Orders, Decorations and Medals

U.S.S.R., Strengthening the Combat Community Medal, mounted as worn, in its case of issue, extremely fine and rare
£800-1000

As awarded to Medical Assistant 1st Class Alan Jackson, Royal Navy, for his gallantry in the rescue of a Russian sailor at sea while serving as a Medic in helicopters of the R.N’s Search & Rescue unit at H.M.S. Gannet, Prestwick, Scotland, in 2001. He and his crew were called to the outer limits of their operational area, some 200 miles off north-west Ireland, in order to evacuate a Russian sailor, who had developed a serious infection after an operation, from the Vasily Tatishev. As Jackson would later recall:

‘The conditions were absolutely awful, and big seas made the rescue doubly hazardous. The vessel was pitching and rolling around in a heavy swell and the sailor was in critical condition. After a tricky winch transfer, the aircrewman and I gave immediate treatment, which I then maintained during the bumpy flight to the hospital. We also took an interpreter on board at the same time.’

As outlined by accompanying documentation, it would be several years before the Soviet authorities tracked Jackson down in order to present him with his decoration at a special ceremony held at the Russian Embassy in London in December 2009, in the presence of Major-General Nikolay Koval. But he had earlier been the recipient of a formal letter of thanks from Admiral Zakharenko, then Deputy C.-in-C. Russian Federation Navy, in November 2001, in which the latter acknowledged his involvement in the rescue operation and the fact Jackson’s medical expertise saved the sailor’s life.

Sold with the recipient’s original Soviet award booklet, letter from Admiral M. Zakharenko, dated 27 November 2001, with translation, Buckingham Place letter granting unrestricted permission to wear the award, and several related photographs and copied newspaper features.