Tri-Service

LCpl Joshua Leakey Awarded Victoria Cross by The Queen

A paratrooper who risked death on three separate occasions during a battle with the Taliban has been awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) by Her Majesty the Queen.

Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey, 27, the second member of his family to receive the British Armed Forces' highest gallantry medal, played down his actions and paid tribute to his regiment and the Army after receiving the honour.

When an assault on a Taliban stronghold by British and American forces became pinned down, LCpl Leakey took command and risked enemy fire to survey the area before giving first aid to a wounded US officer, leading his evacuation and then returning to the firefight.

On two separate occasions, as bullets flew dangerously close, he retrieved machine guns and took the battle to the Taliban, rallying the troops around him.

The 27-year-old, from Hampshire, said after the presentation ceremony:

"It's great for my family, my friends, my regiment, but it does for me highlight the sacrifice everyone made in Afghan - not just in terms of the loss of life and limbs but people going away for months on end."

His bravery during the 2013 attack on the Taliban base in Helmand province earned him the British Armed Forces' highest gallantry medal in the face of the enemy.

LCpl Leakey's citation was read before he was presented with the gallantry medal during the Windsor Castle investiture ceremony.

It stated the paratrooper, from the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, showed ''complete disregard'' for his own safety when his group came under attack from about 20 insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

His second cousin twice removed, Sergeant Nigel Gray Leakey, was a posthumous VC recipient in November 1945 for his gallantry while fighting in Africa during the Second World War.

The paratrooper is the third serviceman to receive the VC for service in Afghanistan and the only one not to receive it posthumously.