Shot in the neck, but hero soldier carried on the Taliban firefight: Lance Corporal who battled on for 90 minutes despite injury is among 117 servicemen awarded medals for gallantry in latest operational honours list



Servicemen and women were honoured at the latest Operational Honours and Awards

Lance Corporal Simon Moloney was shot in the neck during a dawn raid

With blood spilling over his throat the machine gunner fought on

Medic Lance Corporal Wesley Masters patched him up 'saving his life'

Lance Corporal Moloney said: 'We had to crack on. They were pushing quite hard so it was either maybe die or definitely die'







Shot in neck, with blood spilling over his throat, machine-gunner Simon Moloney knew he had to return to the fight or his comrades would be over-run by the Taliban.

So, just minutes after thinking he had been fatally wounded, he was back in the heat of battle and helping to repel a ferocious attack.

He only quit 90 minutes later after being ordered to by his commanding officer.

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Lance Corporal Simon Moloney, of the Blues and Royals, fought on despite being shot in the neck during a battle with the Taliban. Lance Corporal Moloney is pictured receiving medical treatment on the frontline

The soldier was one of 117 servicemen and women who received awards for gallantry Lance Corporal Moloney and Lance Corporal Masters were among 12 British soldiers taking part in a dawn raid. Speaking about the shot, which hurled him from the roof of a building, Lance Corporal Moloney, said: 'It winded me like I've never been winded. I was thinking, "I've been shot in the neck, it's game over". I figured I had minutes left' Lance Corporal Moloney said Lance Corporal Masters' quick decision to help him on the battlefield saved him. He said: 'We're like family. He saved my life' Lance Corporal Moloney (left) was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, and was honoured alongside Corporal Wesley Masters (right), the medic who saved his life. Corporal Masters, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, was awarded the Military Cross

Lance Corporal Moloney’s heroism – and that of medic Wesley Masters who patched him up so he could keep fighting – was revealed as the two friends were awarded medals in the operational honours list, published today.

They are among 117 servicemen and women who received awards for gallantry. Most go to troops who served with 1 Mechanized Brigade in Afghanistan between April and October last year.

The two men were among 12 British soldiers taking part in a pre-dawn raid on the Taliban in their stronghold of Yakshal in Helmand province on July 4 last year.

Lance Corporal Moloney, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, and another machine-gunner were covering a patrol from the roof of a mud-walled compound.

At around 6am the battlefield ‘just erupted’ with as many as 30 insurgents opening fire from all around, he said. Minutes later he was struck by a tracer round which hurled him from the roof.

Lance Corporal Moloney, 23, said: ‘It winded me like I’ve never been winded. I was thinking, “I’ve been shot in the neck, it’s game over”. I figured I had minutes left.’

Guardsman Ronan Boyce, if the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, was Mentioned In Despatches in the latest Operational Honours and Awards list after he fought off a surprise enemy attack before going on to uncover several potentially booby-trapped insurgent weapons caches in Afghanistan

Major Geoffrey Brocklehurst (left) of the Royal Regiment of Scotland has received the Military Cross after he led a rifle company in an area dominated by insurgents in Afghanistan. And Corporal William Mills (right) of the Riffles who also received the Military Cross

Lance Corporal Jake Foster of The Royal Tank Regiment who has been Mentioned In Despatches after he risked his life to pull a colleague from the wreckage of a burning armoured vehicle Sapper James McDermott (left) of 36 Engineer Regiment who has been Mentioned In Despatches after his selfless action and quick thinking saved the life of an Afghan soldier. And Captain Michael Kennedy (right) of HQ 38 Group, The Royal Corps of Engineers who has received the Queen's Gallantry Medal after risking his life to defuse a bomb that was within minutes of being detonated by Afghan insurgents

Corporal William Mills, of 4th Battalion, The Rifles has been awarded the Military Cross in the latest Operational Honours and Awards list for his service in Afghanistan Corporal Mills pictured on a mission, serving in Afghanistan

Incredibly, the bullet passed though his neck behind his windpipe, also missing the arteries to his head.

‘When after a couple of minutes I was not dead and I could still talk I started to get a better feeling,’ he said. ‘We had to crack on. They were pushing quite hard so it was either maybe die or definitely die because they would have over-run us.’

Some 300metres away, Lance Corporal Masters and his comrades were pinned down by Taliban gunmen when they received the radio message telling them: ‘Man down.’





'We're like family. He saved my life'

- Lance Corporal Moloney praising Lance Corporal Masters ' quick action

Acting with selfless disregard for his own life and disregarding orders, Lance Corporal Masters dashed across open ground under heavy fire while carrying 60kg of equipment to reach his fallen friend.

The soldier, from Somerset, said he was forced to improvise with field dressings because ‘you don’t normally expect someone to survive a shot to the neck’.

He said: ‘But he [Moloney] said to me, “Do what you need to do, I have to get back in”.’

Lance Corporal Moloney said: ‘As soon as Wes came I was completely at ease – I was quite happy then, that I was going to survive and that he had it in the bag.’

Despite his throat injury, Lance Corporal Moloney continued shouting critical information to his comrades which enabled them to win the firefight. Even when a helicopter arrived to evacuate him, he had to be ordered to get aboard rather than staying in the battle.

He returned to Britain for treatment but was back on the frontline less than a month later.

Lieutenant Alexander Floyd who has been Mentioned in Despatches after he defended a bridge over a 24-hour period to allow engineers to clear it of IEDs in Afghanistan

Lance Corporal Sinead Dodds, with her brother Josh, who received the Queen's Commendation for Bravery after she gave life-saving first aid to two injured comrades following a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan Chief Petty Officer Neil Halsey (left) from the Royal Navy has received the Queen's Commendation for Bravery and Flight Lieutenant Charles Lockyear (right) received the Distinguished Flying Cross at the ceremony The RAF's Flight Lieutenant Charles Lockyear (left) who has received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Master Aircrew Robert Sunderland (right) was Mention In Despatches

As for Lance Corporal Masters’ quick decision to help him on the battlefield, he said: ‘We’re like family. He saved my life.’

Lance Corporal Moloney, of the Blues and Royals, receives the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross – the UK’s second-highest award for valour – and Lance Corporal Masters, 25, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, won a Military Cross.

A woman soldier who saved the lives of two colleagues after their vehicle was blown up by a suicide bomb received a Queen’s Commendation for Bravery.