Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Sold by Order of The Recipient

“To say that I am full of admiration for your gallantry, courage and initiative is an understatement. You are an outstanding credit to the Mercian Regiment, of which I have the great privilege to be Colonel-in-Chief. You are also an immense credit to this country of ours which is, without doubt, more fortunate than it realises in having such dedicated people as yourself serving in our armed forces.”

(Prince Charles in a letter to the recipient, 17 April 2010)

The outstanding ‘Afghanistan 2009’ Conspicuous Gallantry Cross group of eight awarded to Colour Sergeant A. G. Dennis, 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment (Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters), who, having been severely wounded by a roadside bomb in Helmand on his first tour of Afghanistan in 2007, battled his way back to fitness and returned to Afghanistan in 2009, where he was again wounded, this time in a protracted firefight by a rocket propelled grenade - In spite of his wounds he continued to fire his rifle with his one good arm and was the last to leave the fire support position, refusing morphine so as not to dull his senses

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, E.II.R., reverse officially inscribed ‘Sgt. A. G. Dennis, Mercian, 25042613’ reverse lower arm officially dated ‘2010’; NATO Medal, clasp, Former Yugoslavia; General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (25042613 Pte., WFR); Operational Service Medal, clasp, Afghanistan (25042613 Cpl., WFR); Jubilee 2002; Jubilee 2012; Accumulated Campaign Service Medal 2011 (25042613 Pte., WFR); Regular Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (Sgt., C.G.C., Mercian, 25042613) mounted court style as worn, nearly extremely fine (8) £80000-100000

The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was instituted as a result of the 1993 review of the British honours system and is second in seniority only to the Victoria Cross. The C.G.C. was awarded for the first time as a result of the Bosnian War in 1995 and to date 58 such awards have been made, including one awarded collectively to the Ulster Defence Regiment.

C.G.C. London Gazette 19 March 2010.

The original recommendation states:

‘Sergeant Dennis was second in command of an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team which was deployed to conduct a joint patrol with Warriors [native Afghan soldiers] of the Afghanistan National Army. Whilst patrolling the Helmand River Valley they were ambushed by small arms fire and Rocket Propelled Grenades. Dennis found himself with three other British soldiers and half of the ANA returning fire, before ordering them to break into a compound to establish a fire support position. Looking around, Dennis realised that the ANA were close to breaking and without hesitation he ran into the area of conflict and grabbed an ANA Warrior, propelling him to a safe position before repeating this action for a second time.

On the third run, he heard a 'whoosh' and turned as a RPG exploded three metres in front of him. Although the fragmentation missed him, Dennis was hurled through the air by the blast and into a ditch. For a few seconds he was unconscious and when he came to his left arm hung uselessly by his side and he was in intense pain. Undeterred, Dennis fought on, moving back to the fire support position where he used a radio to send a contact report.

The enemy then attempted to outflank the position and Dennis spotting the movement organised a counter-attack. As enemy pressure mounted Dennis fired his rifle with his one good arm whilst attempting to re-establish contact with the other half of his unit. Dennis was last to leave the fire support position and refused morphine so as not to dull his senses, or create a burden for his team. At the Patrol Base he refused treatment until all soldiers were safely inside and accounted for. Dennis's fighting spirit when severely wounded was outstanding and inspired others. His example and initiative brought the ANA into the battle which saved the patrol from defeat. He was calm and collected under intense fire, displaying cool courage.’

The award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross to Sergeant Dennis has been widely reported in the popular press, but no better account of the actual action has been written than the following piece by Colour Sergeant Mike Saunders, also of the 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment, which was published on the internet at the time on ‘Front Line Bloggers (The Helmand Blog)’:

‘The many battles that your soldiers find themselves in are not the subject of mainstream news, yet for those who are - ‘the line in the sand’, they are very real and equally deadly. Daily these men rise in the knowledge that conflict is almost a certainty and that injury or worse are not a distant concept but a close reality.

One such individual and a good friend of mine is Alan Dennis who you may have seen in the news after he escaped near fatal consequences for the second time and has been injured as a result of insurgent action on this and the previous tour.

Al from first impressions does not strike you as a man of courage and strong leadership, that said I couldn’t tell you what a person with those qualities would look like, although the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment has several. A Senior Sergeant of good standing, Al has proved himself under fire on a number of occasions including the incident I would like to relay to you in this blog. A modest family man, quiet and unassuming Al is known to most - and liked by all.

On our tour of the Helmand province in 2007 Al was badly injured in an incident that left a good friend and member of the Battalion dead. His recovery and determination to get back to work with his mates was nothing short of exceptional. Having spoken to Al about that incident, it is amazing to me that he would fight so hard and for so long to put himself back to a deployable level of fitness. A lesser man would perhaps attempt to avoid the current deployment and in his case would not be blamed for doing so.

But Al is not that person, to my knowledge he never entertained the thought that others would go in his stead and this is typical of his type, in that he would never have another soldier do something he would not do himself and he would hate his Platoon to deploy without him into danger of any kind.

On the morning of his latest incident Al was again in charge of a patrol in a territory hotly contested by the insurgents of that area. Such areas are a mixture of open sand covered expanses that are broken up by high walled compounds designed to keep herds and harvested crops in and intruders out.

The walls of these compounds are made from age hardened mud and are virtually impenetrable. It is very easy to become disorientated in these areas as pretty much everything looks similar. There are few tracks that even resemble roads in these areas and movement is often restricted to moving on foot. This presents its own security problems and calls for a high degree of control and communication.

The twisting narrow streets if they can be classed as such are pre-disposed to ambush by small, heavily armed groups of insurgents who choose the ground in advance, fire on the friendly forces and attempt to extract themselves before they can be out flanked and killed or captured. Unfortunately there is little option but to patrol these areas and in doing so the troops put themselves in danger time and time again.

While patrolling on what seemed a perfectly routine day the troops very suddenly found themselves caught in a wave of enemy fire as they had walked into the insurgent ambush killing area. In an ambush every instinct and fibre in your body tells you to go back but it is often the case that this is the most dangerous thing to do.

Any insurgent worth his salt will attempt to seal any ambush exits with deadly rifle fire, so conventional wisdom is to try and fight through to break free. Sitting at my table in the light this is easy to say, however, on the ground with rounds flying past your head it takes an iron will to grip the situation and lead your troops to safety.

The patrol is now firing at the insurgents in an attempt to pin them sufficiently to allow them enough movement to escape the ambush. Conventionally this means you have to fire more rounds at your enemy than he can at you, thereby forcing him into taking cover. This, however, must be balanced by the urgent need to conserve precious ammunition as there is no time limit on an engagement with the insurgent forces.

It does not take Al and his troops long to earn a brief lull in battle and they use this to gain entry by force into a compound. Once inside they take precious seconds to take stock of their situation which is grim. Still under fire they are now virtually cut off and the insurgents are moving around them in an effort to surround the patrol. At this time Al is given scant seconds to radio a situation report to his headquarters, tell them what is going on and what he intends to do about it. Clearly all efforts will be made to assist the patrol but this will take time and it is time they have not got.

Murphy’s Law states “that if anything can go wrong it will” and this maxim holds true even in Afghanistan. Barely has Al appraised his superiors when disaster happens. As he tries to move forward with an Afghan soldier, in an attempt to stop them being a static and therefore easier target, a rocket propelled grenade strikes the ground only meters ahead of Al. When the smoke and dust clears he finds himself partially buried and having felt a sharp pain and heard a loud snap believes he has shattered his arm.

Now almost fully pinned down by a force of insurgents determined to overrun the patrol Al has seconds to decide his and his troop’s next actions, while he has been on the floor injured his troops have been frantically trying to find another way to exit the compound that initially seemed like a refuge but is quickly becoming a trap. Eventually one of his troops finds and kicks through a door leading to a track that may facilitate extraction.

Still fully in command and still engaging the insurgents as they appear with one arm, Al and his troops fight desperately out of the compound and continue to fight until the insurgents eventually give up and allow them to break clean.

After this engagement the troops fought all the way back to their patrol base from which Al would eventually be flown out injured but glad that he was able to escape the clutches of the determined insurgent force with the lives of all of his men. Many others distinguished themselves that day and it was the aggression of the Infantry soldier, his determination and his refusal to be beaten that won the day.’

Alan has spent the last five years recovering from the physical and psychological scars brought about as a result of the wounds he received in Afghanistan. For him it has been a long road to recovery. He left the army in September this year after 20 years service and is ‘looking forward to a new start with his family away from the military.’

Sold with an unopened bottle of Highgrove Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Bottle No. 194, Distilled 27.06.94, Bottled 2008) which was presented to him by Prince Charles and the following archive of original documentation:

i. Original copy of C.G.C. recommendation, printed on ‘Restricted Honours’ headed paper.

ii. Letter of congratulation from Prince Charles, on Birkhall headed notepaper, dated 17 April 2010 and signed ‘Charley’:

‘Having heard the splendid news of the award of your Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. I just wanted to write and send you my most heartfelt congratulations. After reading your citation, it is clear that your selfless actions during a particular ambush, but no doubt throughout the tour, were absolutely crucial in preventing loss of life to your comrades and, indeed, saved the lives of others.

To say that I am full of admiration for your gallantry, courage and initiative is an understatement. You are, if I may say so, an outstanding credit to the Mercian Regiment, of which I have the great privilege to be Colonel-in-Chief. You are also an immense credit to this country of ours which is, without doubt, more fortunate than it realises in having such dedicated people as yourself serving in our armed forces.’

iii. Letter of congratulation from Brigadier A. R. D. Sharpe, OBE, Mercian Regiment, dated 30 March 2010:

‘... The Battalion had a hugely demanding tour, and you all conducted yourselves with great credit - but a C.G.C. is only awarded in the most exceptional of circumstances to the most exceptional of people. We all hope that we will be capable of acts of valour when we are faced with the toughest challenges - You do not need to hope or to wonder: You have proved beyond question that you have what it takes in spades.’

I know from the Brigade Commander and the C.O. that the Battalion has left a considerable impression on the A.N.A. - an impression of tough, professional fighting men, setting the highest standards. The only way that Afghanistan will pull itself up by the boot-straps is by taking responsibility for its own security. the fighting courage, determination and leadership that you showed in combat will have left an indelible impression upon them - and that is the very essence of what we are in Afghanistan for.’

iv. Letter of congratulation from General Sir David Richards, KCB, VBE, DSO, dated 18 March 2010.

v. Letter of congratulation from General Sir Peter Wall, KCB, CBE, dated 19 March 2010.

vi. Letter of congratulation from Brigadier S. R. Skeates, CBE, H.Q. 19 Light Brigade, dated 19 March 2010.

vii. Letter of congratulation from Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, KCB, CBE, dated 19 March 2010.

viii. Letter of congratulation from Lieutenant Colonel S. J. Banton, OBE, dated 22 March 2010

ix. Letter of congratulation from Captain R. J. Agnew, Mercian Regiment, dated 19 March 2010.

x. Two newspaper articles relating to the award of the C.G.C. to Sergeant Dennis.