16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
437.
On 10 June
2008, Mr Browne announced the inauguration of a
new award.299
438.
The award
itself had been proposed by the Chiefs of Staff, who concluded that
the
time was
right to recognise the “families of those personnel who die on
operations, or as
a result of
terrorist action whilst on duty”. Mr Browne confirmed that the
recommendation
had been
welcomed by Ministers and approved by Her Majesty The Queen.
Paying
tribute to
the bravery and courage shown by the families of all serving
personnel, he
hoped that
the new award would “provide a more visible form of recognition
from the
nation for
those who pay the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their
country”.
439.
VAdm Wilkinson
told the Inquiry that there was “unanimity” among the
Chiefs
of Staff
“that it was appropriate to recognise the sacrifice that bereaved
families had
made”.300
The
proposal reflected consultation with serving personnel and with
bereaved
families,
as well as consideration of what other nations do to recognise the
sacrifice that
Service
families make.
440.
Mr Ainsworth,
Mr Browne’s successor as Defence Secretary, set out
further
detail
about the award and the circumstances in which it would be given in
July 2009.301
He
confirmed that The Queen had agreed that the award should be known
as the
Elizabeth
Cross, the first new honour to take the name of a serving monarch
since the
creation of
the George Cross in 1940.
441.
It would
commemorate the lives of those who had died on operations or as a
result
of
terrorism from 1948 onwards (or from 1945 in the case of service in
Palestine), in
order to
fit with the end of the period in which deaths are officially
attributed to service
in World
War II. He reminded Parliament that “this is not a posthumous medal
for the
fallen but
national recognition for the family for their loss”. The award
would consist of
the
Elizabeth Cross itself – awarded to the named next of kin – and a
Memorial Scroll,
copies of
which could be presented to certain additional members of the
deceased’s
close
family. Both the Cross and the Scroll would be awarded on
application, as contact
details for
the several thousand eligible families were unlikely to be up to
date.
442.
The first
presentation of the Elizabeth Cross, made by The Queen, took
place
in
Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, on 12 September
2009.302
Those
receiving the
awards
included five families of soldiers killed in Iraq.
443.
The Inquiry’s
conclusions and lessons on the preparations made for
repatriating
the bodies
of those who lost their lives serving on Operation TELIC, how their
deaths
were
investigated, and the support provided for bereaved families are
set out in
Section 16.4.
299
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 10 June
2008, column 10WS.
300
Public
hearing, 19 July 2010, pages 58‑59.
301
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 1 July
2009, columns 18‑21WS.
302
BBC
News, 12
September 2009, Queen
honours regiment’s fallen.
151