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Military Cross for builder who saved officer
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
A BUILDER has become the first part-time reservist since the Second World War to be awarded the Military Cross after saving the life of a wounded officer during a gun battle in Iraq.
Kingsman Michael Davison, 21, of The King's and Cheshire Regiment (Territorial Army) had never been on an operation before, but his citation records that throughout the incident â Å“he showed courage and composure under fireâ ?.
Kingsman Davison â †Kingsman is the equivalent of private in his regiment â †is also the first TA soldier ever to win the Military Cross. Until 1993, officers were given the MC and other ranks received the Military Medal. But the latter was abolished under the Government of John Major, allowing all ranks to be awarded the Military Cross.
Kingsman Davison, who comes from Liverpool and attended John Moores University in the city, was not told that he had won the high gallantry award until this morning. For Operation Telic, codename for the British military campaign in Iraq, more than 10 per cent of the total force of 45,000 came from the reservists, mostly the TA.
Kingsman Davison is one of a number of reservists selected for bravery medals. The Ministry of Defence said that on the night of July 4 last year, more than two months after combat operations were supposed to have ended, he was involved in a battle with Iraqi forces. During the fight his platoon commander was wounded. Seeing that an officer was trapped he ran forward to drag him to safety, â Å“all the time under fireâ ?.
Private Gary Smith, another TA soldier from The Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers, was Mentioned in Despatches for his quick thinking on July 9 last year, after he spotted a man in a crowd whom he suspected of hiding a weapon under his robes. â Å“Without thought to his own safety, he wrestled him to the ground, found him clutching a hand grenade and managed to prevent the man from pulling out the arming pin,â ? the MoD said.
His citation reads: â Å“His quick-thinking . . . prevented both civilian and British Army casualties. He acted with a sense of duty and courage above his rank and experience.â ?
In other awards, announced today, Corporal Shaun Jardine of The King's Own Scottish Borderers receives the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his actions on August 9 last year in al-Izayr in southern Iraq.
He and his men had been attacked from two positions. Corporal Jardine assaulted the first position singlehandedly, under heavy machinegun fire. â Å“Having killed two gunmen and captured their weapons, he then engaged and suppressed the second position while calling on his men to join him,â ? the MoD said. A third position was also engaged, and in the face of the determined action by Corporal Jardine and the other soldiers, the remaining gunmen withdrew.
The George Medal has been awarded to Regimental Sergeant Major Nicholas Pettit, of the Royal Engineers. On March 21 last year, at the start of combat operations in Iraq, he rescued four RAF personnel, one of them injured, from a Land Rover which had been badly damaged in a minefield.
Lieutenant-Colonel Caroline Whittaker, of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps TA, is awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal, which was instituted in 1883.
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor
A BUILDER has become the first part-time reservist since the Second World War to be awarded the Military Cross after saving the life of a wounded officer during a gun battle in Iraq.
Kingsman Michael Davison, 21, of The King's and Cheshire Regiment (Territorial Army) had never been on an operation before, but his citation records that throughout the incident â Å“he showed courage and composure under fireâ ?.
Kingsman Davison â †Kingsman is the equivalent of private in his regiment â †is also the first TA soldier ever to win the Military Cross. Until 1993, officers were given the MC and other ranks received the Military Medal. But the latter was abolished under the Government of John Major, allowing all ranks to be awarded the Military Cross.
Kingsman Davison, who comes from Liverpool and attended John Moores University in the city, was not told that he had won the high gallantry award until this morning. For Operation Telic, codename for the British military campaign in Iraq, more than 10 per cent of the total force of 45,000 came from the reservists, mostly the TA.
Kingsman Davison is one of a number of reservists selected for bravery medals. The Ministry of Defence said that on the night of July 4 last year, more than two months after combat operations were supposed to have ended, he was involved in a battle with Iraqi forces. During the fight his platoon commander was wounded. Seeing that an officer was trapped he ran forward to drag him to safety, â Å“all the time under fireâ ?.
Private Gary Smith, another TA soldier from The Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers, was Mentioned in Despatches for his quick thinking on July 9 last year, after he spotted a man in a crowd whom he suspected of hiding a weapon under his robes. â Å“Without thought to his own safety, he wrestled him to the ground, found him clutching a hand grenade and managed to prevent the man from pulling out the arming pin,â ? the MoD said.
His citation reads: â Å“His quick-thinking . . . prevented both civilian and British Army casualties. He acted with a sense of duty and courage above his rank and experience.â ?
In other awards, announced today, Corporal Shaun Jardine of The King's Own Scottish Borderers receives the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his actions on August 9 last year in al-Izayr in southern Iraq.
He and his men had been attacked from two positions. Corporal Jardine assaulted the first position singlehandedly, under heavy machinegun fire. â Å“Having killed two gunmen and captured their weapons, he then engaged and suppressed the second position while calling on his men to join him,â ? the MoD said. A third position was also engaged, and in the face of the determined action by Corporal Jardine and the other soldiers, the remaining gunmen withdrew.
The George Medal has been awarded to Regimental Sergeant Major Nicholas Pettit, of the Royal Engineers. On March 21 last year, at the start of combat operations in Iraq, he rescued four RAF personnel, one of them injured, from a Land Rover which had been badly damaged in a minefield.
Lieutenant-Colonel Caroline Whittaker, of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps TA, is awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal, which was instituted in 1883.
