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Auction: 20002 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Space Exploration
Lot: 626

A very fine campaign group of six awarded to Sergeant (Sniper Section Commander) M. F. Harvey, Black Watch, a gallant Scot who was severely wounded in a close-combat action with Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen Militia in Basra in April 2003 when an RPG struck his position and threw him across the field - the blast broke his back and resulted in his stomach being torn open - instead of seeking medical attention he rose to his feet and dispatched the fanatical enemy with a single shot; recommended for a gallantry award for the action, eventually his comrade Corporal 'Pedro' Laing was awarded the Military Cross for his part in the action whilst Harvey earned a Commander's Commendation

General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (24755811 Pte M F Harvey BW); N.A.T.O. Medal 1994, 1 clasp, Kosovo; N.A.T.O. Medal 1994, 1 clasp, Former Yugoslavia; Iraq 2003-11, 1 clasp, 19 Mar to 28 Arp 2003 (24755811 Cpl M F Harvey BW); Jubilee 2002; Accumulated Campaign Service 1994 (24755811 Sgt M F Harvey BW), nearly extremely fine (6)

Mark F Harvey, a native of Perth, was born in January 1970 and enlisted in the Black Watch in July 1997. Having served in Northern Ireland and a qualified Sniper, he served in Kosovo from July 2001 and was with the Sniper Platoon in the Former Yugoslavia at the time of 9/11 which resulted in his unit remaining in that region and qualifying for the Medal.

He served in Iraq during Operation Telic 1 as a Sniper Section Commander and fought in a number of hot actions. One story is taken up by The Independent with the title 'In this cat-and-mouse war, the sniper is king'

It was the tank crew who spotted them first, four men in civilian clothing jumping out of the back of a pick-up truck carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in the heart of Zubayr.

It was the tank crew who spotted them first, four men in civilian clothing jumping out of the back of a pick-up truck carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in the heart of Zubayr.

Corporal Mark Harvey was the first of the snipers to react, dropping to his knee and fixing the man carrying the RPG in his sights, one shot, a moving target, the militia man dropping like a stone, dead before he hit the ground. A clean shot to the head.

The three others with him stopped in their tracks, grabbed the body of their fallen comrade and pulled him into the bushes by the roadside, then took off towards the nearby houses.

But in the Challenger tank, their every move was being watched. As they ran into what they thought was the safety of the rabbit warren of ramshackle buildings, the sniper teams' radios were guiding them in.

Moments earlier they had been sitting in the back of a Warrior armoured vehicle waiting to set out for what looked likely to be another day or more of waiting and watching, covering a small arc of land near the bridge, never relaxing as they waited for a target to appear.

Now they were running towards the houses, all thoughts of cover forgotten, racing headlong towards the doorway into which their quarry had vanished. In the lead was Corporal "Pedro" Laing, SA-80 rifle in hand. He reached the door and never paused, raising his boot and kicking hard against the woodwork, sending it flying open. An old man looked up startled, found himself grabbed roughly and thrown out of the doorway into the street, past Cpl Harvey and Lance Corporal Scott "Robbo" Robertson. Inside the building, a militaman, pulled the pin from his grenade and hurled it at Pedro's head. The corporal ducked, the grenade flying over his head, exploding in the street, shrapnel whizzing past his friends outside, fragments hitting Robbo at the top of his legs.

As Pedro got to his feet, he looked up to see that the man in front of him had grabbed his AK-47. Jumping up, he fired one shot at the man now standing in the doorway, killing him instantly.

Then Robbo and Pedro were in through the doorway, throwing grenades on the run, one, two, three, four, exploding in front of them, the tank outside pouring chain gun fire into the roof of the building. As the grenades went off, the pair opened up with their rifles, finishing off the militia men, killing everyone in their way.

They could have left it to the tank to smash the place to pieces but there were other houses next door.

For the snipers, it was a rare moment of hand-to-hand fighting, the closest they had been to an enemy they normally only saw through the telescopic sights bound in dusty rags fixed atop their rifles, the long muzzles masked by more scraps of cloth, the better to prevent the glint of metal which would give their position away.

Eight days of lying in the dirt, crouched on rooftops, waiting to pick off the militia men who slipped from building to building, emerging out of the dark to fire their RPGs then disappear back into the mass of houses that make up this troublesome town.

The snipers had feared they would play little part in the battles to be fought in an open desert war, but as the Iraqi soldiers threw away their uniforms and ran back into the towns and the militia men became the true enemy, they came into their own.

In this cat-and-mouse war, the sniper was king.

Eight days and 17 kills.'

The action which resulted in his wounds was reported in The Herald and The Daily Mirror:

'The sniper takes two deep breaths, squinting down the sights of his customised rifle.

Just over 750 yards away, a gunman climbs into the rear of a pick-up truck. Through the crosshairs, Lance Corporal Vincent Polus can see his Kalashnikov assault weapon and ammunition pouches strapped to his belt.

Holding the second breath, he takes up trigger pressure, aiming slightly ahead of his target's chest as the vehicle begins to move. He squeezes off a round, the recoil hard against his shoulder. The 7.62 mm bullet, travelling at 3000ft a second, slams into the gunman, hurling him backwards, a look of very final surprise on his face.

It is Lance Corporal Polus's third confirmed kill in a week which has seen the Black Watch sniper section pick off 18 armed guerrillas in al Zubayr, the nerve centre of behind-the-lines resistance in the British sector of southern Iraq. The British forces are now fighting fire with fire, carrying the action to the paramilitary Fedayeen in their own backyard with scenes like a latter day Stalingrad, and armed with weapons which can deliver a fatal head shot at 1000 yards.

Six days ago, other members of the section carried out an operation likely to earn at least two of them decorations for gallantry. As they travelled into the warren of the town in a Warrior ''battle taxi'', four militiamen carrying rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were sighted.

From 800 yards, Lance Corporal Scott Robertson drew a bead and fired. His first shot dropped one of the four. The other three dragged the body into bushes and then sprinted into houses.

The sniper teams, equipped only with bolt-action rifles meant for long range work and a single automatic weapon, headed after them. Corporal ''Pedro'' Laing kicked in the door to find himself confronted by an old man. He shoved him aside just as one of the fugitives hurled a grenade over his head. It exploded outside, peppering Lance Corporal Robertson with shrapnel. The gunman opened up with automatic fire. The rounds flew past Laing's head, and a rocket propelled grenade whooshed past him and detonated on a banking.

Corporal Mark Harvey, just behind him, saw the warhead streaking through the doorway and did a backward somersault which saved his life but crushed a vertebra. Despite his agony, he leapt to his feet and shot the militiaman dead. Laing and Robertson hurled grenades into the room and then opened up with their rifles as four soldiers from the Black Watch Mortar Platoon arrived and helped finish off the remaining enemy gunmen.'

Harvey was treated in Cyprus and Germany but recovered from his wounds to return to active service with his unit. Laing was awarded the Military Cross while Harvey was awarded a Commander's (7th Armoured Brigade & Hohne Garrison) Commendation from Brigadier Bradshaw on 10 May 2004; sold together with his two Identity Tags, copied Staff Reports, photographs of recipient and research.

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Sold for
£950

Starting price
£600