Hero who took on 8 Taliban at once
Sniper sells medals for £140k
A SCOTTISH soldier who took on eight Taliban fighters during an ambush is selling his collection of medals for £140,000.
Colour Sergeant Alwyn John Stevens led a team of six men who clashed with the enemy force in the Gereshk Valley, Afghanistan, in September 2008.
As he approached a compound, he was confronted by the insurgents who targeted him with heavy fire.
Showing a complete disregard for his safety, the 42-year-old sniper charged at the enemy while ‘shooting from the hip’, killing two and wounding another.
His fearlessness forced the rest of the fighters to retreat, allowing for the other members of his team to join him in the compound. After the position was seized, he led his men in another assault, throwing grenades which ‘overwhelmed’ the enemy.
After three hours of fierce fighting, he successfully extricated his men from the danger area, staying behind to cover their withdrawal.
The Scot was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) for his ‘extraordinary courage, selflessness and leadership’.
Colour Sergeant Stevens, of the Royal Irish Regiment, qualified as a sniper in 2006 and became a sniper platoon commander in 2014. He retired from the Army last month after a 22-year career, during which he completed tours of Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland.
The soldier, originally from
Inverness, is selling his medals for an estimated £120,000 to £140,000 to raise funds to start a property development business.
Adam Chapman, medal specialist at auctioneer Duke’s, of Dorchester, Dorset, which is selling the medals, said: ‘What Colour Sergeant Stevens did that day was astonishingly brave. It is a true privilege to be involved in the sale – in terms of numbers awarded, the CGC is rarer than the Victoria Cross.’
Colour Sergeant Stevens later said of his action: ‘We came under heavy enemy fire from three different sides and they were moving to surround us, so I took a team and pushed out to the flank and managed to engage them before they engaged us.
‘When you’re in a situation like that, the training kicks in and you just deal with it and forget about everything else.’
Colour Sergeant Stevens’s medals consist of the CGC; Northern Ireland; Sierra Leone; Iraq; Afghanistan; Diamond Jubilee; Accumulated Campaign Service Medal and Army Long Service Good Conduct Medal.
The sale takes place at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, on November 6.