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Auction: 20002 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Space Exploration
Lot: 611

'The unerring Army sharpshooter has killed 39 rebel fighters single-handedly. His marksmanship is so lethal that rumours have spread like wildfire through insurgents' camps, causing panic and confusion. The sniper is a member of elite 3 Para.

Described by sources as "The Best Shot in the Army" he is responsible for over five per cent of the 700 insurgents killed by Paras since British forces returned to Afghanistan. He is based in the wild Helmand province, where our troops launched a massive assault on the Taliban this week. A source yesterday said; "This sniper is truly something else. A silent assassin. In the deadly terrain of southern Afghanistan, where guerilla warfare rules, he has been invaluable."

His lethal L96A1 rifle has a range of 1,000 yards and is fitted with electronic sights and range-finders.'

The exploits on xxx make The Sun, August 2006.

The well-documented campaign group of three awarded to the 'Taliban Terminator' Sergeant S. Hxxxx, 'A' Company 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, who served as a Sniper in Iraq and a Sniper Commander in Afghanistan

Hxxxx held a tally of at least 39 'kills' and was featured in the international press which hailed his achievements - their tour also included the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to Corporal B. J. Budd

General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (25082566 Pte S Hxxxx Para); Iraq 2003-11, 1 clasp, 19 Mar to 28 Apr 2003 (25082566 Pte S Hxxxx Para); Operational Service Medal 2000, for Afghanistan, 1 clasp, Afghanistan (25082566 LCpl S Hxxxx Para), mounted court-style as worn, pin removed, good very fine (3)

Sxxx Hxxxx served with 3 Para in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. His exploits as a Sniper gained him much fame - most of is anonymous whilst in the service - in the national press. During his tour in 2006, he was interviewed by James Meek for The Guardian Weekend

'Other British units have fought and suffered losses over the summer in that outwardly unremarkable town of 30,000 people, but none fought longer and took more casualties than A Company and the few dozen non-paras grouped with it. For the best part of two months, they experienced the kind of vicious combat British troops haven't seen since Korea. Roughly every seventh man in the original 65-strong company was killed or wounded.

On July 5, A Company lost Private Damien Jackson, shot and killed four days from his 20th birthday, while he was helping secure a helicopter landing site. On August 20, they lost Corporal Bryan Budd, killed on patrol by a burst of gunfire from an unseen flanking position that wounded two others. Budd fell in a field of tall, green maize and at first his comrades thought he might have survived. Under heavy Taliban fire, including mortars, the paras recovered Budd and made it back, but it was too late to save him. His wife was expecting their second child.

One day I sat in the camp canteen, the "scoff house", drinking Nescafé out of a Styrofoam cup with Lance Corporal XXXX, a 28-year-old paratroop sniper attached to A Company. His eyes were still alight from Sangin. "We've proved we were just as good as the soldiers that went to the Falklands...This is something people wait 22 years in the army for. We've done it now, and it's far exceeded what I wanted to do when I joined the army. But I want to stay in. I love my job. I love sniping. The fire positions they were taking were so good that you couldn't really see their faces. The only thing you saw was a muzzle flash. You would fire at that, the muzzle flash would stop; whether that's a kill or not you just don't know.'

The work of Hxxxx soon had features of his work gaining further coverage, with features in The Sun and FHM, both of which did not reveal his identity. In the latter - published in March 2007 - he went under the name 'Jackson' and gave interesting insights to his the work of his 4-man team:

'Other snipers are our own single greatest threat. When I returned to Iraq in 2005, I'd heard about a super shot in Iraq known only a Juba - he was allegedly in Baghdad and there is video footage of him all over the internet. Having watched them myself, I dont't believe he is all that he's reported to be. But there is this one Taliban sniper here in Afghanistan who is very skilled and accurate - we consider his presence in everything we do. The priority target of a sniper is an officer, but his second is enemy snipers. That's us.'

He continues:

'We were sat in this unfinished building that was to become a Police station. It had pillars all around it and a roof, but we had to build walls with sandbags. We were fired on regularly with everything from small arms to rocket-propelled grenades. Then one rocket landed just five metres from the four of us. It made a massive hole in the building and had we been slightly closer it would have kiled us - two of our guys were evacuated to the UK due to their injuries. One of those guys lost a leg but is already walking around on a prosthetic limb. The doctors said it would be months before he would come off crutches and be able to walk, but he came into town with us last week and was dancing. He wants to get back to work as soon as he can. What a soldier. How can we not be good when we work with guys like that? I fucking love being a paratrooper.'

Sold together with a plethora of photographs from his tours, including images taken in the field, in camp, graphic images of wounds to his comrades and one or two including Budd VC, besides relevant press extracts.

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Sold for
£6,250

Starting price
£600