Lance Corporal Joshua Mark Leakey, 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment, Army.
A British soldier who singlehandedly prevented considerable loss of life during an assault into a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan.
The premier award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross may be awarded to all ranks of the services and civilians for gallantry in the presence of the enemy.
* Medal: A cross pattée in bronze. The obverse of the medal (shown here) bears a lion statant gardant on the royal crown, with the words ‘FOR VALOUR’ on a semi-circular scroll. The reverse bears a circular panel inside which is engraved the date of the act for which the decoration was awarded.
The VC is made from the bronze of Russian guns captured at Sebastopol, though modern research suggests that Chinese guns may have been used at various times.
* History: Instituted by Queen Victoria to cover all actions since the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, the Victoria Cross has been awarded 1,356 times and 3 bars have been awarded.
The last recipient was Lance Corporal James Ashworth from 1st Bn The Grenadier Guards. He was posthumously awarded the VC in 2013 for his ‘supremely courageous and inspiring’ actions as he stormed an insurgent position in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.
Military Cross - Captain William Andrew Hall, Royal Artillery, Army
A Reading soldier who rescued a disorientated colleague caught in cross fire before giving first aid to a badly wounded comrade all under intense enemy fire is to receive the Military Cross.
Captain William Hall, of the 16th Royal Regiment of Artillery, was on only his second mission with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF), a raid into the insurgent-held village of Kakaran.
* The Military Cross is awarded to all ranks of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.
* Medal: An ornamental cross in silver, with straigtht arms terminating in broad finals ornamented with Imperial Crowns. At the centre of the cross is the Royal Cypher (King George VI shown here)
Flight Lieutenant Ian Campbell at the controls of a Royal Air Force Sea King Search and Rescue helicopter.
With the search taking place at night and in atrocious weather – including 45-feet-high waves, torrential rain and 55mph winds – the team’s chances of finding the man were remote at best.
However, against all odds, the crew found the man by combining their radar, a reported sighting of a man in the water and an estimation of where the ocean drift would have carried him. During a second sweep of the area, he was located in the water using the aircraft’s searchlight.
With Flt Lt Campbell manually hovering the aircraft, owing to the rapidly changing height of the waves, Sgt Allanson immediately winched down to rescue the man from the freezing water.
Giving hand signals to provide directions to Flt Lt Campbell, co-pilot Flight Lieutenant Tom Greene and the winch operator, Sergeant Mike Boissier-Wyles, Sgt Allanson grabbed the man at the first attempt.
Desperately clinging on to the man while being battered by the violent waves and swelling current, Sgt Allanson was winched back into the helicopter and provided life support as they made their way to hospital. Despite the team’s valiant attempts to save the man’s life, he was later pronounced dead at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands.
* Air Force Cross: Awarded to all ranks of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy in the air or non-active operations.
* Medal: A cross, in silver, the obverse made up of a thunderbolt surmounted by another cross of aeroplane propellers, the ends of which are inscribed with the letters of the Royal Cypher, the base bar terminated with a bomb and the top bar by the Imperial Crown, with the armed conjoined by wings. A central roundel depicts Hermes mounted on a hawk in flight bestowing a wreath.
Also awarded the Air Force Cross: Lieutenant Commander Christopher Torben Götke, Royal Navy.
A Royal Navy pilot who avoided crashing a 60-year-old aircraft with a failed engine into a packed crowd of spectators at an air day event has been awarded the Air Force Cross.
Lieutenant Commander Chris Götke was flying a Sea Fury T20 as part of the Historic Flight display at Culdrose Air Day when the plane began to lose power during his aerobatic display.
As 21,000 people watched the Sea Fury began billowing smoke and started to lose altitude rapidly leaving Lt Cdr Götke with the unenviable choice of bailing out or staying with the aircraft.
See footage of the incident below:
Private John Steven Pyatt-Payne, The Mercian Regiment, Army.
*Queens Commendation for Bravery
An Infantry soldier from Wolverhampton has been awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery for his extraordinary courage and presence of mind during a suicide IED attack on his company, which wounded four patrol members and killed the Warrior Sergeant Major.
Private Benjamin Spittle, a Reservist with 335 Medical Evacuation Regiment, the Royal Army Medical Corps.
*Queens Commendation for Valuable Service
A Bromley Army Reserve Medic with no prior combat experience who saved Afghan soldiers’ lives by taking control of a mass casualty situation is to be awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service.
Private Benjamin Spittle, a Reservist with 335 Medical Evacuation Regiment, the Royal Army Medical Corps, who has since been promoted to Corporal, showed incredible skill and composure to deal with numerous life-threatening injuries in the most basic of makeshift medical facilities.
The Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service recognizes meritorious service during, or in support of, operations.
Also awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service: Staff Sergeant Kate Elizabeth Lord, Royal Army Physical Training Corps, Army.
A Gateshead female physical training instructor (PTI) who overcame cultural stereotypes to establish women’s physical training and integrate it with the men’s at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA) is to be awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service.
