Victoria Cross awarded this year (2013) for gallantry in Afghanistan.
The action in Afghanistan leading to the award:
Lance Corporal Ashworth and his platoon from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards were inserted into Nahr-e Saraj on 13 June 2012 in order to engage an insurgent sharpshooter team. They came under fire as soon as they landed, prompting Lance Corporal Ashworth to lead his fire team in a 300-metre charge to the heart of the enemy position in a local village.
Two insurgents were killed in this initial attack, but a follow-up assault by Afghan police stalled when a patrolman was shot and killed as the enemy fled.
With no regard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Ashworth again led from the front of his team, advancing on an insurgent compound and using grenades to drive the final remaining enemy to an outbuilding. The insurgents were now being supported by fire from several positions, with the enemy desperate to protect their sharpshooter team.
The immediate priority for Lance Corporal Ashworth’s team was now to neutralise the final sharpshooter and extract as soon as possible. Seeking to break the stalemate using his final grenade, Lance Corporal Ashworth dropped to the floor and crawled behind a knee-high wall that ran parallel to the front of the outbuilding. With just enough cover to conceal his prostrate form, he inched forward on his belly.
Bullets flew over his head as he edged forward and the enemy continued to engage the rest of his team. When he was within 5 metres of the insurgent position Lance Corporal Ashworth was desperate to make his last grenade count. He deliberately crawled out from behind the wall, exposing himself to fire to get a better angle for his throw.
Lance Corporal Ashworth was now in full view of the enemy just metres away, with rounds hitting the floor just centimetres from him. He was preparing to throw the grenade when he was tragically hit by enemy fire.
The citation for Lance Corporal Ashworth’s VC underlines the exceptional bravery he showed:
Despite the ferocity of the insurgent’s resistance, Ashworth refused to be beaten. His total disregard for his own safety in ensuring that the last grenade was posted accurately was the gallant last action of a soldier who had willingly placed himself in the line of fire on numerous occasions earlier in the attack. This supremely courageous and inspiring action deserves the highest recognition.
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| The Victoria Cross |
History of the Victoria Cross.
The Victoria Cross ranks as the nation's highest award for gallantry, along with the George Cross, and was set up by Queen Victoria in 1856.
The honour 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 medal is made up of a bronze cross with a crimson ribbon which bears the inscription "For Valour".
It is cast from the metal of Russian guns captured at the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, the campaign in which the first medals were awarded.
The Victoria Cross may be awarded to all ranks of the services - and also to civilians - to recognise gallantry in the presence of the enemy.
The medal has been awarded 1,356 times.
The most recent recipient was a posthumous award to Corporal Bryan Budd, of the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, for acts of "inspirational leadership and the greatest valour" in southern Afghanistan in 2006.
Only 13 Victoria Cross medals have been awarded since the Second World War, nine to members of the British Army and four to the Australian Army.
L/Cpl Ashworth's is just the fifth to have been awarded since the Falklands conflict, and all but one have been posthumous.
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| Recent Sale of The Boer (Africa) War VC Group for approx. S$400,000 to S$500,000. |
The Star of Temasek (Bintag Temasek)
Singapore equivalent of the Victoria Cross is The Star of Temasek. The Star has not been awarded.
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| The Star of Temasek (Bintang Temasek) 1996 onwards |
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| S'pore Government Gazette |
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| Criteria for the Award |
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