HOW BRYAN BUDD (KIA) PROTECTED HIS MEN AND EARNED THE VICTORIA CROSS

On August 20, 2006, Corporal Bryan James Budd was serving as a squad leader with A Company of the 3rd Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment in southern Afghanistan. His platoon held an outpost in the heavily contested village of Sangin and was tasked with covering engineers who were carrying out demolition work nearby.

That day 24 men in total were out on patrol, spread across the area in a cornfield that stood head-high. Budd suddenly spotted 4 Taliban closing in from 50 meters away. Using hand signals, he moved his squad to the edge of the field to flank them and cut them off. They were spotted in the process and came under fire immediately. Another group of Taliban appeared behind a wall further back and also opened fire on Budd and his men. One soldier was hit in the shoulder, another took a round to the face.

When Budd saw that his squad was under too much fire to hold out much longer, he stood up and charged through the thick corn at the insurgents, who had closed to almost hand grenade range. His comrades heard him open fire on the Taliban, then contact with him broke off. The Taliban fire dropped away, which let the rest of the squad pull back and treat the wounded.

When it became clear that Budd had not come back, most of A Company was sent out to look for him, and heavy fighting broke out again, with 3 more wounded on the British side. With air support they finally reached the Taliban firing position. Budd’s lifeless body lay there, with three dead Taliban fighters around him. He was pronounced killed in action at the outpost.

Budd had only 5 days left on that deployment. He left behind 2 children and a wife, who accepted the Victoria Cross on his behalf. It was the first time since the Falklands War that a soldier had received the award posthumously.

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