bigjarofwasps

Two soldiers are in line to receive the Victoria Cross for their actions in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, it has emerged. The first is L/Cpl Oliver "Teddy" Ruecker from the 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, who is believed to have been recommended for Britain's highest award for gallantry by his commanding officer. During a fierce fire-fight in Helmand province in May, the 20-year-old ran back to pull his critically injured friend from a burning armoured vehicle that contained plastic explosives. Capt David Hicks, 26, is also believed to be in line for the award. He died hours after being wounded and refusing morphine so he could lead a counter-offensive of 50 men against a rocket position. Their actions bring into sharp focus the intensity of fighting in southern Afghanistan, which has prompted calls for a special clasp to accompany the country campaign medal in recognition of the heightened dangers faced by troops serving there. Should the pair be awarded the Victoria Cross, it would be the first time two soldiers from the same battalion had been awarded the medal since the Korean War. The 650-strong 1st Battalion has suffered the heaviest fatalities in the Army in Afghanistan this year, losing nine soldiers since April. L/Cpl Ruecker - who is still serving in Afghanistan - would be only the second living recipient of the medal since 1969, the other being Pte Johnson Beharry of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment in 2005. However, the final decision rests with a committee of serving and retired generals, which will rule later this year or early in 2008. The MoD refused to confirm the nominations, saying speculation risked raising expectations that were not always realised. Capt Hicks's father, Alun, said that he had received "no information" on the matter. He said: "Awards are appropriate for the system but nothing can bring David back. "As far as we in the family are concerned he is a hero for what he did on August 11."

"I once had a six foot long mailing tube for ping pong balls full of these. All but a handful went for college in the 1970s, sigh." What a nice story. But be honest how many of them were turned into beer?

The above relates to this medal, found on Ebay Northern Ireland CSM Medal Colman Fusiliers Decorated!! GOC NI Commendation IRA Bomb Attack 1st May 1992 Item number: 190145462976

An outstanding Northern Ireland General Officer Commanding Commendation Campaign Service Medal awarded to Fusilier G.A. Colman, A Company, 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who was decorated for the IRA attack the Permanent Vehicle Check Point (PVCP) Romeo One Five on the 1st May 1992, when the Irish Republican Army launched one of its most sophisticated bomb attacks during the conflict. Fusilier Andrew Grundy was killed in the incident. Campaign Service Medal, 1 Clasp: Northern Ireland, with oakleaf on ribbon representing the award of the General Officer Commanding’s Commendation for Northern Ireland, named to: (24863595 FUS G A COLMAN RRF). Mounted loose style on wearing pin. With a publication of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers journal ‘The Fusilier’, Volume 7 Number 4, for December 1993. Page 370 shows the lists of Honours and Awards’ with Fusilier Colman’s name shown for the GOC Northern Ireland Commendation, he was serving with the 2nd Battalion at the time. Fusilier G.A. Colman served with the 2nd Battalion, and his service number indicates that he joined up in 1987, into the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. In 1991 following their five year commitment to the ACE Mobile Force Land, the 2nd Battalion began a two year tour of Northern Ireland in the same area as where the Battalion had first exercised after their formation in 1968. Based at Abercorn Barracks in Ballykinler, the 2nd Battalion arrived in theatre during late July 1991 as the resident regular battalion of 3rd Brigade which was tasked with the security of the Border region. Colman would have taken part in Operation ‘Bronski’ the construction and refurbishment of the Golf and Romeo OP Towers in South Armagh. This tour eventually became one of the longest tours ever staged by a battalion in NI, at 31 months. It was the Regiment’s 30th tour of Ulster during the troubles, and became one full of incidents. The most serious was the destruction of PVCP (Permanent Vehicle Check Point) Romeo One Five on 1st May 1992, one of the most sophisticated bomb attacks by the IRA throughout the conflict, and the one for which Colman would be decorated with his G.O.C.’s NI Commendation. The following details of the incident are taken from the regimental history of the Royal Fusiliers “For England and St George”. Romeo One Five was situated at Killeen, south of Newry on the main Belfast to Dublin road. The PVCP (Permanent Vehicle Check Point) had been first destroyed in 1990 by a proxy bomb driven to the site by an innocent civilian whose family had been kidnapped and threatened with death if he did not comply. Ranger Cyril Smith of the Royal Irish Rangers died instantly in the explosion. Romeo One Five was built in its place, but this time it was protected by armoured blast walls against proxy bombs and incorporated a hardened shelter for the troops, known as the ‘submarine’. After careful examination from afar, the IRA had discovered a chink in its armour. R15 was armoured on three sides facing the A1 Road. The fact that the railway side was unprotected had been realised and work was in hand to rectify the failing. As part of the contingency planning, the base was to be evacuated when the threat level reached a certain level. At this point, the platoon would disperse into preordained positions in the surrounding hills, leaving only a few people in the control sangar to coordinate matters. The threat level had almost been reached but there was pressure from on high not to evacuate the base. During the night of 30th April, an IRA ASU hijacked a JCB mechanical digger and drove it to Killeen bridge where the A1 passes over the Belfast to Dublin railway line, just inside the Northern Ireland border. After knocking down a wall and preparing an access ramp, the JCB lifted the Renault Master van on to the railway line. The tyres of the van had been removed and it had been fitted with an extra set of wheels so as to run on the tracks; it also contained one ton of homemade explosives. The courtesy light was switched on and second gear was engaged. The van started trundling north towards Newry with 1800 metres of command wire spooling out of the back. At the same time IRA teams set up road blocks north and south of R15 to stop civilian vehicles from approaching the PVCP. At R15 the guard at the rear sangar overlooking the railway line had just changed and Fusilier Andrew Grundy had relieved his close friend Michael Beswick. Most of the Fusiliers were asleep in the ‘submarine’. Shortly after 0200 hours, a Fusilier in R14, a hilltop OP overlooking the PCVP, noticed a light moving northwards along the railway line and sent a message by radio stating ‘A car is driving down the railway line’. He made the transmission twice on the company net but was met with disbelief. At the rear of the PVCP, Fusilier Grundy heard the warning and was leaning out of the sangar when he saw it approaching. He immediately realised the danger and shouted over the intercom - ‘Proxy bomb - rear gate!’ He then brought his rifle to bear to try to disrupt the device with gun fire. A third person was also watching the approach van and when he saw the telltale curtesy light draw abreast of R15, he radioed his accomplice at the end of the command wire. One kilometre south of the PVCP multiples from 3 Platoon under the command of Lieutenant Peter Allanach were on patrol when they were approached by a civilian who told them that his car had been stopped by hooded men telling him to avoid R15. Lieutenant ‘Zippy’ Allanach radioed a warning and then 3 Platoon began running towards the PCVP. At 0205 hours, the bomb detonated on the only unprotected side of the PVCP. The explosion uprooted the 10 ton rear sangar and propelled it a distance of some then metres. Inside, Fusilier Grundy was killed instantly by the blast. The first report to be received by battalion headquarters was from 3 Platoon which stated - ‘Contact now at R15. Major explosion’. The next report was even more dire - Contact R15 bombing. There are mass casualties - the submarine has gone!’. There were 24 soldiers in the ‘submarine’ and this report precipitated numerous offers of assistance over the battalion net. The commander of the platoon manning R15 , Lieutenant Andrew Rawding then emerged from the debris, with blood running down his face and his rifle destroyed, and ascertained that the casualties were not severe. The ‘submarine’ had survived intact and all those inside had not been harmed, indeed many had slept through the explosion. The uninjured Fusiliers were deployed on the high ground around the site in case of a follow up attack by the IRA. None was forthcoming. Cpl Tom Sayers of 1 Platoon A Company was asleep at the time, having just returned from patrol but was still dressed for action. ‘I was asleep in my pit and the next thing I knew was waking up with the roof on top of me as the whole portacabin had collapsed. There were two other people in the room with me – Fusilier ‘Evo’ Evans and Cpl ‘Stan’ Boardman. Outside were the rest of the multiple in a hardened shelter. It was pitch black so I scrabbled around for my weapon, helmet and webbing. I got the radio out to send a contact report but the cryptic had been damaged so it didn’t work. I then shouted out “Stan! Evo! Are you alright?” as I hadn’t heard anything. Evo said, “I can’t feel my legs”. Stan said “My head’s bleeding”. So I moved to Stan but he seemed OK and then to Evo thinking Oh God what am I going to find here but it was only the GPMG lying on his legs. We eventually got outside and got the teams out of their cut-off positions to stop anything or anyone coming in. My next task was to find out how many casualties there were. I went to find Sergeant Major ‘Patch’ Ai but couldn’t find him in his portacabin so I went to the hardened shelter, opened the door and there was ‘Patch’ standing stark bollock naked with cuts all over him, going into shock. The Medic, Fusilier ‘Brewkit’ Brewer was sorting through his bed bunk so I said to him. “What are you doing?” and he replied “I’m trying to find him a pair of underpants.” I told him, “He’s going into shock – get the blanket off the bed, wrap him in it, and get him sorted.” Lieutenant Rawding was on the net calling for the helicopter evacuation of the casualties to Newry hospital. Cpl Sayers then located Fusilier Grundy in the sangar which had been blown up ‘there was Grundy – not a mark on him.’ I called over four Fusiliers and we placed him on the door. Now the helipad was on the top of a steep hill so it was quite a struggle to get him up there, but there was no hassle no arguments – straight up to the top. The Lynx arrived and the Doc flew back with the body to Newry, Grundy was pronounced dead on arrival. It is believed that Colman was one of those who bravely took part in the evacuation of Grundy, throughout under the threat of further attack by the IRA, though the specific details behind his GOC NI Commendation are not known, it was awarded for this incident, but for what exactly we are not sure. After Grundy’s body was evacuated, the OC A Company arrived, Major James Murray-Playfair surveyed the scene of destruction and promptly took one of the NAAFI cigarettes lying around after the explosion, It was the first one he had smoked in ten years.

The Mercian Regiment http://www.army.mod.uk/news/army_news_curr...an_regiment.htm

Visit the Honour the Brave Forum... http://forums.mirror.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=34

A few more articles... http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19713494/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19696087/ I emailed the reporter about this Medal campaign, and as yet not surprisingly I haven`t had a reply. The more I think about it, the less likely I can see the Government or the M.O.D going for it, but as C3PO said about R2D2, "He has been known to be wrong from time to time".

Found this, thought it might be of inerest........ The Pittman Act was a United States federal law sponsored by Senator Key Pittman of Nevada and enacted on April 23, 1919. The act authorized the conversion of not exceeding 350,000,000 standard silver dollars into bullion and its sale, or use for subsidiary silver coinage, and directed purchase of domestic silver for recoinage of a like number of dollars. Under the Act, 270,232,722 standard silver dollars were converted into bullion (259,121,554 for sale to Great Britain at $1.00 per fine ounce, plus mint charges, and 11,111,168 for subsidiary silver coinage), the equivalent of about 209,000,000 fine ounces of silver. Between 1920 and 1933, under the Act, the same quantity of silver was purchased from the output of American mines, at a fixed price of $1 per ounce, from which 270,232,722 standard silver dollars were recoined. Further provisions relating to silver coinage were contained in the Thomas Amendment to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933.

http://www.operationbanner.com/roh/default...MonthAsNumber=2

Gunner Robert Curtis becomes the first British soldier to die in Northern Ireland 06/02/1971 Shot by sniper while on British Army foot patrol, New Lodge Road, Belfast.

1972 was the bloodiest year of the conflict with 134 soldiers being killed. I believe that a total of 720 British soldiers, were killed during the conflict.

L/Bdr Restorick was shot in the back by a sniper at an army checkpoint in Bessbrook, County Armagh, in February 1997. L/Bdr Restorick, was the last British soldier to be killed in action, during Op Banner.

The total number of UK troops killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 has risen to 73 after the deaths of three soldiers in Helmand province on 24 August 2007. Three British soldiers were killed in a "friendly fire" incident involving US military aircraft while on operations in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on 24 August. Privates Aaron McClure, Robert Foster and John Thrumble from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment were on a patrol near Kajaki when they came under Taleban fire. The MoD says events surrounding the deaths are under investigation Two US F15 fighters were called in to provide close air support, when a bomb from one of the aircraft struck the compound the three men and their platoon were in. Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Carver, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, said Pte McClure, 19, from Ipswich,"was already a veteran of over forty engagements with the enemy. It is tragic that where the Taliban had failed, it was an accident that has taken him from us." Lt Col Carver described Pte Thrumble, 21, from Chelmsford, Essex, as "proven in combat on countless occasions - his raw courage and ability to raise a smile were invaluable in these testing times". Of Pte Foster, aged 19 and from Harlow in Essex, Lt Col Carver said: "Fiercely loyal to his friends, he had seemingly limitless reserves of courage and strength of character way beyond his years." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6963767.stm

Something to do with the US war effort during WW1? In those days they weren`t the super power that they are today! Whatever the Pittman Act was, the old Morgan dollar certainly bore the brunt of it. Now theres a new thread....Morgan Dollars, leave it with me!

The more I think about it the more it becomes less likley that the government would create such an award. Nice idea as it is theres just to many variables!!! However, theres more.... http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19665928/

How many CSM NI's will that be - somewhere around 1/4 million or more with about 30,000 Acumulated CSM's? Must be if not more!!!!!! Badly positioned badge on that Welsh Guardsman's beret - overlapping the band. Well spotted..."Get him awayyyyyyyyy!!!!!"

Okey so the common theme here is no, and some good arguments to back it all up. The going back to 1946 point, the cost of that alone doesn`t bear thinking about. The better medical care instead, yes I can see your point, but the way the whole funding system works, means that money from one dept can not be passed over to another no matter how good the cause. Just ask your local council about that!!! Lets not forget that a vast majority of the wounded service personal, are MD from the forces, I think a medal to recognise there wounds is a good thing. It doesn`t have to cost a great deal (just look at the Purple Heart) for that, but if it ever materalises lets hope its tastful!! Well thats me off my soap box. Surely there must be some positive views out there, as it stands its not looking very good for the Mirror!!

Hi Guys, Don`t know if you guys are aware or not of this currently running campaign by the Daily Mirror (I`m not a reader, just happened acrosss it by chance), but thought it might be of interest..... http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19685975/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19680426/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19649477/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/20...89520-19631725/ I`d very much like to hear your views on this.... Gordon.

Lance Cpl. Jared P. Hubbard 22, of Clovis, Calif.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Nov. 4 of injuries sustained due to enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq. http://www.militarycity.com/valor/491976.html

Saving Private Hubbard: soldier sent home after his brothers die Spc. Nathan Hubbard, 21, right, was among 14 killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq in August of 2007. He is pictured here with his brother Jason Hubbard. A Central California soldier was among 14 killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Iraq - the second tragedy for his family, who lost another son to the war three years ago, family friends said. The family of Spc. Nathan Hubbard, 21, was taking his death on Wednesday "very, very hard," said Clovis police spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee, who spoke on behalf of the Hubbards. The soldier's father, Jeff Hubbard, is a retired 30-year veteran of the police department. Hubbard’s UH-60 helicopter went down during a nighttime mission in the Tamim province that surrounds Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 180 miles north of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a military spokesman in northern Iraq. He said facts gathered indicated it was almost certainly due to a mechanical problem and not hostile fire, although the final cause remained under investigation. The military did not immediately release the soldiers' identities pending notification of relatives. Nathan Hubbard was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, where officials said 10 of the soldiers killed in the crash were based. The Hubbards lost Nathan's older brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Hubbard, to a roadside bomb in downtown Ramadi in 2004.

Hi Guys, Was surfing Ebay, when I cam across this thought I`d share it with you... "This yellow topped coca cola bottle was purchased at the Bagdad Cafe in Iraq last year Possibly from the last batch to leave the ill fated factory now outside the green zone A must for all serious collectors it's in perfect condition and unopened it's the only one I have and the only one i've seen in Europe" So what happened to the factory, does anyone know, I could find anything on the net?

A nice coin, but I don`t think it`ll take the world by storm, in the same way as the Krugerrand has. A nice collectors piece none the less! I think I`m right in saying that there hasn`t been one issued since 2003, not sure how that will effect the market. Whether collectors will want it because there more unique, or put them off, as you can`t really put date sets together, in the same way as you can with the Sovereign. Time will tell I suppose.....

The total number of UK troops killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 has risen to 73 after the deaths of three soldiers in Helmand province on 24 August 2007. Three British soldiers are killed in a suspected "friendly fire" incident involving US military aircraft while on operations in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on 24 August.

Gordon of Khartoum General Wolseley`s relief army….. Wolseley wrote - Our gold sovereigns command no respect here, whereas great course Austrian silver dollars, are looked upon as real money. A man could bring here one hundred thousand in silver would make a good thing of it now in buying up all our sovereigns at a reduced price. The sovereign is at a great discount & few Arabs here will take it. Years after our expedition to Abyssinia, men of that country sold handfuls of sovereigns for a few silver dollars.

Many thanks for taking the time to photograph this for us, Charlie. What a smashing example. I`ll have to keep my eye out for ones made into jewellery. Just out of interest where did you pick this one up? I wouldn`t be to put off by it being a relatively modern one, its still really nice, and who knows where its been & what its bought in the last 40 odd years? Might have been used during the Dhofar War to buy AK47 ammo for example. The imagination could run riot Gordon.