- 2 days ago
For educational purposes
Episode 3 "The Modern Age" brings the story of the VC up to date, from the air and sea battles of WWII, through Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and the current Gulf War.
British soldiers have been fighting every year for the last 60 years, and through these years the VC has been awarded less and less.
Has the nature of battle changed so much that men are no longer faced with such danger, or has the attention around the VC become so great that the Generals are scared to award it ?
Episode 3 "The Modern Age" brings the story of the VC up to date, from the air and sea battles of WWII, through Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and the current Gulf War.
British soldiers have been fighting every year for the last 60 years, and through these years the VC has been awarded less and less.
Has the nature of battle changed so much that men are no longer faced with such danger, or has the attention around the VC become so great that the Generals are scared to award it ?
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LearningTranscript
00:12Clip!
00:43In June this year, my wife and I took part in the 150th anniversary celebrations of Britain's highest gallantry award,
00:51the Victoria Cross.
00:54The guests of honour were VC holders from World War II, Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam.
01:02They are growing old now, but in their midst was a young soldier, Private Johnson Bahari.
01:09The newest member of this elite band of men, he was awarded the Victoria Cross for not one, but two
01:17acts of outstanding bravery in Iraq in 2004.
01:24In one, he saved the lives of 30 comrades by driving his warrior armoured vehicle through an ambush while his
01:31turret was on fire and his platoon commander lay wounded on top of the vehicle.
01:37A month later, his platoon was ambushed again, and although seriously injured, Johnson drove his vehicle and comrades to safety.
01:46This film tells the story of people like Johnson Bahari through the 60 years from World War II to Iraq.
01:53Most servicemen and women are brave, and they all have my respect and admiration.
01:59But there is something special about holders of the Victoria Cross.
02:04They are modest men who, above all else, want to appear ordinary.
02:10But they are, of course, nothing of the sort.
02:13Many things have changed the face of warfare, but the nature of human bravery and raw courage remains as impressive
02:23now as it ever was.
02:27The friendships, formed in the crucible of armed conflict, are among the most powerful relationships a human being can have.
02:38In the Second World War, the men of bomber command were called upon to fly deep into German territory night
02:45after night, running the gauntlet of enemy fighters and anti-aircraft guns.
02:52During the six years of World War II, more than 55,000 airmen lost their lives.
02:58The average survival rate was 30 bombing operations.
03:06Thousands of Canadian airmen were based in Britain during the war.
03:10Among them, Andrew Minarski, a mid-upper gunner, Pat Brophy, a rear gunner.
03:18Two firm friends on the same Lancaster bomber crew.
03:23Andy and I were as close as brothers. By flying, eating, living together, spending leaves together, there wasn't much I
03:31didn't know about Andy, or he about me.
03:34Ha! Hey Pat, you take it.
03:38On June the 12th, 1944, their friendship was tested.
03:43The squadron took part in a low-level raid on a German supply line in northern France.
03:49On the way, the Lancaster was hit and caught fire. The captain ordered the crew to bail out.
03:57But Minarski, spotting his friend Pat Brophy trapped in his gun turret, refused to go.
04:05Instead, he plunged back into the flames to save his friend.
04:09Go back, Andy!
04:12For Christ's sake, get out!
04:13I was scared that night, until I saw Andy. Then I was cool and calm. I thought, if he can
04:21do this for me, why should I be afraid of dying?
04:25Minarski tried in vain to unjam the gun turret, but it was hopeless.
04:30Andy, go down!
04:32I guess by now, even Andy realized it wasn't any good. So he gave up, and he crawled back to
04:39the hatch.
04:40And I could barely see him through the smoke. But when he reached the hatch, he did what he always
04:45did when we finished a night's work, or a night's drinking.
04:49And, like always, he said, good night, sir.
04:56Terribly burned, Andrew Minarski parachuted into a French field, but died a few hours later of his wounds.
05:04Against all the odds, Pat Brophy did survive. As the stricken bomber descended, it clipped some trees, and Brophy was
05:12thrown clear.
05:14He is dead now, and I'm alive. Whereas it should be the other way around.
05:22Because Andrew Minarski attempted to save the life of a friend with complete disregard for his own safety, he was
05:29awarded the Victoria Cross.
05:31The official account was published in the London Gazette.
05:35Pilot Officer Minarski must have been fully aware that in trying to free the rear gunner, he was almost certain
05:42to lose his own life.
05:44His was valour of the highest order.
05:49Halfway across the world in northern India, another young officer was about to face a supreme test of courage in
05:57one of the hardest fought battles of the war.
06:03These are the famous hills around Kohima. You've read about them day by day in the press.
06:09Now these pictures bring you a vivid glimpse of what they're like to fight in.
06:15By 1944, Captain Jack Randall had been away from England for two years.
06:20Now he was about to take part in a gruelling battle against the Japanese at Kohima.
06:26I was born in December 1942. My father went away in, I think, about June 1942, not even knowing that
06:34I was on the way.
06:35And I think the ship got to about Cape Town when he was told I was on the way.
06:40So I think he was quite pleased about that.
06:43I've got two years worth of letters written back to my mother.
06:47There's news of sort of me doing various things that babies do at that sort of age.
06:59My darling, maybe.
07:04Just another letter from your same husband, darling.
07:09There really is no nuisance I wrote the last one.
07:12But it seems silly not to write to one's wife when there is the chance to do so.
07:23I was very interested to hear how junior had developed while you were away, darling Mavis.
07:28Your mama must have looked after him extremely efficiently for him to have gotten along so fast.
07:33It really was very sporting and better off to do it.
07:38Much more than I would ever do for our grandchildren.
07:40From what Murray's told me, Murray Pettit, his friend, he always said how disorganised Jack was.
07:47Yeah, almost a rubbish soldier, you know.
07:50Not a typical military man at all.
07:52And not someone you'd expect such a great act of heroism from.
08:07Give my love to our son, darling.
08:15I do so wish I could see you both together.
08:17I do so wish I could see you both together.
08:22At least, I know he is in very competent hands.
08:37You were brought up in just the way I would like if I were there.
08:45All my love, darlingest girl.
08:50Jack.
08:56On May the 4th, Randall's battalion was ordered to attack.
09:00Jack.
09:00In heavy fighting over the following days, Jack was severely wounded, his knees shattered by shrapnel.
09:08At dawn on May the 6th, he led an attack on a Japanese bunker.
09:13Suddenly, his company came under heavy fire from another machine gun.
09:19Jack decided that to save his men, he must eliminate this new threat.
09:25He knew it was suicidally dangerous.
09:28But as his sergeant, Bert Fidd wrote to Mavis.
09:34Your husband played a major part in the battle for Kahime.
09:42His actions saved the lives of many of his men.
09:54The definition of courage.
09:57Courage.
09:59Ooh, that's a hard one.
10:01I think it's something that happens at the moment, and you know you've got to do it.
10:05There's no plan B.
10:06The idea of the whole thing was to hold the hill, to save our wounded, and do the job we've
10:12been trained to do as soldiers.
10:14Fight and fight and fight. You just can't bugger off, you know.
10:17When you're in a possible combat situation, and things are really going tricky, all the stops are pulled out to
10:23help one of your colleagues.
10:29Like I say, it's not conscious thought, I'm going to be super brave and do something.
10:33There's obviously a bit of self-preservation involved in that, but it's your friends that you live with, that you
10:39socialise with, that you work with, that you've known for a number of years, that are in trouble and need
10:44help.
10:45Carrying out an action that is beyond the normal capacity, and that's when it becomes an action that's abnormal for
11:00a human being to do.
11:02So, to do it, I'd say that is courage.
11:07Not all acts of Victoria Cross courage take place in the heat of battle, or in the inferno of a
11:15doomed aircraft.
11:17In July 1945, the crew of a midget submarine, XE-3, set out to destroy the Japanese cruiser, Tokyo, in
11:27Singapore Harbour.
11:28Her heavy guns could prevent the Allies retaking Singapore, and had to be silenced.
11:35In command was Lieutenant Ian Fraser.
11:38His cramped sub carried six limpet mines in a sidecarrier that the diver, James McGinnis, would attach to the Takeo's
11:48hull.
11:49It sailed all night through minefields and past enemy ships to reach the target.
11:55Eventually the cruiser came in sight. I could see it through the periscope. Quite a menacing looking thing.
12:04We had to start about a mile and a half away.
12:08Reid was on the steering wheel, steering the boat, and he had to do it very accurately.
12:12And Kiwi Smith was controlling the motors and the depth of the submarine as we went in.
12:26Everything was proceeding quite merrily.
12:28When all of a sudden...
12:31We hit something with the clang.
12:32Bloody hell.
12:33In the shallow water the sub had hit the Takeo.
12:37Surely now they would be discovered.
12:39Is this it?
12:41Will we be taken prisoner? End up in a Jap POW camp?
12:47Miraculously, all stayed quiet.
12:49But the sub was jammed between the Takeo's keel and the seabed.
12:54So diver, McGinnis, could only open his exit hatch by about a third.
12:59He managed to wriggle out, but his struggles caused a potential disaster.
13:04He had ruptured his air supply.
13:11If flow of oxygen bubbles were shooting up past my face and working their way up to the surface,
13:16if some Jap were looking over the side, he would wonder what the bubbles were coming up.
13:22So then I thought, well, it's either a case of going back and getting the leak fixed
13:27or pressing on and doing the job as quick as possible, hoping to get away.
13:31The bottom was pretty foul with green streamers and barnacles and general growth all over the hull.
13:37My first concern was for the limpets not making a good contact.
14:05And every now and then, he'd reappear and pick up another mine and take that away.
14:19And all in all, he put six of these along the bottom of the Takeo.
14:22It took him 30 minutes.
14:25It felt like 30 days.
14:31They had these tests where they had to swim underwater and fulfil all these tasks.
14:37And apparently, Dad was very good at that.
14:40Because as a child in Belfast, he was very poor.
14:44And one of the big things they had was going to the swimming baths.
14:49So, he was sort of like a fish almost.
14:56When McGinnis returned, there was another problem.
15:00They could not jettison the pod that had held the limpet mines.
15:04It was stuck fast.
15:06McGinnis was exhausted and Fraser offered to go himself.
15:10But the diver insisted it was his job.
15:12Took a large spanner and set off again.
15:17He showed him.
15:19So, he was quiet.
15:20I suppose I'm like that in a way.
15:22Introverted, I should say.
15:24But when he, if there was something that needed doing, he had this sort of steely determination.
15:41After five heart-stopping minutes, McGinnis succeeded and the X-Craft made its escape miraculously undetected.
15:49The mission was a success.
15:52The explosives went off as planned.
15:55For their courage in sticking to their task under constant fear of discovery and for enduring a 52-hour mission
16:03without sleep and sweltering confinement, Ian Fraser and James McGinnis were awarded the Victoria Cross.
16:12I remember when I was a schoolboy, one of the proudest moments was this other lad brought a comic in.
16:20It described the story of Dad's mission to, you know, sink the takeo.
16:26And he said, this is your dad, isn't it?
16:29And I couldn't believe it, it's just me dad in a comic.
16:35James McGinnis' VC is part of the Ashcroft Collection, the world's largest private collection of Victoria Crosses.
16:44It was my fascination as a schoolboy of the subject of bravery.
16:48And I was quite fascinated by the exploits of our armed forces during World War II.
16:54And then in 1986, the Victoria Cross to McGinnis came onto the market and I felt that this was the
17:03time just to obtain one Victoria Cross.
17:08And I went into Sotheby's and for the first time picked up a Victoria Cross.
17:14And I can still to this day remember the feeling of an exhilaration.
17:18It's a tangible relic of a brave act with no intrinsic value.
17:27But yet there is a surge of electricity when you hold it in your hand and look at it and
17:34know the story of the courage behind that little piece of metal.
17:411951. World War II is over, but the Cold War is beginning.
17:47Bitter fighting goes on in a battered no-man's land of Korea.
17:51In the bleak hills of Korea, Britain and her allies fought the massive Chinese army.
17:57Bill Speakman was a private in the King's Own Scottish Borders.
18:02Yes, the British have arrived in Korea.
18:04They've brought their legendary courage and cheerfulness to relieve the weary GIs worn out by weeks of bitter fighting.
18:09These seasoned veterans, reinforced by national servicemen, are standing firm.
18:15On November the 4th, 1951, the King's Own Scottish Borders were defending a position that came under Chinese fire.
18:25Bill Speakman would endure a long ordeal that would gain him the VC.
18:30In a different part of the battle was young Alistair Brooks.
18:34He wasn't with Speakman, but he remembers the day well.
18:37On the morning of the 4th, the shelling race seemed to hot up.
18:43And come the afternoon, there was more and more shelling going on, and we obviously knew something was going to
18:48happen.
18:49And sure enough, about 4 o'clock, suddenly these waves of Chinese came over from their hills down into the
18:57valley towards us.
18:59We fought because, you know, we'd fought for that hill. We'd taken that hill.
19:04And we weren't just going to let it go, but we had a big problem. We had a lot of
19:09wounded guys down there, wounded NCOs and men.
19:13And, you know, if you start to lose control of it, you know, people looking around, then it just gets
19:20out of hand.
19:21I mean, there were 6,000 of those buggers, men.
19:23You're terrified. I mean, there's waves and waves of people.
19:30But you obviously have to do something, but it's them or us, and you try and make sure that it's
19:34them rather than you.
19:36Private Speakman, learning that the company's position was being overrun, decided on his own initiative to drive the enemy off
19:44the position and keep them off it.
19:48Speakman, he came forward and was throwing grenades at the advancing Chinese, because the Chinese were coming at us the
19:56whole way round.
19:58And he sort of helped Fire Platoon to hold their end of the hill.
20:04I mean, you know, there's all sorts of rumours that Speakman was throwing beer bottles and so forth.
20:10Well, he probably did throw the odd one, but I mean, it was mainly grenades he was throwing.
20:15Having led some 10 charges through withering fire, Private Speakman was severely wounded in the leg.
20:22Undaunted by his wounds, he continued to lead charge after charge against the enemy.
20:27In the end, it was very overwhelming, but we managed to hold on for about five hours, did our best.
20:34And there was the grenades and what else we had, rocks and things like that.
20:39We ran out of ammunition in the end.
20:43But we managed to do, myself and these other guys, we managed to get enough grenades together to do a
20:52last charge to clear the hill,
20:53to get our guys, the wounded guys off the hill. It was very important, because you can't leave them there,
20:59just that when you know you can get them away.
21:01I mean, I think we're all pretty shell-shocked, because, you know, it was quite a dramatic thing to go
21:07through.
21:08I mean, nothing that any of us could ever dream about could put you in a position that we had
21:14been in.
21:15We could dream of a position like that.
21:20And you really wondered how on earth you got out without a scratch.
21:23Well, a lot didn't, of course.
21:27Private Speakman's outstanding powers of leadership were revealed, and he so dominated the situation that he inspired his comrades to
21:35stand firm and fight the enemy to a standstill.
21:39Bill was awarded his VC in February 1952, and walked out of Buckingham Palace and into a blizzard of publicity.
21:54In the courtyard of Buckingham Palace, fresh from the Queen's first investiture, and now it's Private Speakman, who won the
22:00VC in Korea with his mother and the mayor of Altrincham, his hometown.
22:07Seldom can Britain's highest service award for valour have been more worthily earned, and seldom has such a high honour
22:13been so modestly assumed as by Big Bill Speakman of the King's own Scottish borderers.
22:19Bill Speakman received his VC in 1952, catapulted from private soldier to celebrity, and no publicist to help him.
22:28It's a big day in Cheshire to welcome the local boy, and 5,000 school children have a day off
22:33to cheer their own hero.
22:35It's a great day for Bill, but he has one message for all. Don't forget the boys in Korea. They're
22:41doing a tough job, and they're doing it well.
22:44Being so tall was my thing because I couldn't get away with it. In those days you weren't allowed to
22:49wear civvies, you had to wear uniform, so it was obvious, you know, what it was.
22:54And the same old rigmarole going into a pub and people wanting to give you a pint after pint, and
22:59it's, it's really, it's really something.
23:04But they meant well. There's no, nothing, but they meant well, and it was nice, but you had to say
23:11to them, look, I can't do all that, you know, I've only come in for a pint and then I'm
23:15away.
23:16Bill left the army, but civilian life brought new problems, and in 1972 he had to sell his medal.
23:23I had a family then, when I came out, I finally came out, and we were left an old cottage.
23:30And the old cottage, I did my best, you know, pointing, re-cementing, anything like that, but we had a
23:34faulty roof, and I had five children, six children by then.
23:39So the roof click gave in, so I had to have money to do this. So I sold my medals,
23:45I went up to London, and I got money for it and repaired the roof, and I thought that was
23:49a good way to, to do it, because we were struck for cash and things like that.
23:55But the medal, the medal served a good, good purpose, you know.
23:59In time, Bill Speakman's medal was acquired by his regiment, and is displayed at Edinburgh Castle.
24:07Since 1986, the Ashcroft Collection has sought to buy VCs whenever they appear on the market.
24:14Medals, which might otherwise have disappeared to the four corners of the globe, have been kept together in the UK.
24:21I never expected that 20 years later, I would be able to look at a collection of 142 Victoria Crosses.
24:32I would now like to be able to find a permanent home for the whole of the exhibition, so that
24:39all can enjoy this collection that has given me so much pleasure over the years.
24:45There will be a real sense of pride in being able to have this as the centre of excellence for
24:54bravery in the United Kingdom.
24:58Borneo 1965. The newly formed British-backed Federation of Malaysia is at war with Indonesia.
25:05The disputed territory is a part of Borneo known as Sarawak.
25:11The 10th Gurkha Rifles are deployed.
25:15Renowned for their bravery, Gurkhas have fought in the British Army for 200 years.
25:20Since World War I, 15 Gurkhas have gained the Victoria Cross.
25:25Lance Corporal Rambahadur Limbu was about to join the number.
25:3121st November 1965, in Sarawak.
25:45It was four in the morning and still dark when we got near the enemy camp.
25:53It had been decided by the powers that be in Borneo that we needed to capture an Indonesian alive and
26:01well and in order to question him about what was going on and what they were up to.
26:05Around the back here was all jungle, which is very difficult to get through, very noisy and just unpleasant stuff.
26:17In order to get through, we had bought in from England plain garden secateurs and these, we carried these, every
26:26man carried these in order to cut through secondary jungle so that one could do it quietly.
26:34As we got to the second barrier, the Indonesian came out exactly what we wanted.
26:43One of the enemy woke up. He came near, but did not see us.
27:01We opened fire and killed him.
27:11As soon as I saw his blood, my own blood began to boil.
27:16I swore that the enemy would pay for this with their blood.
27:18I swore.
27:32The enemy would blow his blood.
27:32By this stage, I think he had probably completely lost his temper at his two men being killed.
27:39Then enemy, under the fire, bullets my friend, a gun-1 in the stomach.
27:51He's crying.
27:57I won't leave.
28:00Just killed me.
28:01I am very dangerous injured.
28:05I killed me, he said to my friend.
28:09I'm going to rescue him.
28:17Go one day, go to the warden, go help!
28:36He was heavy, and it was difficult.
28:40He picked up one chap, brought him back, then went and picked up the second one and brought
28:46him back, during which time he was constantly in fire and being shot at by the Indonesian.
28:52Quite how he didn't get wounded, I absolutely didn't get hit, I've got absolutely no idea.
29:00I made my own tea with the water left in my water bottle, but no one came near me.
29:06I wondered why not.
29:08It was only in the light that I realized I was covered in blood, intestines, and human
29:14skin, and my pouches were full of the same stuff.
29:19For his selfless action in rescuing his men, and his sustained courage under fire, Ram Bahadur
29:26Limbu was awarded the Victoria Cross.
29:30To people outside the palace, especially to a few Gurkhas, the investiture day hero was
29:35Lance Corporal Ram Bahadur Limbu, to whom the Queen had presented the VC.
29:39His five-year-old son, Bhakta, was too bewildered to understand.
29:44The boy's father, by heroism in Sarawak, added his name to the bravest of the brave.
29:52Because of his VC, Ram Bahadur Limbu commands great respect in his native Nepal.
30:01Whereas Australians, like Keith Payne, who earned his VC in Vietnam, had years of playing
30:07down the achievement because the war was unpopular.
30:10We did go through a period, in Australia anyhow, where war and Vietnam, because of the moratorium
30:19bit, politics, wasn't to be mentioned in school, and we the serving people of the nation couldn't
30:28wear the nation's uniform out in the street because we'd get abused and all the rest of
30:32that sort of thing. So there was a period in there that the results and the decorations
30:40that were earned in that particular campaign weren't heard about.
30:56Vietnam, a war fought on TV. It is believed that public pressure, fuelled by graphic material
31:03on the networks, influenced America's ultimate withdrawal. Yet war is war. The Victoria Cross
31:10is given not for victory, but for the nature of the act of courage itself, regardless of the circumstances.
31:17Although no British soldier fought in Vietnam, Australians did, serving both in regular units
31:24and as advisers. The Australian Army Training Team had a unique task to train, advise and lead a variety
31:33of Vietnamese forces. Keith Payne commanded a company of Montagnards, the indigenous people of Vietnam.
31:42On May 24th, 1969, his company was heavily attacked by North Vietnamese troops. Soon, Payne's outnumbered
31:52and inexperienced force was pinned down and in disarray.
31:56The grenades were going down everywhere and so we had to get over into that area and do a somewhat
32:04tactical withdrawal. A somewhat tactical withdrawal.
32:10Directly exposing himself to the enemy's fire, Warrant Officer Payne temporarily held off the assaults by
32:17by alternately firing his weapon and running from position to position, collecting grenades and throwing them at the enemy.
32:23While doing this, he was wounded in the hands and the arms.
32:28I knew that my weapon had been knocked out of my hand at the first instant because it hit the
32:33weapon and banged it away.
32:35There was plenty around the place. I picked up another one and went on with it.
32:41But I didn't know that I'd also been hit in the head at the time.
32:44And that was a lump of wood, believe it or not.
32:49It was.
32:50So it was a wooden piece of shrapnel.
32:55It came off the tree, the rocket hit the tree and knocked the tree around and bedded on the top
33:01of my head
33:03and skidded along my hard old skull.
33:06And I didn't know that that had happened until I had blood all over my face
33:11and then I wasn't going to touch the top of my head.
33:12I thought, hello, this might be a little bit serious here.
33:18Payne went out repeatedly under fire to rescue his scattered men.
33:23He brought 40 of them safely back.
33:26A perilous task when most of the company, including himself, were wounded.
33:33You don't know for a while until things start to hurt.
33:38As the time wears on, you can't stop the blood from flowing a little bit.
33:45And, of course, it's flowing pretty freely that day to age now.
33:48The adrenaline's right up and it's very hot and the blood's thin and you're going.
33:55For his numerous acts of unselfish bravery,
33:59Keith Payne was awarded the Victoria Cross in September 1969.
34:06After Vietnam, he became a specialist in post-traumatic stress counselling
34:11for soldiers emerging from conflict.
34:17It was 13 years before the next two Victoria Crosses were awarded
34:21when a British task force was sent to the Falkland Islands
34:25to reclaim them from the invading Argentinians.
34:29Both VCs were in the parachute regiment.
34:32Lieutenant Colonel H. Jones and Sergeant Ian Mackay.
34:37Okay, let's go.
34:40On the night of June the 11th, Ian Mackay was part of a reconnaissance mission
34:45on the Argentinian-held Mount Longdon.
34:51I've never known a more bleak, windswept or wet place in my life.
34:55The wind blows constantly, but it's cooling rather than drying.
35:02This is an excerpt from one of the last letters that he wrote.
35:06It's actually dated as being sent on the 11th of June,
35:10which is the part of the day that he was given as being killed.
35:17And he starts off, Mum, Dad,
35:19sorry this is a bit scruffy, but the bottom of a hole in the ground
35:23might not be the cleanest part of the island,
35:26but it is the safest.
35:28Mind you, things are very much quieter now than for some time.
35:30Things are very much quieter now than for some time.
35:32And finding things to occupy our time is now a problem.
35:38The stealthy reconnaissance turned into a firefight
35:41when a member of the platoon stepped on a landmine.
36:07Iain Mackay was now in command of a 15-man platoon
36:11that was pinned down by an Argentinian machine gun.
36:21It was clear that instant action was needed if the advance was not to falter
36:25and increasing casualties to ensue.
36:28Sergeant Mackay decided to attack in order to eliminate the enemy position.
36:33Taking three men with him, he broke cover and charged the enemy.
36:38The assault was met by a hail of fire.
36:55Iain Mackay did silence the Argentinian gun,
36:59but in his moment of victory he was shot and killed.
37:03Apart from that bit of grousing, things aren't too bad.
37:06Things should be over one way or another in a week or so.
37:11You will probably be reading this with hindsight.
37:14All my love to you all, Iain.
37:19Iain's courage was a physical courage that came from, I believe,
37:24the training that he'd received as a soldier.
37:28The ability to do his best for what he was meant to do.
37:36It would be 22 years before another VC was awarded
37:40to an armoured vehicle driver in Iraq in 2004.
37:48Alamara, an ambush.
37:50Under attack, platoon commander Richard Dean, known as the boss.
37:55Company Sergeant Major Dave Faulkner
37:57and 24-year-old Private Johnson Bahari, soon to become Bahari VC.
38:07Ambushes are often signalled by emptiness on the streets.
38:11May the 1st seems more ominously quiet than usual
38:14as a convoy headed by Bahari's warrior comes to a barricade.
38:20It was in Alamara that Private Johnson Bahari won his Victoria Cross
38:26driving a warrior, mechanised infantry combat vehicle.
38:29Something which he had a real style for.
38:32The warrior runs on caterpillar tracks like a tank
38:36and carries three or four soldiers in the back.
38:40A commander and a gunner sit in the turret and the driver sits below.
38:46Johnson was an exceptional driver.
38:50Driving a warrior from Camp Abu Naji on the outside of Alamara
38:54to Simic House, which is the centre of provincial government in the centre.
38:59And on his way through, the warrior was ambushed
39:02and hit repeatedly by RPGs.
39:05He'd get hit. So I called up to the boss and I said,
39:07boss, what happened?
39:09And I didn't get no response.
39:13So I moved forward just about a metre and a half.
39:18Then I get hit again.
39:20To be honest, that's quite nearly the last thing I remember.
39:23I just remember an awful flash, an awful bang, an awful lot of heat.
39:29And falling back down inside the water.
39:32The fourth time I called onto the boss and asked, what's happening?
39:36Salmi said to me, that's the gunner.
39:38He said, leave the boss alone, he's dead.
39:43He's frantically trying to get communications with the commander.
39:45He can hear some screams upstairs and that's probably Private Samuels
39:49who's burning where it's on fire.
39:52Mr. Dean's obviously unconscious or in and out of consciousness.
39:55I couldn't hear anything over the radio, like with the rest of the, the Platoon.
40:01And I think that's when I decided, well, either stay here and get hit by RPG or...
40:06Now RPGs are familiar from television documentaries.
40:10They're, they're, they're pineapple like things on sticks.
40:13And at close range, they are pretty effective and they, they rock a warrior on its chassis.
40:22Cautiously, Bahari edged around the obstacle, but encountered a landmine directly in front of him.
40:29Hesitation would be fatal. He took a chance and drove over it.
40:34Luck was on his side. It didn't explode.
40:38He drove on through a blizzard of these things and small arms fire.
40:43And I can't begin to tell you in a town like Al-Amarah, which is, which is the Iraqi world
40:47into the Wild West,
40:48how much guts that takes, getting hammered from every window and every road intersection, got his objective.
40:57Um, but from my point of view, the really brave thing is that, you know, he'd already been wounded getting
41:01that far.
41:03He then stopped under fire, gone out of the vehicle with rounds pinging off the side of it and got
41:09everybody out.
41:10And the first person I saw was Mr. Dean, right down inside the turret.
41:15And I touched him on top of the head on the helmet. I said, boss, boss.
41:19I didn't get no response.
41:21So straight away, I just lean over and hold him by his helmet with one hand and pull him up.
41:28I don't know how I'd done it. I don't think I could be able to do it now, but at
41:33the time I'd done it.
41:35I wasn't scared. I wasn't thinking about my safety. I was just thinking about the guys, you know, getting them
41:43out of the burning vehicle.
41:44When I get everyone out, the company commander said to me, follow me with the vehicle on fire.
41:54At the end of it, I took his helmet, which had a bullet round, stuck into the bullet from an
42:01AK-47 of some description, stuck in to the helmet and had just pierced the inner lining, but thankfully not
42:08gone through it.
42:09But Harry quickly discharged himself from hospital. A month later, his warrior was ambushed again.
42:15This time, an RPG detonated just six inches from Johnson's head, resulting in a serious injury.
42:25I was screaming at Johnson to move to get out of the killing area.
42:29And he actually replied, OK boss, and the warrior started to slowly move backwards and then gathered up speed.
42:37So we got back out of the killing area, kept reversing until we actually had a house to stop.
42:44And I thought that's odd, like Johnson's usually very careful here.
42:48There was no response, there was no movement, there was no reply at all.
42:53At that stage, I thought, there's something wrong here.
42:57Despite receiving a serious head injury, through his actions, Private Bahari saved the lives of his crew.
43:04He displayed repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour in the face of relentless enemy action.
43:14For services in Iraq, the Victoria Cross.
43:19I was first in line, I didn't want to go because I didn't want to be the one making a
43:24mistake.
43:25So I said, no, I don't want to go first.
43:28They said, well, too bad, you have to.
43:35I went forward, turned bow to the Queen and walked forward.
43:47She was pinning the medal on me, and she said to me, the first thing she said, you're a very
43:56special person.
43:57But I didn't hear what she said.
43:59So I was just standing there, just looking at her.
44:01She's speaking really soft.
44:03And then she said it again.
44:05And I just smiled.
44:07It was a day to remember.
44:16The medal is an honour.
44:20But I waited with pride, knowing you represent the guys that are alive today.
44:28And because of them, I weighed that medal.
44:31I couldn't do it all by myself.
44:34Would you go back, Johnson?
44:36I would if I could.
44:38I wish I was with them now.
44:41But Johnson can never return to active service.
44:44His head injuries have left him with intense pain.
44:48And a soldier with brain damage is not allowed to drive.
44:53It was Winston Churchill who said that medals didn't just glitter, they cast a shadow.
44:59And I think the Victoria Cross, perhaps, casts the heaviest shadow of all.
45:06Because it changes a person's life.
45:09Rambahado Limbaugh got one in Malaya.
45:12I got my career, then Bihari was the latest one.
45:15So now he must take his share of all the, you know, what you people post.
45:19It is a lot of pressure on me.
45:22Because everyone look at me as this great person, I've done something great.
45:29And I have to live up to that.
45:31My old CEO said to me, he said, well, you got a cross to bear it well.
45:36And I didn't know what he meant then, but Bihari, I do now.
45:40Yeah.
45:41They forgot the person I was, I used to go clubbing every night and never used to be home.
45:45And, you know, they don't see that side of life.
45:48But now if I go clubbing and they see me in the wrong place, they will talk about it.
45:54But it's things I used to do before.
45:55It's just, it's a different image now.
45:59He's got to learn to live with it like we all learn to.
46:01That's true.
46:02That's true.
46:03tahu
46:30Do
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