Orders, Decorations and Medals

“I’d say my vehicle and crew took down 50 enemy in total, easily. There was me with my personal weapon, the gunner and two guys in the back with Minimi and UGL. We all went out with 240 rounds of 5.56, and the Minimis had 800, plus 10% spare in the back, and by the end of it all we were pretty much out. I had 54 rounds of 7.62 left out of 1,600 for the chain gun, and I’d used up all my 9mm pistol ammunition as well. They were coming at us in waves - at one stage, you could see the bodies stacked up where we’d been killing them. Guys would jump up on rooftops above you, so you’d put them down... then some more would be there a minute later.”

(Details of the action fought at Al Amarah on 11 June 2006, extracted from an extensive interview with the recipient published in the book, In Foreign Fields, by Dan Collins)

The outstanding ‘Iraq 2006’ Conspicuous Gallantry Cross group of nine awarded to Sergeant Major J. R. Harkess, 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters), attached Queen’s Royal Hussars Battle Group, who as Platoon Warrior Sergeant found himself called upon to undertake a number of extremely hazardous patrols in his armoured vehicle in the Al Amarah area of Southern Iraq: As a result he was at the forefront of several ‘360 degree’ close quarter battles against against heavily armed Iraqi insurgents - One six-hour battle against over 200 Mahdi soldiers was described in his citation as ‘the largest and most intense in Iraq since 2004’

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, E.II.R., reverse officially inscrbed ‘25012263 C/Sgt J. R. Harkess, P.W.R.R.’ reverse lower arm officially dated ‘2006’’ General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland (25012263 Pte., W.F.R.); NATO Medal, clasp, Former Yugoslavia, with numeral ‘2’ attached to ribbon; NATO Medal, clasp, Kosovo, with numeral ‘2’ attached to ribbon; Iraq 2003, no clasp (25012263 Sgt., WFR); Operational Service Medal, clasp, Afghanistan (25012263 C. Sgt., CGC., PWRR); Jubilee 2002; Jubilee 2012; Regular Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (C Sgt PWRR 25012263) generally nearly extremely fine (9) £100000-120000

The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was instituted as a result of the 1993 review of the British honours system and is second in seniority only to the Victoria Cross, being awarded for the first time as a result of the Bosnian War in 1995. To date 58 C.G.C’s. have been awarded in total, comprising, Bosnia (2), Sierra Leone (2), Iraq (15), Afghanistan (38), and one other awarded collectively to the Ulster Defence Regiment.

C.G.C. London Gazette 14 December 2006.

The original recommendation states:

‘Colour Sergeant Harkess is a Platoon Warrior Sergeant in C Company, The 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, deployed with The Queen's Royal Hussars Battlegroup in Al Amarah, Southern Iraq on Operation TELIC VIII.

On 23 May 2006 Colour Sergeant Harkess's platoon were tasked to support another platoon in an operation in a Mahdi Army stronghold. They were under attack from more than 50 heavily-armed Militia. Instinctively, Colour Sergeant Harkess moved to secure the extraction route for the troops now under sustained, accurate and lethal enemy fire. Colour Sergeant Harkess's platoon then came under fire themselves from small arms and rocket propelled grenades from several directions. Colour Sergeant Harkess attacked in his Warrior, leading his platoon from the front under heavy enemy fire. He then held the vital ground despite immense and prolonged pressure from the rapidly reinforcing enemy. The Company safely extracted. His quick action almost certainly saved lives.

Colour Sergeant Harkess's platoon formed part of the C Company Group for a search operation in Al Amarah, on 11 June 2006. The ensuing six hour battle was the largest and most intense in Iraq since 2004. The enemy of over 200 Mahdi Army soldiers attacked constantly, making use of narrow alleyways and roof tops to engage the group with Rocket Propelled Grenades and small arms fire, including sniper, blast bombs and grenades. The enemy was well supplied and had significant reserves. Again, Colour Sergeant Harkess moved himself to a critical position where he remained under fire for the entire six hours. With significant communications problems, he exposed himself to great personal danger to command his men, leading from his open Warrior, conducting repeated counter attacks and surges. He engaged roof-top gunmen with his rifle, whilst simultaneously commanding his gunner onto ground targets. He demonstrated huge courage throughout to ensure the enemy was kept at bay.

On 30 July 2006 C Company were deployed in support of a re-supply convoy of potentially strategic importance. Colour Sergeant Harkess was now the Platoon Commander. As the convoy approached the town of Al Maymunah, Colour Sergeant Harkess's men came under sustained fire from organised Mahdi Army ambush teams. For over an hour Colour Sergeant Harkess led his platoon under heavy enemy fire from every direction. For Colour Sergeant Harkess there was no option of withdrawal. He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire in order to gain situational awareness and to command and control the battle and retain the initiative. While commanding the platoon he continued to deliver effective fire to enemy positions, killing or forcing them to withdraw both with his rifle and his vehicle. His position was critical to the company commander and he was steadfast under extreme pressure, which included accurate sniper fire. His gallantry and leadership were critical in ensuring that the convoy got through.

On these three occasions Colour Sergeant Harkess's decisive and courageous actions in hostile circumstances have saved life. He has been an outstanding example to his men. His gallantry and composure under fire, coupled with his calm leadership in the face of a determined enemy, repeatedly demonstrated, deserve the highest public recognition.’

The following is extracted from an extensive twenty-page interview with the recipient published in the book, In Foreign Fields, by Dan Collins:

‘On June 11, 2006, C Company conducted a major search operation in Al Amarah.

We had been taking some heavy mortars and rockets - big barrages of thirty or forty plus, daily - so we launched a search operation to find them and take them out.  Around the same time, a Lynx chopper had been shot down in Basra and men had been moved down there, so we were short of blokes.  My platoon had been stripped - we were left with two dismounts per vehicle, so I'd been refilled in the back with the search team and the snipers.

We had target areas north and south: 7 Platoon was tasked north and 8 Platoon was tasked south. My tasking, 9 Platoon, was to drop off the snipers for target areas north and the search teams for the south. My second tasking then was to satellite and deter. Meaning cover the searches to interdict and deter any insurgent attacks.

We started out in the early hours of the morning. 7 Platoon went off first and, as they started hitting Black Nine, prior to turning left to go down the Reds to their target area, they were contacted. Fast and furious, but they were coping OK. I had to go down that way, to drop the snipers and search team off for that location.

We broke down Black Nine, heading towards target area north. We were getting reports of enemy snipers and RPG teams up on the rooftops and, sure enough, once we got into the built-up areas and got near to 7 Platoon, all the rooftops and alleyways just opened up on us, like it was bonfire night. I pushed my two lead vehicles forwards and started fighting the alleyways.  I also got two of the lads up on top cover in the mortar hatches and they started engaging people to the rear and watching the alleyways after we'd gone by, making sure someone didn't step out of the shadows and hit us with RPGs from the back. Myself and the gunner dealt with the front.  It was dark, still about 3am, but there was street lighting; we didn't take it out, because we were still moving and we were wearing night vision, which gave us an edge.

We got out of the contact area, and I reached Geordie, who was pulled over at a sort of crossroads, with alleyways either side.  We had a quick face-to-face and he told me his turret system and comms were down.  His platoon had pushed on and he was covering these alleyways for the rest of us coming through. So we continued, encountering one or two more contacts, till we reached the target area. Then we chucked the snipers out and set off down to target area south to drop off the search teams.
 
We made it OK, though there were reports coming through all the time, contact, contact, contact. We dropped off the search teams, about-turned and set off to carry out our second tasking. We got sidetracked by reports of a flat-bed truck which had been used to fire mortars somewhere around the prison, but we couldn't find it, so we carried on. And for a while, things were reasonably quiet - just the odd bit of small arms fire here and there.

7 Platoon reported they had a vehicle immobilised in a ditch. There were massive open sewerage ditches running down the centre of the streets and the bank of one had crumbled as a Warrior had been turning, and it had slipped in. It was literally in the s*** - obviously a nice, big, static target - and we needed to get it out.
 
The position was very vulnerable.  We could be attacked from either direction along the road in question, there were alleyways and junctions leading down to where we were and lots of overlooking buildings, including a large mosque.  We knew the enemy wouldn't take long to find out what had happened and they had lots of cover from which to attack.  We got the Warriors set up covering the position as best we could, with mine covering two approach roads that intersected with the one we were on.

The 7 Platoon dismounts had fanned out around the mosque, and they started taking fire.  We could see figures flitting around in the shadows, and you'd see muzzle flashes; we located, identified and dealt with a dozen or so guys, I'd say. And then it really started.

The ensuing battle lasted six hours; and was the largest and most intense in Iraq since 2004. Over 200 Mahdi Army soldiers assaulted the British troops, using the narrow alleyways and roof tops as cover as they engaged with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy small arms fire, snipers, blast bombs and grenades.

It was absolutely knackering. Like a fool, one of the alleyways I'd chosen to cover was the main one they were feeding themselves down. Within about five minutes, I was in another 360 battle.  It was constant. There was no let up, and I was firing all the way through.

I'd say my vehicle and crew took down 50 enemy in total, easily.  There was me with my personal weapon, the gunner and two guys in the back with Minimi and UGL. We all went out with 240 rounds of 5.56 and the Minimis had 800, plus 10% spare in the back, and by the end of it all we were pretty much out.  I had 54 rounds of 7.62 left out of 1600 for the chain gun, and I'd used up all my 9mm pistol ammunition as well.  They were coming at us in waves - at one stage you could see bodies stacked up where we'd been killing them.  Guys would jump up on rooftops above you only five to ten metres away, and start firing down at you, so you'd put them down...then some more would be there a minute later.  

RPGs were a constant threat. We later worked out, that between 50 and 60 were fired at our vehicle alone.  I remember there were four RPG teams in particular, a team is a firer and a spotter with an AK.  They were in a hardened area, a building off one of the alleyways about 600 metres away. We'd put SA80 in there, Minimi, waxed them a few times with the chain gun and UGLd it a couple of times, and we just couldn't get through to them. So I said bollocks to it and we let them have the 30mm cannon.  We put half a dozen shells down and that was that. One of my guys in the back had a bit of a problem with that for a long time afterwards - he'd been looking down his sights and he saw the enemy basically exploding, which can't have been very pleasant.
 
As it wore on, local people started coming out and we had crowds of non-combatants getting in the way and preventing us returning fire.  But we had a Lynx chopper from 847 Naval Air Squadron overhead, flown by a US Marines' Major on exchange, William Chesarek. He kept flying past, low and slow, drawing fire and luring the gunmen out, as well as acting as a Forward Air Controller for the fast air and letting us know what he could see. He did me a lot of favours... 'You have men appearing now on the rooftop in front’, and so on and so forth. Bearing in mind this was only a few weeks after a Lynx from the same squadron had been lost in Basra, it was pretty brave.  Well, very brave.  He was up there for five hours in total, and was nearly RPGd on at least one occasion. He won the Distinguished-Flying Cross for that, the first American to do so since WW2, and it was well deserved.

It was noisy, obviously, and at various times I had to get out of the turret and stand on the vehicle to shout to the lads on the ground, to either reassure them or direct them. In my citation for the medal, it talks about this being evidence of 'immense courage' but to be honest anyone would have done exactly the same, and they probably have at various times. It wasn't as though we even had time to be nervous or scared. It was so intense...man left, bang, RPG right, bang, AK to the front, bang ... you just don't  have time to  think about anything else. And I've always said to the boys, and I believe this, when your number's up, it's up. It's going to get you one day, here, or somewhere else in 50 years' time. So don't worry about being shot, don't worry about being blown up, worrying might make you hesitate and that will get you killed. Plus you could get through all this, go home and then get run over by a bus.  Are you never going to cross the road again?

The ammo situation got concerning, particularly as there were people getting to within a few metres of us.  But if we'd been completely out we'd have just run them over - they were never going to get to us. And it started to calm down at the sort of six-hour-point.  I think we'd taken so many of them out that they were being neutralised. We'd been identifying them too quick and eventually it must have sapped their will. We recovered the bogged Warrior and got ourselves extracted back to base.

It was only then, when the adrenaline started to leave you, that you sat back and thought, Crikey. There were strike marks and blast marks all the way around the Warrior, loads of them within inches of where I'd been standing: you felt that someone, somewhere, had been looking out for us.  The men I fought with that day are some of the bravest I've had the pleasure to know.  The two guys who'd been in the back were completeiy in shock, so I gave them 24 to 48 hours off. They were quiet and completely withdrawn. Doing that much fighting, for that length of time, seeing first hand what a 30mm shell can do to a human body, taking grenades, RPG, heavy machinegun; taking small arms coming in all the time, while you stand there exposed ... they were only young lads, and it had taken it out of them.  

We were worried about Ian Page, too.  (CSgt Page had been shot in the face during the fighting, and his life had been saved by the female medic Pte Michelle Norris MC, who had climbed out onto his Warrior, under fire, to administer emergency first aid.) At that stage, nobody knew whether he was dead or alive, and he's a good mate.  But, luckily, thanks to the work of the young girl medic, he was OK. He was casevac-d back to Shaiba log base and then back to the UK. It'll take a long time for him to fully recover from that day; but he's a fighter and he's on the mend.’
 
‘On July 30, 2006, CSgt Harkess was deployed as part of a night time Company operation protecting a re-supply convoy; as the convoy approached the town, of Al Maymunah the enemy sprang a complex ambush on him and his men.

It was a major convoy, 200 vehicles or more, bringing in food and water to Abu Naji and also beginning the process of extracting our kit out as we prepared to hand the base over to the Iraqis. They'd ambushed the last convoy which had come in, this one was an even bigger target and we needed to go out to escort it in. The rest of the company would be on that, and my task was to leave the camp late, re-clear where the lads had already moved through to make sure that nothing had been placed in behind them, and then hide up in the desert outside Al Maymunah, about 10 kilometres south of Al Amarah.  Once the convoy was past, I would shoot down into the town and picket the area to look for any enemy.

Al Maymunah had been a little sleepy town, nothing ever happened in it.  But as they went through, the guys got bottled, bricked and blast bombed and the OC was injured.  So we knew the convoy was going to get hit.  I got a call on the net to get back into town and get the dismounts out to start covering the alleyways, and so forth.  8 Platoon were coming in from the southern side to do the same.

We were about 300 metres from them when we heard them get contacted.  They were out of sight, round the road and among some housing, but you could hear a weight of fire suddenly start up and then the reports began coming over the net.
I had a new platoon sergeant, a gleaming lad called Ferguson.  I said, 'Get the boys out, dominate the alleyways while we hold the main road with the three Warriors.'

We pushed one vehicle back, sent one forward and I stayed in the centre.  The dismounts got out and as soon as they'd closed the back doors we started taking sniper fire. There were three of them set up, and unfortunately we had stopped in their main killing area - wide and flat, with waste ground either side of the road, well-lit up with street lights, because it was pitch black at the time.  
 
We couldn't move, because the convoy was coming through. 8 Platoon were still in their own contact down the bottom of town.  We had no comms with camp, which was 15 to 20 kilometres, away, so we had no air support.  The other platoon couldn't come to help us, because they were covering and protecting the convoy, which was now three or four kilometres away.  I'm wondering what to do, and the fire starts intensifying -now there's a bit of AK and light machine gun fire too. All the dismounts were pinned down fully. Fergie couldn't move - every time he tried to he would get rounds landing very near to him. The thing is, ordinary small arms aren't that much of a drama. I know that sounds ridiculous and obviously if an AK round hits you it can take your arm off, but I've seen literally thousands of rounds fired at us over the course of my time in Iraq and it tends to be point and spray stuff, hardly anyone actually does get hit.  Snipers are a different matter.  You could hear the shots, single, aimed, probably using a Dragunov, a pretty accurate rifle loosely based on the AK.  When they weren't trying to pick off the lads on the ground, they were having a go at us - a round would ping off the turret next to you and you'd hear the crack!

Once again, we're in a bloody 360 degree battle.  Which I was getting tired of by now.  At least the guys were used to it and they knew what to do which was locate and kill.  They were fighting their own little battles, up and down the alleyways, so I decided to concentrate on the snipers. I stood up in my turret, trying to draw a bit of fire, hoping to see the muzzle flash.  Rifle up, managed to locate one, put the 30mm straight on to him and neutralised him.  We located another three or four people on the rooftops who were firing down on to the boys, we waxed them a couple of times and no fire seemed to come from that location again.  The gunner was clearing all the rooftops and balconies using the 30mm or the chain gun, depending what was needed.  The two guys on top cover in the back were fighting another battle to my rear left and rear right.  My main concern was the other two snipers.  I was taking quite a bit of heat from them, had a few come past my nose, so I wanted to find the bastards.  But  I couldn't see them.  It's quite hard to find people, in contact and at night, but I just caught sight of one of them moving, like a bent-over run, on the parapet of a roof to my right. He was trying to get a better position on me, or on the guys on the ground.  I turned the turret around and let him have the 30mm.  The rooftops all have thick walls round them, they can be hard to get through with a rifle or even the 7.62, but the Rarden just goes straight through.  I saw him blown over and crawl around on the roof, a bit disorientated, maybe looking for his weapon. Then I saw him come back up again.  The gunner had already flicked the turret back and was engaging elsewhere, so I took the guy with my rifle.

I couldn't locate the third bloke for a while.  He was somewhere over to my left but I wanted to get him, because I'd called Fergie on the net and told him to get his lads back inside, they were too exposed. And I didn't want them picked off as they got in.  Most of the dismounts managed to get back to their vehicles, but my boys were completely pinned down in an alleyway to my side and in doorways.  Every time they stepped out, they were getting fire coming down on them.  Most of it was coming from rooftops opposite, so I said to Fergie 'I'll put a load of 7.62 tracer up there to keep their heads down.... as soon as you see that, move.'
But when he did, he had to dive for cover again ... they were firing AK at him from a point almost directly above him.  I told Fergie, 'I'm going to send three rounds of 30mm straight above your head... stick your fingers in your tabs, it's coming hard and fast.'  

The 30mm did its job and they were able to extract out, with a small running battle till they reached the Warrior.  
My main concern then was the last sniper.  I started to move my vehicle back and forward to draw him out, tease him with a target he couldn't resist.  So we moved forward moved back, moved forward, moved back...and, sure enough, he started firing.  The gunner dealt with him and as he was doing that Fergie, down inside the back of the vehicle, started tapping me and telling me we were  taking fire from the right.  So I turned and dropped another one there with my rifle.  I was out, so I popped down to change mag, and a guy with an AK just stood up right near us, out of nowhere.  I was like 'F***!  Where did he come from.?' I dropped my rifle pulled out my 9mm and basically emptied it into him.
 
Then we heard fast air arriving.  They came over low, dropping loads of anti-missile flares which lit the area up. As that drifted down, the guys were able to identify groups of men moving on the rooftops and take them out. It was a free-for-all, and that really finished their plans off for the night, I think.  Shortly after that, day broke - there's no dawn to speak of out there, one minute it's pitch black, then you get a quick, yellowy-pink sunrise, and then it's daylight, and it starts to really warm up.  And the fighting pretty much stopped apart from one or two optimists with AKs rattling off half a mag here and there.

The convoy came through having been held outside the town until it was safe, and we tagged on the end and were back in base half an hour later.

Once again, no-one was killed, which felt like a miracle in some ways. And again, check ammo, check the vehicles, clean the weapons and check on the lads, who were all feeling the after effects of a long and very dangerous contact, under sniper fire, at night, with rounds skipping off walls next to them.  But they were a fantastic set of lads, some of the best men I've ever worked with, and they'd all coped brilliantly.’

Sold with an extensive archive of original documentation and other artifactcs, comprising:

i. Original Certificate of Service, confirming medal entitlement.

ii. Warrant Officer’s commission certificate, dated, 21 January 2010.

iii. Original recommendation for C.G.C.; together with recipient’s own contemporary reports of the actions.

iv. Fourteen letters of congratulation, including letters from Princess Anne; Major General GJ Binns, CBE, DSO, MC; Major General ARD Shirreff, CBE and Lieutenant General JNR Houghton, CBE

v. Buckingham Palace investiture invitation, program, DVD of ceremony, official photographs, letters, etc.

vi. Presentation copy of the book, In Foreign Fields, by Dan Collins from the author.

vii. The Infantryman Annual 2006, containing an article by the recipient on his exploit in Iraq.

viii. A quantity of newspaper and magazine articles relating to the award of the C.G.C.

ix. Invitation and program for St Paul’s Cathedral commemoration service marking the end of UK combat operations in Iraq, 9 October 2009.

x. Six military issue maps as used by the recipient in Iraq (5), Afghanistan (1).

xi. Iraqi Most Wanted playing cards, as originally issued by the Intelligence Agency of United States of America; together with a second commercially produced pack and two ‘wanted propoganda’ packets of matches depicting the face of Sadam Husssein.

xii. Recipient’s full dress uniform, complete with jacket, trousers, shirt and hat, all retaining original insignia; leather Sam Brown belt and jumper.

xiii. Metal identity discs; Warrant Officer’s arm badge; P.W.R.R. epaulettes (2); I.S.A.F. cloth badge and two commemorative ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ cloth badges.

xiv. Embroidered army-green t-shirt ‘Op Telic 8, Apr-Nov 06, 9 Platoon, C-Coy, 1PWRR, Al Amarah

xv. Iraqi army epaulette and four Iraqi bank notes.