Commandos bravery recognized

As I am sure many of you have read the bravery of many service personnel has been recognised once again by the award of medals. The Royal Marine Commandos from Arbroath come high on that list of awards. A total of 15 Royal Marines and one Army Commando from the unit, Gnr. Grant Michael Guy, 29 Cdo Regiment RA, are recognised in the latest operational honours for bravery, determination and leadership in Afghanistan. These are just two examples of many more. And lets not forget those not on that list who everyday put their lives on the line in places like Afghanistan.

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross

Marine Steven Nethery, 45 RM Cdo
A/Cpl. Bradley Malone, 45 RM Cdo

Marine Steven Nethery, 23, from Edinburgh, was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for going above and beyond the call of duty and saving lives while on tour in Afghanistan. The general purpose machine gunner ran unarmed through heavy fire to retrieve a wounded comrade then braved the taliban assault once again to prevent vital equipment from falling into enemy hands. "We were on our patrol and got ambushed by the Taliban, they had three to four different firing points. "We pulled back and noticed one of the lads had been shot. "He was shot in the leg."
Mne. Nethery then gave his weapon away and made his way through enemy fire to help his colleague Mne Mark Hendy to safety. "I was not thinking about being unarmed at the time. "We dragged him behind a wall out of heavy fire."
With his colleague being tended to by a medic Nethery then braved enemy fire for a second time. "I noticed that his kit was still down there so I went back and to get the bits and pieces he had left." n
Nethery then took it upon himself to carry the casualty over a stretch of 250m to the evacuation party. When asked how he felt about receiving his honours he said: "I am chuffed to bits I could not believe I got it.
"It is surreal really. "My family is really proud."

A/Cpl. Bradley Malone (23), of Newcastle, showed complete disregard for his own safety by leaving cover and advancing across open ground to rescue his troop sergeant who had become isolated in a dangerous area. His fighting prowess turned the tide of a battle, and potentially saved several men from a deadly ambush. The acting corporal said receiving such a prestigious medal was a ?humbling experience.? He said, ?We were surrounded and were taking fire. I realised the sergeant was stuck in the middle and was pinned down. I just went to give him some covering fire, to engage the enemy so he could get back. You don?t think about anything at the time, no emotions, you just get on with it.?

Tragically, 12 personnel from the battle group were killed in action during the deployment, nine of whom were from 45 Commando Group. A number of others sustained very serious injuries, mainly from enemy improvised explosive devices.