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Victoria Cross Awarded

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ChillDoubt | 08:27 Thu 26th Feb 2015 | News
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Well done that man.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31620764

Like most awarded such honours, a typically self deprecating account of true heroism, whilst never doubting that his muckers would have unquestionably done the same thing.

It always rankles when the likes of top footballers are sometimes referred to as 'under pressure', when many by their actions are not fit to even lace this guys boots.
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Chilldoubt I think you know enough about me to realise I have, and always will, support the bravery of our armed forces. I will always try to defend them when others put them down.I cannot add any other words of admiration and gratitude for these young men and women that have already been written here. I recognise a few posters here who were howling with rage when...
10:12 Thu 26th Feb 2015
mikey.......LOL....LOL.

Reminds me of one of my mates, who because of being awarded a Military Medal came out as a Major General........

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/army-obituaries/5039520/Major-General-Patrick-Crawford.html
You got there first Mikey.
Where is the logic in mentioning football?

Congratulations Joshua Leakey, well deserved.

Sqad's earlier post is correct. People react to peril in different ways; Fight or Flight, and one can't be certain which way a person will go, no matter how realistic training exercises are.
The severe selection process for all special forces goes a long way to produce troops with the 'correct' mental and physical toughness but can never be totally predictive.

In my fairly short and comparatively peaceful service in 3 Para I only witnessed one event where fear resulted in the rest of the patrol being put at greater risk.

With the traditional inter-battalion rivalry it's normally hard to praise the achievements of other battalions, but in this case..' Well done, Joshua Leaky and congratulations 1 Para '
Chilldoubt
I think you know enough about me to realise I have, and always will, support the bravery of our armed forces. I will always try to defend them when others put them down.I cannot add any other words of admiration and gratitude for these young men and women that have already been written here.
I recognise a few posters here who were howling with rage when a young RAF Regt man was photographed with his thumbs up after checking out dead Taliban insurgents after an incursion into Camp Bastion whereby the bad guiys were wearing stolen US military uniform.
I note that 11 Taliban were killed in this firefight and 4 wounded. God forbid a photo of this brave Para being taken of him or his equally brave muckers checking out for possum players with a look of relief on his face.
How the worms turn when a VC is bestowed after killing the enemy and casevacing a US officer first.
.
Yeah but
no but

you are nt selecting people for VCs are you ?

Also as you say - measuring potential is very difficult if not impossible and one would be better off training zillions and THEN selecting altho it means a high attrition rate

From the Link, IMPRESSIVE!

///He has been recognised with the VC almost 70 years after another member of his family was awarded the same honour///.
Historically - unpopular tho it is
my father records the british forces running away at Dunkirk
[ He was captured at a first aid station at Schorisse )

and if you watch the classic progz ( repeats ) on the pacific war
one Japanese officer explaining the defeat ( that would be our defeat ) at Singapore commented:
the British only started fighting at Kohima and Imphal and we couldnt believe it
PP
Many of those involved in the tactical withdrawal from Dunkirk and Calais and stood for hours up to their necks,as did my uncle, in water waiting for a boat went on to continue the war.My Scottish Uncle,ex RSM R.A., was commissioned in the field for bravery later at Monte Cassino. My other uncle,W.G., was shot in the back by our allies whilst heroically holding a desperate rear guard action so others could get to Calais and awaiting boats to England. Alas he was captured also. You can't imply these men were "running away". They were let down by the General Staff and their ALLIES. These men regrouped and went on to win the war .
Having watched the video of the award ceremony, I was startled when the senior officer, having completed the 'pinning on', gave Joshua Leakey a big hug. It brought a lump to my throat.
He's lovely isn't he ??

janbee to be fair, it's not really Madonna's fault she's on all the front pages, I doubt she wanted to fall down those steps !

I understand the reference to footballers, who are often referred to as 'heroes' which of course they are not !
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Hear, hear Vicasso, I felt the same. It was a heartfelt, personal gesture and a nice touch.

Talbot,
I mentioned footballers because I am frankly aghast when I hear about a young lad of 21/22 on say 60,000 a week who gets a mid season holiday in the Caribbean because he is 'tired' and 'under pressure', bless him. Pul-eeeeeeeeeeez!!
humbling

now he has to accept all those salutes to him, a mark of respect, even from the top brass of the Army....
retrocop Here is my fathers diary for 28 May 1940 when he was captured as Schorrisse Church - near Oudenaarde

I was mounted on one of the regimental transports and as I rode back a Messerschmitt zoomed over. A still small voice inside me ( as in the Pont cartoon ) said: “ don’t look back I think a plane is following you.” To begin with everything was uneventful. I had stretcher-bearers at all the companies. I also had to go down to H.Q. for conference which usually meant just waiting about. I was distressed to find my stretcher bearer was wounded and one of them had had his head blown off as he arrive at H.Q. with a message. We were supposed to hold the “ Line of the Scheldt until the Last Man and the Last Bullet.” I took it all literally and the next day I wore my old boots as I thought that if I had to die I might as well be really comfortable.
That afternoon things got quite hot and while I was at H.Q. some of the platoon took the truck and headed for safety. I felt it was largely my fault. If I had been a good officer they would have been more terrified of me than the enemy. Anyway there weer enough to carry on with. Eventually at about midnight the last truck pulled out. [ I was left] and I went around the village to see if there was any transport available. There wasn’t but the Brigadier was wandering around and he promised to send a couple of lorries to get us ( myself and the wounded) out. They never arrived.
I had a poor night. In the morning the Germans were in the village.
I was tempted to go native as I spoke Afrikaans The wounded I was leaving behind, were apprehensive and said – “ Don’t go Doc, they’ll shoot us”.

It seems pretty clear what he always said: they ran away
[ this is not revisionist history even Churchill said we dont win wars with battles like Dunkirk ]

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