DIX NOONAN WEBB TO SELL OUTSTANDING ‘AFGHANISTAN 2013’ C.G.C. (CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY CROSS) GROUP - He confronted a party of insurgents who entered the base which resulted in a broken back and shrapnel fragments to his face -

The outstanding ‘Afghanistan 2013’ C.G.C. group of five awarded to Corporal Josh Griffiths, 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment, late Cheshire Regiment, will be offered by Dix Noonan Webb in their auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria on Wednesday, February 23, 2022. Corporal Griffiths who, having suffered a broken back and shrapnel fragments to his face in a bomb attack at Camp Folad, Helmand, Afghanistan in 2013, attended to other wounded men first despite his own debilitating injuries before confronting a party of insurgents which had entered the base throwing grenades and firing automatic weapons. The medals are estimated to fetch £100,000-120,000.

Dressed in light fatigues without protective equipment, Griffiths found a light machine-gun and engaged the enemy in a prolonged close range fire fight, thus allowing the wounded to be evacuated before leading an assault on the insurgents and clearing them from the base, only afterwards accepting medical treatment for his wounds, the seriousness of which necessitated his evacuation to the U.K.

Josh Griffiths from Eastham, Wirral, Merseyside joined the British Army in September 2006 at the age of 17. Having served previously in Afghanistan as well as Iraq and Northern Ireland, Griffiths was deployed with C Company (Cheshire), 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment to Afghanistan as part of Herrick 17 on October 6, 2012. He left the Army two weeks ago, at the age of 32, and is selling the medals to support his young family.

Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison (Associate Director), Dix Noonan Webb commented: “As Britain’s leading auctioneer for British gallantry awards we are pleased to be offering Cpl. Griffith’s CGC for sale so he can begin a new life outside the army and provide added financial security for his new young family. His CGC was for an act of outstanding bravery in counter attacking enemy insurgents who had broken through into their barracks when in Afghanistan in 2013 and which led to the enemy’s defeat and withdrawal from action despite Cpl. Griffiths being severely wounded which saw him immediately hospitalised back in the UK.”




On March 25, 2013 at ISAF Patrol Camp Folad, Nad-e Ali, Helmand, Afghanistan, Corporal Griffiths was 23 days from the end of his tour and preparing to eat his evening meal when a pick-up truck packed with half a tonne of explosives was driven by a suicide bomber through the wall of the base. The resulting explosion tore a 40m gap in the perimeter wall; it was the start of an attack that was to last for several hours. He recalled: “I was thrown around as well as everyone else and the next thing I remember it was dark and I was on my back. I heard one of the lads scream out.”

The cookhouse was utterly destroyed by the blast, as was the operations room. Griffiths’ back had been broken by the blast and grenade fragments were embedded in his face, just millimetres from his left eye. He was one of fifteen casualties (of whom one later died):
‘My first instinct was to see who was hurt and help. One of the lads was shouting that another was badly injured. We had to crawl through the debris in the dark to get him out... I heard one of the lads scream out, so I approached him and helped and then I climbed out of the tent to see if there were more casualties. When I did that, there were rounds snapping past and I thought, “That's a bit close.”

Still disorientated, dressed in a combat shirt and fatigues without protective equipment, he grabbed a light machine gun and leaving the collapsed cookhouse, he was immediately confronted with a group of insurgents inside the walls of the base launching grenades and assaulting his position with automatic weapons less than 50m from him and the other casualties.


The medals will be sold with a variety of letters and photographs including a letter of congratulation from H.R.H. Prince Charles and a photograph of the recipient receiving his C.G.C. from Prince Charles at the investiture held at Buckingham Palace on February 7, 2014.

FULL CATALOGUING IS AVAILABLE