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Palace honours battalion soldiers Palace honours battalion soldiers
(about 1 hour later)
Lt Col Banton has acted as a senior mentor to the Afghan armyLt Col Banton has acted as a senior mentor to the Afghan army
Eight members of a Midlands army battalion are being honoured at Buckingham Palace. Eight members of a Midlands Army battalion are being honoured at Buckingham Palace.
Three soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment are being awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, while four will receive the Military Cross.Three soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment are being awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, while four will receive the Military Cross.
Lt Col Simon Banton, the former commanding officer, will become an OBE for his work mentoring the Afghan army. Lt Col Simon Banton, the former commanding officer, will become an OBE for his work as the Army's chief mentor to the Afghan forces.
After three tours in five years, the unit is one of the most experienced in Afghanistan-based operations. The unit is one of the most experienced in Afghanistan-based operations.
Last year, during what the Army described as a "violent summer" in Helmand province, Lt Col Banton acted as chief mentor to a brigade of the Afghan National Army - one of the battalion's main roles. One of its main roles is to train and advise the Afghan National Army and it has completed three tours of duty in the last five years, losing five soldiers during its last tour in the summer of 2009.
Among those receiving Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses is Sgt Marc Giles from Nottingham, who ran across open ground to rescue a casualty after the patrol was ambushed by the Taliban.
He later co-ordinated the patrol's defence while under fire, and despite having been blown off his feet by a bomb blast.
'Ferocious fire''Ferocious fire'
Among those receiving Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses is Sgt Marc Giles, from Nottingham, who ran across open ground to rescue a casualty after the patrol was ambushed by the Taliban.
He later co-ordinated the patrol's defence while under fire, and despite having been blown off his feet by a bomb blast.
Sgt Alan Dennis, from Melbourne in Derbyshire, and L/Cpl Kyle Smith, from Nottingham, are also being awarded gallantry crosses.Sgt Alan Dennis, from Melbourne in Derbyshire, and L/Cpl Kyle Smith, from Nottingham, are also being awarded gallantry crosses.
Major Neil Grant, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, Capt Edward Brown, from Tenbury in Worcester, Pte Alexander Kennedy, of Bromsgrove, also Worcestershire, and Cpl Craig Adkin, a medic, will receive Military Crosses. Major Neil Grant, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, Capt Edward Brown, from Tenbury in Worcestershire, Pte Alexander Kennedy, of Bromsgrove, also Worcestershire, and Cpl Craig Adkin, a medic, will receive Military Crosses.
Pte Kennedy, who administered first aid to a colleague while under "ferocious small arms fire" has been praised by superiors, who said his actions were "all the more impressive from a private soldier with six months' experience in the Army".Pte Kennedy, who administered first aid to a colleague while under "ferocious small arms fire" has been praised by superiors, who said his actions were "all the more impressive from a private soldier with six months' experience in the Army".
Five members of the battalion - which recruits from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire - were killed and 20 seriously wounded during the last tour of duty in 2009. The battalion, which recruits from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire, was formed from the Staffords and the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters in 2007.
The regiment was formed from the Staffords and the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters in 2007.