Gallantry awards for New Zealand Soldiers

The Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark announced today that The Queen has conferred the following New Zealand Gallantry Awards on four members of the New Zealand Special Air Service:

The Victoria Cross for New Zealand has been awarded to Corporal Bill (Willy) Apiata.

The New Zealand Gallantry Decoration has been awarded to two members of the New Zealand Special Air Service.

The New Zealand Gallantry Medal has been awarded to one member of the New Zealand Special Air Service.

The Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, said awards of this nature were a great honour and highlight the calibre of New Zealand Defence Force personnel.

“Today’s announcement is an incredibly proud moment for New Zealand, the New Zealand Defence Force, and the NZSAS. All four recipients have shown incredible strength of character in adverse conditions and embody the ethos and values of the New Zealand Defence Force. ”

The Victoria Cross is the highest recognition for gallantry that can be awarded to members of the armed forces of Commonwealth countries.

Corporal Apiata’s award is the first Victoria Cross for New Zealand to be awarded and the first to a serving member of the SAS anywhere in the Commonwealth.

Corporal Apiata has been awarded the VC for showing the highest order of courage under fire. The citation for the award details how Corporal Apiata, while under heavy fire, rescued a critically injured soldier in total disregard for his own life. He carried his wounded comrade to a safe location where the injured man could receive life-saving medical attention. Corporal Apiata then re-armed himself and joined the counter-attack which eventually saw the attacking forces repelled.

“The strength of the NZDF is founded on the actions of its personnel. The actions of Corporal Apiata and the other three recipients add to this rich heritage. They exhibited the true spirit of our core values of courage, commitment, integrity and comradeship,” Lieutenant General Mateparae said.

For operational security reasons no further details will be released on recipients of The New Zealand Gallantry Decoration and The New Zealand Gallantry Medal.

ENDS

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