Dodging enemy to save pals; Brave soldier tells of rescue mission Award for brave mechanic.Byline: Steve Bradley Steve Bradley is an American professional wrestler who has competed on North American independent promotions throughout the 1990s including East Coast Wrestling Association, IWA Puerto Rico and the National Wrestling Alliance as well as spending over three years World Wrestling A BRAVE Black Country soldier today told how he repeatedly dodged enemy fire to help his stricken comrades in Afghanistan. Craftsman Martin Banks was mentioned in Despatches for risking his life to help move a stricken armoured vehicle coming under mortar, rocket and small arms small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Early Small Arms The first small arms came into general use at the end of the 14th cent. fire from up to 15 enemy fighters. The 26-year-old dad-of-two, from Wolverhampton, made several trips between his own patrol vehicle and the broken-down Jackal, which had been left in full view of the insurgents. Cfn Banks, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME; pronounced phonetically as "Reemee") is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the , said: "As the only vehicle mechanic with the patrol, I ran across to the Jackal and, after an inspection, could see the front left and front rear drive shaft drive shaft also drive·shaft n. A rotating shaft that transmits mechanical power from a motor or an engine to a point or region of application. had both snapped, disabling the vehicle. "I began to remove the front drive shaft to recover the vehicle. "The enemy could see we were having trouble and began to hit us harder with indirect fire, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. "We returned fire and, while all this was happening, I continued to do my work under the vehicle." Despite his best efforts, he could not get the vehicle moving, so Cfn Banks drove his vehicle across to the Jackal and towed it to a safe location before carrying out more repairs to get it moving. The drama happened in February, during Cfn Banks's first operational tour, serving as a vehicle mechanic with 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards in Helmand province. The award citation said: "Banks's raw courage, disregard for his own safety and skill as a mechanic was instrumental in enabling the patrol to extract from an increasingly dangerous situation." Cfn Banks said: "I am very proud and honoured to be getting this award. I see it as recognition for what I and everyone else did out there during our tour." The former Wednesfield High School pupil is married to Rachel and has two children, aged five and three. His parents both live in Wolverhampton. CAPTION(S): Hero: Craftsman Martin Banks. |
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