FOUR Worcestershire soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) have been honoured for their acts of bravery in their recent tour of Afghanistan.

The soldiers congregated at the new war memorial, the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, yesterday to speak about their moments in combat.

Two of the soldiers have been awarded the prestigious Military Cross, one of the highest awards for exemplary gallantry against the enemy, one has been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross and another mentioned in dispatches.

Lieutenant Colonel Simon Banton, Commanding Officer of the Mercians, described the soldiers as "remarkable individuals," who fought the Taliban during their deployment to Afghanistan between April and October last year.

"It is widely recognised that last summer's fighting was among the most fierce seen by the British Army probably since the Korean War, and they were at the forefront," he said.

  • WO GAVIN KIMBERLIN - MILITARY CROSS
    WORCESTER Warrant Officer Gavin Kimberlin has been awarded the Military Cross for his brave efforts fighting the Taliban in Helmand.

During his tour of Afghanistan, he was attached to the Czech Special Operations Group. Halfway through his tour he came under attack by 30 to 40 Taliban.

A rocket propelled grenade (RPG) landed just metres from where he was standing, hitting one of his vehicles and launching a Czech soldier into the air.

WO Kimberlin pushed forward, fighting the Taliban and allowing time for his injured comrade to be evacuated to safety.

"We were about 14 strong and as we were fighting an RPG struck behind us," he said.

"He (a Czech soldier) was on a vehicle and the RPG threw him off."

"We needed to extract him because he was badly injured. We were taking small arms fire and they started to mortar us at the same time and attempted to surround us.

"I pushed forward and fought back the Taliban, held them off long enough for the injured soldier to be treated.

"He survived, they managed to save his foot, and I believe he will walk again."

After safely getting his group out, WO Kimberlin then planned an operation to go back to the area where they had been hit.

"We went back two weeks later and killed 21 Taliban, it was a bit of pay-back," he said.

The 37-year-old soldier lives in Worcester with his wife Jane and 16-month-old son Will. A former student of Elgar Technology College in Worcester, he joined the Army straight after leaving school.

"I joined in 1986 when I was 16, straight out of the gates of Elgar and straight into the careers office in Worcester," he said.

His wife - a junior school teacher in Worcester, is very proud of him, and WO Kimberlin has said he will make sure his son knows why he was awarded the Military Cross.

Aside from two deployments to Afghanistan, WO Kimberlin has served in Northern Ireland on a number of occasions.

During the First Gulf War he was posted to Jordan, and he has also served in Sierra Leone.

The Military Cross is one of the highest awards for exemplary gallantry against the enemy on land.

  • PTE PAUL WILLMOTT - CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY CROSS
    AT just 21 Private Paul Willmott has been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross after rescuing his Lance Corporal under enemy fire.

Just one month after the rescue Pte Willmott was injured after an RPG landed inches from him, leaving him with scars on his forehead, arms and legs.

Here the Pershore soldier describes both terrifying incidents in graphic detail.

"My Lance Corporal Paul Sandford got shot a foot away from me and I had to get him out of there.

"I stripped him of all his kit but with all my kit I could not carry him out by myself.

"Everybody else was just running past, I was the only one stayed for him.

"We were under enemy fire, he had died and I had to get him out.

"I kept putting him down, then looking for the right moment and running.

"I had to drag him about 300 metres to get to the medic where he tried CPR, but it was no good because he was already gone.

"We then had to carry on and clear the compounds and take out the enemy. I was the only one who was up for it, everyone else was down in the dumps."

One month after this Pte Willmott had just had a shower and was sitting under a tree in his boxer shorts when he was hit by a RPG.

"I was just about to go to sleep and I heard a whistling noise, I went to sit up and run but as I sat up it hit me in the head. I could not see, I started running towards the rest of the lads, and then I got hit by the grenade's shrapnel.

"It was horrible, having pieces of metal burning at 80 degrees in you.

"I was in hospital for six days and then off sick for the rest of the tour in Camp Bastion."

  • PTE AARON HOLMES - MILITARY CROSS
    HE had walked into an enemy ambush and was trapped in a ditch under fire from the Taliban.

His comrade had been shot, but Private Aaron Holmes managed to stay calm and rescue his dead friend.

This remarkable act of bravery yesterday earned 19-year-old Pte Holmes, of Stourport, the Military Cross.

Here he describes the moment he was surrounded by Taliban fighters, with a gun which had stopped working and no ammunition.

"We walked into an ambush, it started in the morning when we were taking a compound," he said.

"It was an enemy ambush, everyone ran for cover.

"There was me, Guardsman Daryl Hickey and Corporal Buzzard. We got stuck in a ditch together but the rest of the section made it into the compound still taking incoming enemy fire.

"Then Hickey got shot, he was behind me.

"Buzzard managed to get round the back on the compound. Then my light machine gun gave up so I crawled forwards to get a rifle which another soldier had dropped.

"Then I ran out of ammo so I called back to Hickey who was dead by then."

Pte Holmes then tried to get his dead comrade out of the compound.

"I grabbed him and fired at the Taliban, I got him into the stream and got him out."

After this Pte Holmes went back to the compound where his friend had just been shot to continue fighting.

"We went back in to take the rest of it and we did," he said.

LT AARON BROWNE - MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES
LIEUTENANT Aaron Browne was in so many near-death experiences he found it difficult to pin-point the one which led to him being awarded a Mention in Despatches.

"I was involved in five major battles and had a number of contacts as well," said the 29-year-old soldier from Warndon Villages.

The award is the oldest form of recognition of gallantry within the UK Armed Forces, and recognises all the work Lt Browne did as Far Support Group Commander.

"On one occasion I was driving in a Landrover and an improvised explosive device blew the vehicle to bits.

"There were three of us in the vehicle, I straight away knew what it was and had to check my body parts.

"I thought I was in bits, but my feet and my legs seemed to be there. That was the scariest moment.

"On another occasion I was in a village on a general patrol and there was 15 Taliban doing a show of strength.

"I led an attack against them with a general purpose machine gun and a rifle. We got six of them.

"It was not a bad result, if it was football it would be the top score of the day.

"I have also been ambushed on a number of times and had rocket propelled granades go about two feet away from my face. "I have had it all, it was quite an eventful tour to say the least."

Despite all this Lt Browne, who used to be a geography teacher at Droitwich High School, said he was looking forward to going back to the war zone.

"Afghanistan is a fantastic country, the people are fantastic and the geography is amazing," he said.

The honours explained

  • Military Cross - click here
  • Conspicuous Gallantry Cross - click here
  • Mentioned in Despatches - click here