New Zealand SAS trooper awarded VC.

Chief of the General Staff (CGS) General Sir Richard Dannatt has written a letter of congratulations to a New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) soldier recently awarded the Commonwealth's highest military honour for an exemplary act of bravery while on operations in Afghanistan.

Corporal Apiata with his new ribbon bar.

Lieutenant Colonel James Blackwell pins on Corporal Apiata's new ribbon bar.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark announced on Monday 2 July 2007 that Corporal Bill (Willy) Apiata would receive the Victoria Cross for New Zealand (VC), the first to be awarded to a New Zealander since WWII, for saving the life of a critically injured soldier during an intense fire fight in Afghanistan in 2004.

The citation tells how, then Lance Corporal, Apiata and his troop came under attack from around 20 enemy fighters in an early morning raid. During the initial attack one of Lance Corporal Apiata's comrades was critically injured. Initial attempts at first aid were unsuccessful and the soldier lapsed in and out of consciousness suffering from an arterial bleed in his leg.

With total disregard of his own safety, Lance Corporal Apiata stood up and lifted his comrade, carrying him across the seventy metres of broken, rocky and fire swept ground, fully exposed in the glare of battle to heavy enemy fire and into the face of returning fire from the main Troop position. Having delivered his wounded companion to relative shelter with the remainder of the patrol, Lance Corporal Apiata re-armed himself and rejoined the counter-attack.

Source MOD.

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