Former marine to fund veterans' retreat with world record medal sale
A heroic former Royal Marine has sold his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for a world record £160,000 to finance the building of a retreat for veterans in the Scottish Highlands.
Brad 'Bugsy' Malone, 37, left the Royal Marines after 16 years in 2018 and decided to sell his 'Operation Herrick IX - Afghanistan' Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) – awarded when he was section commander with 45 Commando Royal Marines – to fund his plans for a veteran healing project.
He was given the cross – one of only 60 awarded – for his courageous involvement on three separate occasions in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2008, including the time he led a bayonet charge to repel an ambush.
'Overwhelmed'
Brad, who now lives near Loch Lomond, joined the Marines at the age of 16 and was rewarded for his 'fighting prowess and gallantry' after tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The former marine watched the sale online from a remote Scottish island, and said he was "overwhelmed" by the amount raised.
He said: "Wow, I'm overwhelmed. The medal sold for more than the estimate so the additional money plus the money I have been given via my Go Fund Me page, will help give my project Sacred Laoch the best of starts."
On his fundraiser page for the project, Brad says: "Sacred Laoch will be based on the idea of community healing. A project embedded in nature, designed to quiet some of the chaos of war and conflict in a veteran's mind.
"Funds raised will go towards the training and resources needed to set the project up properly.
"It's my hope that one day, anyone in any setting will be able to start their own Sacred Laoch community - as long as this fund is open, that's where the money will go".
You can even follow the progress of his retreat on his Instagram page @sacredlaoch.
The medal was sold at auction on Wednesday by the auction house Noonans - no CGC has ever sold for as much before.
Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans said: "We are delighted to see that Brad's great story of gallantry has been rewarded with a record price at auction for a CGC and that the proceeds will go to such a noble cause to aid the greater good of his former comrades.
"The medal was purchased by a British collector who loans items to go on display."
Mark Quayle, medal specialist and associate director of Noonans, said: "The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was instituted in 1993 following the review of the British Honours System.
"It is awarded 'in recognition of an act or acts of conspicuous gallantry during active operations against the enemy and his gallantry award ranks second only to the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the face of the enemy. To date 60 have been awarded."
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