Posted on 07/16/2007 9:37:00 PM PDT by SandRat
Three members of the Armed Forces have been recognised for outstanding acts of bravery at an investiture service at Buckingham Palace.
The three - Sergeant Michelle Cunningham Royal Logistic Corps, Wing Commander Craig Staniforth and Sergeant Mario Testa RAF - were presented with their medals by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales at a ceremony on Thursday 12 July 2007.
Sergeant Michelle Cunningham, 32, is an ammunition technician with the Royal Logistic Corps based with Tidworth Troop 721 Squadron 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment. Sgt Cunningham's team are responsible for assisting civilian police in disposing of explosive ordnance throughout the south west of England.
On June 27 2006, the team were called to an explosion at a pyrotechnics factory at Middle Wallop. One civilian worker had already been left dead by the blast. When Sgt Cunningham arrived she saw that, while a stock of explosives had been damaged in the initial blast, the flames were now in danger of causing a much larger explosion which was threatening the lives and property of local residents.
With complete disregard for her personal safety, Sgt Cunningham, carrying two fire extinguishers, battled her way to the seat of the fire and began to tackle the flames, which were now precariously close to a pile of explosives.
The first extinguisher had a limited effect on the advancing wall of flame but Sgt Cunningham had better luck with the second and the fire was brought under control.
After dousing the area with a third extinguisher, she was able to carry out her main task of painstakingly inspecting and clearing the explosives, and rendering safe many hundreds of pyrotechnic charges before declaring the scene safe.
Sgt Cunningham's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Mayberry, QGM, said:
"I am delighted that the bravery of Sergeant Cunningham has been recognised with this award. Her selfless commitment is representative of the daily activities of all Royal Logistic Corps ammunition technicians and ammunition technical officers conducting EOD operations, and indeed Armed Forces personnel, serving both in UK and abroad, and is to be commended."
RAF medic Wing Commander Craig Staniforth was awarded the prestigious Australian Bravery Medal for his actions in helping victims of the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005.
Wg Cdr Staniforth was travelling on a tube train heading for Edgware Road when a bomb exploded on the train travelling in the opposite direction. Without a thought for his own safety he immediately broke a window and jumped across to the train to come to the aid of the injured passengers inside:
"When I got to the carriage it was carnage," he recalled. "There was a huge crater in the floor and there were bodies everywhere. The man nearest to the crater was dead and it was completely dark, full of smoke and dust. There were people all around screaming for help."
One of the men he helped was an Australian professor, John Tulloch, who was sitting near to the bomb when it went off causing him severe head injuries.
Wg Cdr Staniforth stayed with him for nearly an hour keeping him awake, warm and comfortable before the emergency services arrived on the scene. He remained with him in a makeshift medical centre that had been set up in a nearby store until he was moved to hospital.
Wg Cdr Staniforth remembers the relief on reaching the surface:
"It was a feeling of total relief to see the sunlight once again. I made sure that the professor was in good hands and helped him contact his partner as we finally had a signal on our phones."
Professor Tulloch nominated his rescuer for the award which is the third highest Australian decoration for bravery. On receiving the award, Wing Commander Staniforth said:
"This has been a fantastic day for me and my family and also a great honour. I used my training and I just feel that I did what anyone would in that situation with the limited resources that were available."
Wg Cdr Staniforth has previously been awarded the Royal Humane Society’s bronze medal for his actions during this incident.
"This has been a fantastic day for me and my family and also a great honour. I used my training and I just feel that I did what anyone would in that situation with the limited resources that were available."
Wing Commander Craig Staniforth The third individual to be presented with an award was Sergeant Mario Testa, 32, a search and rescue winchman based at Chivenor in north Devon. He received the Air Force Cross after displaying gallantry of the highest order to save another’s life in the face of perilous conditions after he was scrambled to a rescue operation in March 2006.
Sergeant Testa was onboard a Sea King helicopter which had been scrambled to the aid of an injured French fisherman in a small fishing boat 130 miles (209 km) off the Devon coast. The weather conditions were horrendous with the boat pitching in 30 foot (9m) waves and winds in excess of 45 knots.
The boat was pitching violently making a winching operation very dangerous, but Sergeant Testa insisted on going ahead with the operation. After four attempts to reach the pitching vessel and twenty minutes of hanging on the end of the wire, his legs were numb but nevertheless he persevered and finally reached the deck.
Despite being nearly thrown overboard he made his way to the casualty in the wheelhouse and administered first aid before assisting the fisherman to the bow for recovery to the helicopter. During this difficult operation they were twice washed through the boat’s railings, but Sgt Testa clung on to the boat with one hand while keeping a firm grip on the casualty with the other preventing them from certain death in the stormy waters.
After several aborted attempts they were winched onboard the helicopter where Sgt Testa continued to calmly administer first aid.
Thanks for posting. It’s good to read something positive in the news for a change.
But for having their medals presented by an islamist.
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