Wo2 Podcasts

In a More Tea special Darren Coventry and Jess Bracey speak to medal expert Mark Smith about the medals on show at the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen on Monday 19th September. We also talk about whether the Queen's pallbearers are likely to receive a medal and look ahead to the Coronation of King Charles III.…

In 1962 Sergeant Eric Smith, a search and rescue winchman in the RAF, was called out alongside his crew to the French fishing trawler The Jeanne Gougy which had run aground on the Cornish coast. They spent hours above the sea in a Westland Whirlwind Mark 10 helicopter battling the conditions as Eric was winched down to the vessel to help those in t…

17th May 2000, Lungi Lol, Sierra Leone Sergeant Steve Heaney was deployed to Sierra Leone as part of a task force sent to evacuate foreign citizens caught up in the country’s civil war. The Revolutionary United Front, a murderous rebel group known for their brutality, were advancing towards the capital Freetown and Steve, along with the rest of his…

As we mark the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Falklands Conflict, we revisit our Tea & Medals episode with Keith Mills DSC. At just 22 years old Keith Mills, then a Lieutenant in the Royal Marines, was sent to the island of South Georgia to sort out an issue with some Argentinian scrap metal workers. The diplomatic incident turned into an assault whe…

28th May 1995 Gorazde, Bosnia Major Richard Westley and his company of Royal Welch Fusiliers were working as United Nations protection force troops, attempting to keep the peace in the hostilities that followed the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Richard’s company of Fusiliers were protecting civilians in Gorazde, one of several Bosnian Muslim e…

In 1942 the island of Malta was awarded the George Cross by King George 6th to recognise the population’s bravery and defiance during the Second World War. They refused to surrender despite continuous bombardment by German and Italian forces throughout The Siege of Malta. As well as The George Cross, a number of civilians were also awarded the Geor…

15th April 1942, Valetta, Malta. Between 1940 and 1943 the combined air forces of Italy and Germany launched twenty-six thousand aerial sorties against Malta. The island was part of the British Empire at the time, but Germany and Italy wanted to take this perfectly placed strategic location in the middle of the Mediterranean for themselves. A susta…

Until recently, WO2 John Thompson was Britain’s most decorated Royal Marine Commando. He was mentioned in dispatches in recognition of his gallant and distinguished service in Iraq and later received the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross following a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan. In this bonus episode with Jess Bracey and Darren Coventry, Tommo explains …

10th January 2007, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. By the time Corporal John Thompson made his way to Afghanistan in 2006 for Operation Herrick 5, he had already been mentioned in despatches in recognition of his gallant and distinguished service in Iraq. But that wasn’t the end of his bravery. Three years later in Afghanistan a Taliban ambush saw h…

Tea & Medals is back for Series 2! But before we get stuck into more stories of gallantry and bravery, we find out more about our host Darren Coventry, whose military career spanned more than 1700 days on operation, including several tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Podcast producer Josella Waldron asks Darren about his connections to the sto…

What drives the market for buying and selling medals? Is it an honourable desire to preserve history, or simply economics? In this episode, medal expert Mark Smith tells Darren about the keen medal collecting community, as well as the honours that can be bestowed by our allies.

1993 saw a big shake up to Britain’s military honours. A new look established equality across the ranks and a new medal filled a void in the hierarchy of gallantry. In this episode medal expert Mark Smith introduces Darren to the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. They’re very rare, on account of the medal’s relative youth, and the circumstances for whic…

The George Cross is on par with the Victoria Cross in the table of Gallantry, so how do they differ? The answer may not be as straightforward as you think. In this episode, medal expert and military historian, Mark Smith, guides Darren through the subtle differences between these top tier awards, and provides the context to its institution by King …

More Distinguished Flying Crosses were issued in the Second World War than any other award. In this episode, medal expert Mark Smith introduces Darren to some of his favourite DFC recipients, from the aviators known as ‘The Few’. Their daring dogfights in the Battle of Britain secured air superiority over the German Luftwaffe, resulting in Adolf Hi…

When did Britain start awarding medals to women? At their introduction, Britain’s military honours were exclusively for men. In this bonus episode military historian Mark Smith introduces Darren to the trailblazing women of the Nursing Service, who did their duty with no medallic recognition, and reveals which campaign rang the changes.…

The First World War saw the advent of the Royal Air Force, and with a new service came more medals and tough decisions about who gets what. So how are those decisions made?In this bonus episode expert Mark Smith talks Darren through medal admin and the hoops that have to be jumped through before one can be awarded.…

The original statute for the Victoria Cross stated that the honour couldn’t be bestowed posthumously, but that’s not the case today. Public pressure led to the re-writing of the statute, all because of the actions of two young officers at Rorke’s Drift. Mark Smith tells Darren of their bravery in this bonus episode, and introduces a new medal to th…

3rd April 1982, South Georgia, South Atlantic.The Falklands War wasn’t just about the Falkland Islands. There’s another British Overseas Territory a thousand miles away which has its own story to tell about that particular conflict…And who better to tell it than Keith Mills, then a Lieutenant in the Royal Marines, who at just 22 years old was sent …

Queen Victoria wanted a new medal for her soldiers and sailors. It would be an award for the bravest of the brave, something that would only be presented to those who had shown extreme bravery in the face of the enemy.In this bonus episode Darren asks medals expert Mark Smith to tell him the story of the Victoria Cross.There’s also a preview of epi…

24th July, 2005, Al Bayaa District, near Baghdad, Iraq.Captain Pete Norton was used to dealing with explosives. By the time he deployed to Iraq he had spent more than 20 years working in bomb disposal. He was so well known for his cool head and unflappable nature he was given the nickname “Perfect Pete”.But one night investigating the scene of a de…

Queen Victoria was dismayed to discover there were no medals for those who fought for Britain in the Battle of Trafalgar or those who fought with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular.In fact, she was so unhappy, she invented two new medals herself.In this bonus episode Darren talks to medals expert Mark Smith about Queen Victoria’s important ro…

1st June 2007, Basra, Iraq.RAF Helicopter Pilot Flight Lieutenant Michelle Goodman and the rest of her Merlin crew were used to flying into dangerous places. They were part of an Incident Response Team (IRT) which picked up seriously injured soldiers and took them to hospital for treatment. But one night in Basra proved to be like no other when the…

Who invented medals? When did Britain start awarding them to soldiers? In this bonus episode Darren talks to medals expert Mark Smith about the beginnings of Britain's military honours system. There's also a sneak preview of episode two featuring the first female recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.…

8th April 2004, Basra, Iraq. Corporal Chris “Barney” Balmforth wasn’t expecting any dramas as he and the rest of B Troop Queen’s Royal Hussars carried out their regular training and mentoring session at al- Jamiat police station. But when “something special” arrived in the back of a pick-up truck, everything changed. Chris recalls how one bizarre i…

What does it mean to be brave? So brave that you’re invited to Buckingham Palace to receive one of the UK’s highest military honours.Former soldier Darren Coventry talks to men and women who have done just that. He makes them a brew and they tell him the stories behind their medals, which are never quite as straightforward as they seem. Darren also…