Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry
Upon returning from Herrick 9 and having some much-needed rest I went on the PSBC pre course. This is a two-week long course aimed at preparing soldiers for the PSBC. I was extremely happy to find out that I was the top candidate on the pre-course. I was determined to excel, I won everything and for 8 weeks I made sure I was top, I went the extra mile and never faltered at any task given. I was resistant to the elements, to hunger and to the tiredness that fell due to the arduous nature of the course. At the end of the course we were all in the presentation room/cinema and they started to give out the awards, I’d finished 2nd overall and awarded a distinction. I was the first soldier ever from 1 Rifles to be awarded a distinction on PSBC. At that time, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I returned into camp and the RSM stood me up in front of the CPLs Mess and promoted me on the spot!’
Herrick 14 - CGC
Cutterham returned for his second tour of Afghanistan in 2011, and he provides the following account of the actions behind the award of his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross: ‘I was a multiple commander on active operations in charge of Check Point (CP) Leverette with A-COMPANY 1 Rifles. I was initially a multiple 2nd in command (2ic) but due to the death of one my closest friends and confidants Kevin Fortuna [on 23 May 2011] I was given a battlefield promotion and took over command of the multiple (12 men & women) and the check point.
I remember that morning [24 May 2011] with great clarity. I woke up and immediately felt like there was something wrong, the atmosphere was tense. I remember briefing the multiple just before setting out on the day’s patrol. I told them to be extra alert and vigilant. I didn’t want to unnerve them, but I did turn to my 2ic quietly and say can you feel the tension in the air, he replied to me ‘no mate it’s just another day another dollar’. I’ve always had a great sixth sense and I’ve always acted on it – I think this is the reason I’m still alive.
We set off on patrol and strangely there weren’t many people around, it felt like the locals knew something was about to happen, everyone apart from my multiple. I remember walking through a small choke point/bottleneck which was manned by a local farmer, he gave me a clear look as if to say ‘don’t walk that way’. As I turned onto the track, I could see local children playing on the track junction which led back up to my Check Point which signalled to me the track was clear. As I approached the junction to turn left I heard a shout which made the locals at the junction rapidly disperse into different directions, leaving my multiple exposed and open to attack. At this point, my multiple were in a heightened state of alertness. I am very in tune to my surroundings and felt ready to act upon whatever was about to happen. We turned left to head up the track back to the Check Point, it’s more like a double stream than a track with a small bank between them. It was then I heard a familiar ‘ping’ noise and knew exactly what it was, I looked up and in slow motion I could see a hand grenade which had been thrown from the other-side of the wall and landed roughly a metre in front of me. I liken the sensation to a wasp flying down your top and you can’t move quick enough to get that t-shirt off – only if the grenade explodes, it’s not just a sting, it’s the life of me and my team. I had seen exactly where it had landed but couldn’t see it in the stream, I quickly placed my hand in the water to search for it and placed my hand directly on the grenade, shouted ‘take cover’ and posted it into the adjacent stream. My soldiers took cover and then the grenade exploded taking out most of the banking and my protection.
Thankfully no one was injured, and we extracted from the killing area with no follow up from the enemy. A contact report was sent over the radio and we moved back to the Check Point. I’ve never completely recovered from that day as the level of stress I felt during and after the event was so extreme that my feet went semi-numb for three days after and I couldn’t speak properly for a full day. Nonetheless, my multiple and I survived that attack.
A few months later, once we had returned from Herrick 14, my CO called me into his office at 13.30. I was nervous, as I didn’t know why I was being called in, so stood to attention outside and was marched into the office by the RSM. As I marched in, I could see the CO standing in front of me, a bottle of Champagne to the left and another Officer to the right. I halted in front of the CO, he then saluted me told me that I have been awarded the CGC for my actions in Afghanistan and handed me a glass of Champagne. I was overcome with emotion, lots of memories of the tour flowed back, it was an extremely tough tour where I had lost friends and it was overwhelming to be recognised for my actions on the battlefield. Roughly a year later, I was presented with my medal at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles in front of my family. I will never forget it, truly to this day the proudest moment of my life.’
‘Airborne’
The above had taken place near Tabila Village, Nahr-e-Saraj District. Cutterham had an even closer brush with death later on the same tour: ‘This incident was the closest arguably I’ve ever came to death. I was given the dangerous task of resupplying our most Southern Check Point which was called Check Point Anar.
I hated doing this as there was only one route to take and resupply could only be achieved by the use of Bergans and quad bikes, this meant that we had to use a long, windy lane which had high walls and so it was impossible to isolate and make clear of danger. The way I got around travelling down the dangerous lane was to understand the atmospherics and to ask the local Mullah (religious figure) to escort me down to the Check Point. This provided me and my multiple a safe passage down to the Check Point while carrying out some ‘hearts and minds’ with the local Mullah. When I moved into the area it was like walking into a giant fridge, and again the atmospherics became tense and cold. There were less locals than normal at the edge of the lane but the local Mullah was there waiting for me and my multiple. This time he was very reluctant to take me down the lane, I noticed the locals starting to disperse, a key sign that something was about to happen. I told the Mullah ‘I’m going down anyway, it’s up to you if you want to come’. He then made a phone call and then decided to escort me. He was not happy but we still walked and talked. This time I made sure we took our time and cleared the lane to the best of our ability.
I remember looking through a gap in the wall and watching a man in a brown dish dash jump off the wall and behind it. I thought this was very strange because Afghanis in general do not move fast mainly because of the extreme heat. We then parted company with the Mullah and I then moved into the Check Point Anar. I expressed my concerns to the Operations room and the Check Point Commander, however the Battle Captain was putting extreme pressure on me to return the quad bike because he needed to resupply another Check Point. We had a quick turnaround at Check Point Anar and then left following further discussions between me and the Check Point Commander, we decided that I needed to approach the lane with extreme caution. I gave my multiple a detailed brief and we ran through the extraction plan in the event of an incident. We left the Check Point and patrolled to the entrance of the lane, as we approached there was a little boy on a bike looking directly at us. Immediately my lead scout told the boy to ‘stop!’. It was as if the young boy was recceing us for a more sinister plan. It turns out he was, we asked him some questions then asked him what route he was taking, at the same time the Battle Captain (an inexperienced TA captain) was pestering us about the quad bike and ETA. I was very aware that something wasn’t right and that we might be walking into an ambush, my sixth sense was screaming at me to stop. My lead scout told me he could clear the lane and get us back, I firmly told him NO and commanded him to turn around and walk back to me. At this point half my multiple were in the lane and I was being slightly distracted by the Battle Captain. At this point, the young boy sprinted off on his bike and shouted loudly. Shortly afterwards the Taliban detonated three command wire IEDs in the lane blowing me and my lead scout approximately 3 metres in the air and 15 metres backwards. The explosion was so powerful that it made me spit out blood, I can still see my lead scout flying towards me in slow motion and me flying backwards. We both quickly got up and went straight into our extraction drill, only problem we had was turning the quad bike around in the lane. I can still remember trying to pry the hands of the quad bike driver from the handlebars as he’d gone into shock, he was with us because he’d already had some pretty nasty experiences on tour already. I suppose it was just one too many and sadly I never saw him again after that (PTSD). Once we’d extracted we moved back to the Check Point Anar where we regrouped, gathered our thoughts and planned a safer route back. Just to paint you a picture we were 40 metres from the blast and had walked over those devices on the way down, if we had been walking at normal speed those IEDs would have vaporised everyone! This gives me chills just writing this.’
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