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Auction: 21001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals (conducted behind closed doors)
Lot: 392

(x) A very fine 'Op Jacana 2002' M.C. group of four awarded to Marine L. P. 'Lionheart' Armstrong, 'Z' Company, 45 Commando, Royal Marines

Armstrong had been denied his dream to become a footballer due to a 'lack of spirit' on trials with Queen of the South - he answered his critics in the heat of battle in Afghanistan

Military Cross, E.II.R., officially dated '2003' and inscribed 'PO56725F Mne L P Armstrong RM', in its Royal Mint case of issue; Operational Service Medal 2000, for Sierra Leone (Mne L P Armstrong PO56725F RM); Operational Service Medal 2000, for Afghanistan, 1 clasp, Afghanistan (Mne L P Armstrong PO56725F RM); General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (Mne L P Armstrong PO56725F RM), campaign Medals mounted as worn with a copy M.C., good very fine (4)

M.C. London Gazette 29 April 2003. An official statement from the Ministry of Defence gives further details on the action:

'Whilst on a particular operation in an al-Qaida heartland to investigate a compound thought to contain extremist militia and weapons, a patrol from Zulu Company came across a pocket of resistance.

Marine Armstrong decided to seize the moment - he forced entry to the compound and was followed by his colleague Marine McCann, where they found themselves confronting nine armed men.

He levelled his weapon and succeeded in getting the men to surrender, relieved them of their weapons and kept them as prisoners until the rest of the team could assist – all without a shot being fired.

After this initial assault, Armstrong then had the task of controlling an aggressive crowd. Again he excelled, maintaining order, quelling ‘flashpoints’, and detaining an escaped prisoner in the midst of a crowd without causing injury to himself, his team or the crowd.'

Liam P. Armstrong, a native of Carlisle, dreamed of being a footballer. Turning down the opportunity to trial at Celtic and Middlesborough, he went up to Queen of the South. His hopes were quickly dashed and Armstrong was sent home, told he '...lacked the right spirit.'

Having joined the Royal Marines in 1999, he joined 42 Commando and first deployed to Sierra Leone. Transferred to 45 Commando, he was serving with 'Z' (Zulu) Company in Afghanistan during Operation Jacana. The Operation lasted from April-July 2002 and took place in Khost and Paktia Provinces, with 45 Commando operating with U.S. forces, Australian SAS and Norwegian FSK. The main aim was to kill or capture the remaining Al-Qaida and Taliban rebels who had taken to the hostile and high-altitude hide outs in the region. Four main actions took place in the period, this award for Operation Buzzard (Navy News, June 2003, refers), but due to the nature exact details are still trickling into the public domain. It has however been summarised as follows:

'On 28 or 29 May 2002, the Royal Marines began Operation Buzzard: the aim of the operation was to "prevent freedom of movement of al-Qa'eda and Taliban and to deny them sanctuary from which to operate" according to Royal Marine Lieutenant-Colonel Ben Curry. 45 to 300 British Marines from Taskforce Jacana and local Afghan soldiers were deployed into Khost close to Afghan-Pakistan border, accompanied by several US civil affairs officials on a "hearts and minds" operation; amid fears that al-Qaeda and Taliban forces were plotting terrorist attacks from across the frontier. The Marines conducted patrols in populated and rural areas using a mixture of helicopter, foot and vehicle patrols and setting up checkpoints; this new method was to be "unpredictable, operating in smaller sub-unit attachments operating in an area sometimes covertly and introducing that unpredictability and doubt into the minds of the al-Qaeda and Taliban."

Caves and bunkers containing arms, ammunition and supplies were found and destroyed. Over 100 mortars, a hundred anti-tank weapons along with hundreds of RPGs, anti-personnel mines, rockets and artillery shells and thousands of rounds of small-arms and anti-aircraft ammunition. Two British Marines [Armstrong leading] confronted nine armed rebels and made them surrender.

The operation came to an end on 9 July 2002, the operation had shown that al-Qaeda and the Taliban had abandoned a large scale presence in the region.

Armstrong gave more detail on the action in The Sun, 29 April 2003, the attack being described as having been made onto an al-Qa'ida arms dump near the Pakistan border, whilst attempting to breach a fortified farmhouse:

'I knew we had to get in there before they began arming themselves. If they'd had time to mount a counter-attack we could have been goner.

So I just began tearing at the wall with my hands. I eventually pulled down a section big enough to jump through. Another Marine followed me in. Inside I began a room to room search. I don't think they knew what hit them to be honest. It had been such a quick assault with me going through the wall. I didn't really have time to think about what I was doing. I just fell back on my training. It came like second nature to me. I think they had second thoughts about fighting when they saw me.'

His CO, Major R. Stephens commented on the events:

'This assault was at the end of a 29-day intensive patrol in the most gruelling and inhospitable terrain, often at high altitude.'

Having returned home after his tour, the news of the award of the M.C. came as something as a surprise to Armstrong, who thought the letter confirming the award was a wind-up as he assumed the award was reserved for Officers. Nonetheless, once he was put right he went to Buckingham Palace for his investiture on 16 July 2003. Besides that he had a Civic Reception in Carlisle. Returning to action, he damaged his knee in Afghanistan and also served in Northern Ireland. He left the Royal Marines in 2006.

Sold together with a good archive of original material, including cloth Badges, letters of congratulation including a telemessage from Prince Philip as well as communications from The First Sea Lord, the Commandant General Royal Marines, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, the Commanding Officer and other members of Zulu Company, Officers and former Officers of the Royal Marines, the Royal Marines Association (Arbroath Branch), the Lord Lieutenant of Angus, the Provost of Angus, and the Mayor of Carlisle, investiture invitations, cards, newspaper cuttings and other research.


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Sold for
£18,000

Starting price
£11000