Courage Under Fire
This is an unusual story of bravery in Afghanistan that is both surprising and inspiring – Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt of the Royal Navy, at age 20, standing a tall five-foot-nothing, winning the Military Cross.
It happened in Helmand province last March, when she was attached as a medic with 3 Commando Brigade and her unit was ambushed.
A corporal (John List) went down when a bullet ricocheted off his flak jacket into his jaw and out his neck. “I thought this was it, that I was done,” he said later. “And then suddenly she was there.”
A medical assistant, Nesbitt acted instantly. Under heavy small arms and rocket fire, she raced some 70 meters across what was no-man’s-land to the wounded soldier who was gagging and drowning on his own blood. She opened another air passage to his lungs.
For some 45 minutes she worked on him, bullets zipping around her, while troops from the Commandos took on and routed the Taliban. A helicopter evacuated the wounded soldier.
Nesbitt later expressed astonishment that she’d been recommended for the MC. “I didn’t think in a million years anyone would notice me,” she said. “I was just doing my job, and I know if it had been me out there, they’d have been doing the same for me.”
At the investiture at Buckingham Palace, Prince Charles towered over the diminutive sailor as he pinned on her medal. It’s tempting to call Kate Nesbitt “perky,” but that’s what she seems to be - the first British navy woman to win the MC.
Her citation reads: “Under fire and under pressure her commitment and courage were inspirational and made the difference between life and death. She performed in the highest traditions of her service.”
Born in Plymouth in 1988, Kate joined the navy in 2005 when she was 17. Military service runs in the family – her two brothers are soldiers and her father was in the Royal Marines for 22 years until he retired as a color sergeant.
I stumbled on this story thanks to Vince Courtenay’s website. Until then, I hadn’t realized that the Military Cross, which used to be awarded to junior officers for acts of bravery on the battlefield, can now be won by non-commissioned ranks for conspicuous acts of courage.
The Military Medal, which used to be awarded to non-commissioned ranks for acts of notable bravery, has been abandoned by the British since 1993 in the name of equivalency. All junior ranks are eligible for the MC.
Canadian Forces no longer award the MC or MM. Now, distinctive merit awards have been devised for Canadian forces, but as yet don’t carry quite the same prestige as the old British awards. Canada authorized its own Victoria Cross in 1993, with slight changes from the British version. Instead of “For Valour” that the British VC carries, Canada has the Latin “Pro Valore.”
As yet, no one has ever been awarded the Canadian VC.