Army officer to lose award for bravery
AN Army captain will be stripped of his Military Cross medal amid accusations that commanders exaggerated his actions.
Capt William Boreham received the gallantry award for rescuing a badly wounded comrade while “fighting off a deadly insurgent attack”, apparently coming under heavy fire from Taliban fighters.
But after concerns from other soldiers who had been on the September 2012 patrol in Afghanistan’s Hel- mand province, an investigation found there was little or no enemy fire at the time.
An inquiry is looking at officers in the chain of command who were involved in writing up his actions, but sources said Capt Boreham, then a lieutenant with 1st Bn, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, had been exonerated.
Army sources said there was no suggestion Capt Boreham, from Nantwich in Cheshire, embellished his own actions. The 35-year-old did not see the full citation until the medal had been awarded when he raised concerns about the way the incident was reported.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “As the matter is still being investigated the MoD does not wish to comment further.”