widow of hero Para Bryan Budd with his Victoria Cross yesterday — telling her: “Always be proud of him.”  Cpl Budd, 29, died during a brave lone charge at Taliban fighters in the southern Afghan badlands.He freed up his stricken section to escape an ambush by killing three enemy at point-blank range before being gunned down himself.Widow Lorena, 23, received the cherished medal — only the second given...

A BRITISH soldier posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in Afghanistan may have been shot dead by his comrades. Father of two Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was killed as he stormed a Taliban position single-handedly in Helmand, trying to protect seven of his colleagues from heavy fire. His widow Lorena, 23, a clerk with the Royal Artillery, is due to collect his posthumous VC from the Queen at Buckingham Palace next month. She has been told his death may have been caused by "friendly fire", The Sun reported last night. She...

   EXCLUSIVE    Fallen hero set for VC honour   Brave ... Cpl Bryan Budd saved his pals   By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence EditorOCTOBER 16, 2006  HERO Para Cpl Bryan Budd was cut down by a hail of Taliban bullets as he took on a group of the fanatics alone, it was revealed last night.  Full details of his extraordinary actions were described for the first time by a comrade.And it was confirmed that senior officers want the corporal’s extreme valour to be marked with a posthumous Victoria Cross.It would be only the second to be awarded in 24...

AUSTRALIA'S last privately owned Victoria Cross medal awarded at Gallipoli has sold at auction tonight in Sydney for a world record $1 million. Lot 1078 was purchased by a prominent Australian who wishes to remain anonymous and who bid over the phone. The medal, awarded posthumously to New Zealand-born Australian soldier Captain Alfred Shout, was sold by his grandson, 67-year-old Graham Thomas. Auctioneer Tim Goodman, of Bonhams and Goodman auction house, told the crowd it was hoped the medal would soon end up on public display. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new world auction record for a medal," Mr...

Unseemly squabble over Upham VCs needs compromise 22 April 2006 It is unfortunate that the fate of Charles Upham's Victoria Crosses involves a public spat, writes The Press in an editorial. The legacy of so honourable a man should not be exposed to such a wretched dispute. Upham, in death as he was in life, is the epitome of the brave and honourable New Zealander _ a man who twice displayed conspicuous gallantry in the face of the enemy and lived the rest of his life in unassuming modesty. He counted his own survival as inconsequential in the fight for...

Pointless to put 2006 peace-time values on 1941 battle bravery 12 April 2006 The Battle of Crete took place in late May 1941, when 30,000 Allied troops, including 7700 New Zealanders, plus 12,000 Greek soldiers – driven from Greece by the invading Germany forces – hurriedly dug in against an assault that they knew was as inevitable as it would be ferocious, says the Taranaki Daily News. The Mediterranean island, with its port and airfield, was of huge strategic value – to shore up the German hold on Greece, to protect the Romanian oil fields the Germans had already grabbed,...

Victoria Cross winner Keith Payne takes great pride in helping mould Australia's "leaders of tomorrow". So it was a humbling experience for the 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran to learn that he had been honoured in the Australia Day awards for doing just that. Mr Payne has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his service to cadet and veterans groups around the country. Mr Payne, from Mackay in central Queensland, said it was important for older generations to guide the country's future leaders. "They're our bread and butter for the future," Mr Payne said. "They've got...

Havildar who fought off three attacks by Japanese infantry and set a supreme example of gallantry AS A havildar (sergeant), Umrao Singh was the only non-commissioned officer of either the Royal Artillery or the Indian Artillery to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. Forward observation officers are frequently at great personal risk when in exposed positions so as to direct artillery fire in support of armoured or infantry units. But Singh won his award for valour in what all gunners regard as their near-sacred duty — defence of the guns. By the end of 1944, General...

Hero's farewell for 'Smokey' Crowd braves heat to honour last surviving winner of Victoria Cross Norma Greenaway, with files from Vito Pilieci The Ottawa Citizen; with files from The Canadian Press August 10, 2005 CREDIT: Fred Chartrand, The Canadian Press War veteran Benjamin Regalbuto salutes as he pays his respects to Victoria Cross recipient Smokey Smith on Parliament Hill yesterday. Victoria Cross recipient Ernest (Smokey) Smith was honoured yesterday as no other veteran has been, getting a war hero's farewell on Parliament Hill that had scores of people lining up in blistering heat to pay their final respects. Against the...

Sergeant “Smoky” Smith, who died in Vancouver on Wednesday aged 91, was the last surviving Canadian holder of the VC. On the night of October 21 1944, two companies of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada crossed the Savio River in Italy, and seized a shallow bridgehead in drenching rain. In less than five hours, the river rose six feet to become a raging torrent, impassable to supporting tanks and anti-tank guns.Early next morning, the thinly held right flank of the Seaforths was attacked by three Panther tanks, supported by two self-propelled guns and 30 grenadiers of the formidable 26th Panzer...

Hordes of German troops couldn't take him, but time finally did. Ernest Alva (Smoky) Smith, Canada's last winner of the Victoria Cross, has died at his home in Vancouver. He was 91. Born in New Westminster, B.C., on May 3, 1914, Smith was a joyful man with an impish smile who savoured a good cigar, a well-aged scotch and the attentions of ladies the world over. Far from a natural-born diplomat, however, it was his fierce fighting ability that vaulted Smith, nicknamed Smoky in school because of his running ability, into the company of royalty, presidents and prime ministers. Last...

NEW DELHI: Gallantry awards are the ultimate badge of honour for any Army regiment or battalion. It’s a matter of the paltan’s izzat (battalion’s honour), as they say in Army parlance. But this particular medal has made its way to a battalion after a good 88 years. The battalion, 7th Light Cavalry (earlier called 28th Light Cavalry), is popping the bubbly these days after getting the medal, a Victoria Cross no less, even if it’s a replica of the original. The original Victoria Cross will, however, remain with the battalion which has had it all this time, the 2nd Lancers...

Raw courage and utter selflessnessBy Caroline Davies (Filed: 28/04/2005) Even as the Queen reached up to pin Britain's ultimate award for valour on the khaki tunic of Pte Johnson Beharry yesterday, he was thinking not of himself but of others. Her Majesty had not awarded the Victoria Cross to a living recipient for 40 years. "You're very special," she told the 25-year-old Grenadan, who twice came close to death while saving the lives of colleagues during ambushes in Iraq last year. The modest Pte Johnson Beharry: ‘I wasn't thinking about a medal’ But as the young soldier stood, ramrod straight,...

A YOUNG British soldier who dragged his wounded platoon commander to safety and rescued 29 other soldiers under enemy fire in Iraq has been awarded the Victoria Cross, finally relieving Queenslander Keith Payne of his 36-year title as the most recent living recipient of the honour. Private Johnson Gideon Beharry, 25, is now one of just 14 living recipients of the award for exceptional bravery after pushing through an ambush in an armoured vehicle while the turret was on fire, in the town of al-Amarah, north of Basra, on May 1 last year. Far from being upset at losing his...