RNR MBE for Iraq

Congratulation to Lt Cdr Allan from Ferret who has been today awarded the MBE for service in Iraq.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/OperationalHonoursAndAwardsList8September2006.htm

Many congratulations to all our RN and RM counterparts who've also been awarded for their services and bravery on operations.

 

Queen's Commendation for Bravery (QCB)

Marine Engineering Mechanic 1st Class Lee James BROCKLESBY
Petty Officer Marine Engineering Mechanic (Mechanical) Paul Mark WYNNE

What did the stokers do I wonder?!

 

OK target rich environment for jokes, but i won't , suffice to say, well done and congratulations guys!

 

DITTO congratulations to all serving who are honoured remembering that those not honoured are remembered at home by many.

I am puzzled reading about a Fusilier being awarded the George Medal??

Is that not a peace time award? I am always confused when the crap flies then some poli states we are not at war etc.

 

It's not a peace time award as such, (I don't think so anyway), but I think it's awarded for bravery whilst not in direct contact with the enemy. Something to that effect. I know an army bomb disposal officer was awarded the George Medal in this same round of awards.

 

No, it's not a peace-time award. The distincion is that the Victoria Cross is awarded "for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy."

The George Cross and George Medal are for acts 'not in the face of the enemy'.

If, say, they had rescued people from a burning building, then that would presumably not be in the face of the enemy, even if it was in a zone where an enemy were present. I can't claim to be an expert on this, but that is the distinction between the awards, not what the political status of the region is.

 

Unfortunately, the distinction can be quite arbitrary; wasn't it about a year or so ago, that a squaddy rescued several people from a burning AFV while recieiving incoming fire and received the GC not the VC because the incoming fire was from a "friendly" aircraft. Isn't one of Murphy's Laws of Combat that "Friendly fire isn't"? Personally, on that occasion I think we should have awarded the USAF "honorary enemy" status to allow the award of the VC.

 

Congratulations to all those awarded medals and decorations in this horrendous conflict.

Interesting comment on the GC and VC. I had always assumed that the VC was only awarded to servicemen and the GC was a lesser award reserved for civvies.

 

Well you may blush! Got a GC who turns up at our unit on special occaisions. Was originally awarded the Albert Medal for saving some lives at sea not under fire, but that was turned in to a GC. Brave chap, also holds the BEM "for an act of courage", this is different from a normal BEM as it has a large oak leaf cluster on the ribbon. (I think it is silver and much bigger than the one you get for a Mention.)

 

Is the award of a Mention still for, in the literal meaning, being "mentioned in dispatches" - ie having your name mentioned in the captain's report of an operation/action?

 

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceFor/Veterans/Medals/BritishArmedForcesMedals.htm

Hyperlink should(!!?!!) take you to a neat little pdf file that has all the UK Armed Forces medals including the BEM with cluster that you refer to.

 

I remember the young AB on the Ardent who was awarded the George Medal for pulling a CPO from the after section base following the many air raids and massive damage. His name was John Dillon and he later had to sell his medal, along with the SAM to help him through hard times after leaving the RN.

Good to see the country looking after its ex-servicemen as always eh?

 

8O Let's hope the Medals aren't made from the same cheap crap that our Op Telic I medals were caste. I would have been better giving us a choclate coin off the Christmas Tree!! Before any jibes about cleaning it, I've decided to get it silver-plated so it doesn't tarnish ten minutes after you polish it!!!

 

did you listen to radio 5live last night? A similar discussion about a guy who ended up clearing dead bodies. Has PTSD and only a 20% pension, still sick and no support.

Although to be fair, it is not a new story, what about the VC medal winners from Rorkes Drift onwards who have had to do the same.

 

Just in case any one wondered who the Chap I was refering to was look at today's Telegraph obits(copied below). Jo Lynch was a truely fantastic man. The word "Hero" is used far to often these days but he realy was one. We hold his Freedom Scroll in Eaglet and were proud and honoured to do so when he gave it to us for safe keeping.


Joseph Lynch, GC
(Filed: 11/10/2006)



Chief Petty Officer Joseph Lynch, who has died aged 93, won the George Cross while serving with the Royal Navy on the cruiser Nigeria in the Falkland Islands in 1948; six years earlier he had been awarded the British Empire Medal.

On the night of February 26 1948 Nigeria was lying at anchor at Port Stanley. While disembarking from the motor cutter at the port boom, a rating, Leading Seaman Hughes, missed his footing on the Jacob's ladder and fell into the sea. It was dark, and the wind was blowing a fresh gale. The sea was rough, and its temperature was 42 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hughes managed to keep hold of the ladder but, as he was dressed in heavy oilskins, he was unable to pull himself up — nor could he make for the cutter for fear of the very cold sea and the danger of sinking in his cumbersome clothing.

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Lynch was sitting in his mess when he heard the pipe for the lifeboat. He ran up on deck, dressed only in a singlet and trousers. Sizing up the situation at once, he made his way along the boom, down the ladder and into the water alongside Hughes.

He persuaded Hughes to let go of the ladder and then got an arm around him. At that moment, the seaman lost consciousness, making it impossible for Lynch to do more than support him.

One of the ship's motorboats was lowered but, because of the heavy swell, it could get no closer than 20 yards to the two men.

Lynch slipped into the sea and, using the swell to help him, swam with the unconscious man to the motorboat. After a struggle the crew managed to haul Hughes into the boat — but Lynch, having nothing to hold on to, and determined not to hamper the crew's efforts, had swum back to the side of the ship.

Lynch found it impossible to reach the Jacob's ladder against the powerful swell and, seeing that Hughes was now safe, he swam out to the boat a second time and was taken aboard. After a short spell in Nigeria's sick bay both men recovered from their ordeal.

Lynch was invested with the Albert Medal by the Duke of Gloucester on November 14 1951. After the AM was revoked by Royal Warrant, he was re-invested with the George Cross by the Queen at Buckingham Palace on February 20 1973.

Joseph Lynch was born on November 6 1912 in the Poulton area of Wallasey, in Cheshire (now Merseyside). He was educated at Somerville School at Wallasey, but left at the age of 15 to work as a shop assistant and fitter.

In May 1929 he joined the Royal Navy on a regular engagement. During the Second World War he served in the Atlantic and north-west Europe.

In 1942, while serving in the destroyer Wallace, Lynch was awarded the British Empire Medal. Wallace had been taken out of reserve at the outbreak of war and deployed on convoy protection duty in the Channel and the North Sea.

At that stage of the war the RAF was busy defending London, the south ports and their own airfields, and could provide only sporadic cover.

It was dangerous work for the Navy, for however closely the ships hugged the coast the German aircraft had no difficulty in finding and bombing them.

During attacks by the Luftwaffe, the merchant ships took evasive action by changing bearing at short intervals while the destroyers engaged the aircraft with their Bofors guns.

In one such attack Lynch was at the port rail when he saw one of the merchantmen veering towards Wallace on a collision course.

In the few seconds available, he dashed to the starboard side and braced himself for the crash. Steam jetted from the destroyer's boiler with the force of impact. The moment that this subsided, Lynch made his way below.

He found that one man had been killed outright; the stoker petty officer and two others had been scalded and dazed.

Lynch assisted each of the injured men to the foot of the boiler-room ladder and into the hands of helpers. Back on deck, he heard the first lieutenant calling for two volunteers to check the bulkhead and the timber shoring in the vicinity of the point of impact.

Lynch went below again and found the damaged section of the bulkhead behind the boiler. He crawled underneath and, calling to a seaman to pass the baulks through to him, jammed these into place.

Throughout he was aware that he had no chance of escape from drowning should the hull give way and let in the sea. The hull held, and eventually Wallace limped into port. Lynch was invested with the BEM by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on March 16 1943.

Lynch spent nearly 25 years in the Navy, retiring as chief petty officer in 1953. After leaving the Navy he worked for Cadbury's as a production line manager before joining HM Customs and Excise as an executive officer in May 1954. He was based at Liverpool and, for several years, at Heathrow airport; he retired in 1976.

He was a founder member of the Albert Medal Association, a freeman of the Wirral and served as welfare officer of the Wallasey branch of the Royal Naval Association.

Some years ago Lynch's Albert Medal was stolen while it was on display at Wallasey library. But it later came into the hands of a collector, who returned it to him; it is now in the Imperial War Museum.

Joseph Lynch married his wife Betty (née Bennett) in 1939; she and their son predeceased him.

 

For a reason that is totally lost in mists of the failing memory, all Albert medal holders could if they wish convert them to GM. Surg. Lt Rhodes was awarded the AM following his actions to save lives when the Sidon sank at Portland, his daughter proudly wore the medal at the Sidon Memorial Service when we unveiled the Memorial Stone. Details on the Dorset Submariners Website. Surg Lt Rhodes was a Reservist.

 

Now that is a real hero in the true traditions of the service, I love to hear this kind of thing, medals should be for bravery, not the kind of toss where a grunter gets a gong for being in the right place at the right time and when shore based bean counters get campaign medals. That really grips my shit.

 

Quite agree ref true heroism part of your post Lingyai but I suspect you are being a bit disingenuous with the middle comment about 'being in the right place at the right time'. I don't know Lt Cdr Allen and I don't know what singled him out for special recognition but since he is from FERRET I would guess that he actually 'earned' the recognition (as did a lot of others of course but not everyone can get recognition and he has obviously been selected as the 'one to represent the many' in this instance.

As for the shore based bean counters getting campaign medals - yes, there are some pretty arbitrary lines drawn around campaign boundaries but I thought that was why they had the rosette - to mark out those who were in harms way from those who were 'nearby'.