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View Full Version : N.Z Bill Henry Apiata (SAS),Victoria Cross, Afghaistan



bobdina
07-20-2009, 02:23 PM
The four gallantry awards (the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, the New Zealand Gallantry Star, the New Zealand Gallantry Decoration, and the New Zealand Gallantry Medal) are designed to recognise military personnel who carry out acts which put their lives at risk while involved in war or warlike operational service.

The four bravery awards (the New Zealand Cross, the New Zealand Bravery Star, the New Zealand Bravery Decoration, and the New Zealand Bravery Medal) are primarily designed for civilians who put their lives at risk while saving or attempting to save the life of another person, however they may be awarded to military personnel where a gallantry award is not considered appropriate. All of the gallantry and bravery awards may be awarded posthumously.




Citation

Lance Corporal (now Corporal) Apiata was, in 2004, part of a New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) Troop on patrol in Afghanistan, which laid up in defensive formation for the night. At approximately 0315 hours, the Troop was attacked by a group of about twenty enemy fighters, who had approached by stealth using the cover of undulating ground in pitch darkness. Rocket-propelled grenades struck two of the Troop’s vehicles, destroying one and immobilising the other. The opening strike was followed by dense and persistent machine gun and automatic rifle fire from close range. The attack then continued using further rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun and rifle fire. The initial attack was directed at the vehicle where Lance Corporal Apiata was stationed. He was blown off the bonnet by the impact of rocket propelled grenades striking the vehicle. He was dazed, but was not physically injured. The two other vehicle crew members had been wounded by shrapnel; one of them, Corporal D, was in a serious condition. Illuminated by the burning vehicle, and under sustained and accurate enemy fire directed at and around their position, the three soldiers immediately took what little cover was available. Corporal D was discovered to have sustained lifethreatening wounds. The other two soldiers immediately began applying basic first aid. Lance Corporal Apiata assumed command of the situation, as he could see that his superior’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. By this time, however, Lance Corporal Apiata’s exposed position, some seventy metres in front of the rest of the Troop, was coming under increasingly intense enemy fire. Corporal D was now suffering serious arterial bleeding and was lapsing in and out of consciousness.

Lance Corporal Apiata concluded that his comrade urgently required medical attention, or he would likely die. Pinned down by the enemy, in the direct line of fire between friend and foe, he also judged that there was almost no chance of such help reaching their position. As the enemy pressed its attack towards Lance Corporal Apiata’s position, and without thought of abandoning his colleague to save himself, he took a decision in the highest order of personal courage under fire. Knowing the risks involved in moving to open ground, Lance Corporal Apiata decided to carry Corporal D singlehandedly to the relative safety of the main Troop position, which afforded better cover and where medical treatment could be given. He ordered his other colleague, Trooper E, to make his own way back to the rear.

In total disregard of his own safety, Lance Corporal Apiata stood up and lifted his comrade bodily. He then carried him across the seventy metres of broken, rocky and fire swept ground, fully exposed in the glare of battle to heavy enemy fire and into the face of returning fire from the main Troop position. That neither he nor his colleague were hit is scarcely possible. Having delivered his wounded companion to relative shelter with the remainder of the patrol, Lance Corporal Apiata re-armed himself and rejoined the fight in counter-attack. By his actions, he removed the tactical complications of Corporal D's predicament from considerations of rescue.


The Troop could now concentrate entirely on prevailing in the battle itself. After an engagement lasting approximately twenty minutes, the assault was broken up and the numerically superior attackers were routed with significant casualties, with the Troop in pursuit. Lance Corporal Apiata had thereby contributed materially to the operational success of the engagement. A subsequent medical assessment confirmed that Corporal D would probably have died of blood loss and shock, had it not been for Lance Corporal Apiata’s selflessly courageous act in carrying him back to the main Troop lines, to receive the immediate treatment that he needed.

bobdina
08-01-2009, 02:54 PM
Bill (Willy) Henry Apiata (pronounced A-pea-a-ta) was born on 28 June 1972 in Mangakino in the Waikato. His birth certificate carries the first name "Bill" but he is known as Willy.

His father is a Maori New Zealander and his mother a Pakeha New Zealander, his parents are separated and he is close to his mother but has not had contact with his father for several years. Bill has three sisters and is the third youngest in the family.

Bill spent the early years of his life in Northland before moving to Te Kaha in the eastern Bay of Plenty. At Te Kaha he attended the Whanau-a-Apanui Area School which he left on the day of his fifteenth birthday.

At the age of 16, his mother sent Bill to live with relatives in Auckland; he is close to this family.

Bill has a four year old son with his partner of seven years. Though separated from his partner Bill is a devoted father who spends every weekend he can with his son.

Bill affiliates to the Nga Puhi iwi (tribe) through his father, but as he has spent so much time in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, he feels very strong affiliation to Whanau-a-Apanui, which is also the iwi of his partner. Bill's home marae is Tukaki Marae in Te Kaha.

Bill enlisted into the New Zealand Army on 6 October 1989 as a Territorial Force (TF), or part time, soldier in the Tauranga based Hauraki Regiment of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. He was encouraged to join by friends already in the TF.

Bill first became aware of the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) when, as a TF soldier, he acted as a member of the enemy party for a NZSAS training exercise. In 1996 while still in the TF he attempted NZSAS selection but was not successful.

From July 2000 – April 2001 he served in East Timor as a member of New Zealand's 3rd Battalion Group as part of the United Nations operations there. When he returned to New Zealand in April 2001, he became a full time soldier, transferring to the regular force of the New Zealand Army.

In November 2001 he attempted and passed NZSAS selection and attended the NZSAS training cycle in early 2002. On completion of the training cycle he was made a member of the NZSAS.

Since joining the Army, Corporal Apiata has set himself a high standard and consistently managed to achieve it. He is regarded as a role model by his peers, and has won awards or received above average results on every military training course he has attended.

The NZSAS now lay claim to having two of the most highly decorated New Zealand soldiers ever, in their ranks. In 1974, Sergeant Murray Ken Hudson was posthumously awarded the George Cross, (the equivalent of the VC for acts not involving an enemy action), for bravery during a grenade training incident in Waiouru. Sergeant Hudson was a former member of the NZSAS and had served operationally with the unit in Borneo in 1966.

Corporal Apiata's medal ribbons, worn on his left breast, are:

* Top row: The Victoria Cross for New Zealand, The New Zealand Operational Service Medal.
* Bottom row: The New Zealand East Timor Medal, The United Nations East Timor Medal and The New Zealand General Service Medal for Afghanistan.
* On his right breast he wears the emblem of the US Presidential Unit Citation.

nastyleg
08-03-2009, 03:17 AM
Great man another shining example of the selfless service that warrent these medals.