b. 1982 Dumfries, Scotland.
DATE OF CGC ACTION: 09/08/2003 Al Uzayr, Maysan Province, Iraq.
Shaun G Jardine CGC
Shaun was born in Dumfries, Scotland in 1982. He joined the King’s Own Scottish Borderers at the age of 16 in 1998, and was deployed to Iraq with the 1st Battalion on TELIC 2 after the initial invasion, in mid-June 2003 at the age of 21. When he arrived in Basra, they were soon moved to Kuwait for acclimatisation training. Shortly after their arrival six Royal Military Policemen were killed in Al Majar Al Kabir, which saw Shaun and his comrades moved back to the frontline sooner than expected. This was part of the campaign to track down the killers of the RMP men.
Corporal Jardine was commanding a Fire Team employed as the Immediate Quick Reaction Force for the Al Uzayr Security Force Base in Maysan Province on the morning of Saturday 9 August 2003. At 0815hrs a prolonged and intense mix of Heavy Machine Gun and Small Arms fire was heard 300m to the North of the base and Corporal Jardine and his fire team deployed to investigate.
Corporal Jardine and his team advanced North on foot until they were engaged by two enemy positions 100 metres to their West. The first was occupied by three men armed with automatic rifles, the second by a Heavy Machine Gun. Corporal Jardine immediately ordered his team into what limited cover was available. Simultaneously, other elements of the Al Uzayr Multiple, which had also deployed came under fire to the South. Realising that no reinforcements were available and assessing that his team’s position was becoming untenable, Corporal Jardine decided to take the offensive.
Corporal Jardine ordered the remainder of his team to provide covering fire, and despite intense and accurate HMG fire, assaulted the first position alone, killing two of the enemy and capturing their weapons. The third enemy fled in the face of his determined action. Corporal Jardine then proceeded to suppress the depth machine gun position, whilst calling forward the remainder of his own Team to join him. At this point a third enemy position was identified to him by the Platoon Commander. Corporal Jardine’s team located this position and proceeded to lay down fire on both positions, allowing the remainder of the Multiple to move forward. At this point the enemy disengaged from the action and withdrew to the North.
Shaun’ action saw him awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross which he received in an investiture at Buckingham Palace. Following his time in the 1st King’s Own Scottish Borderers, Jardine served for a time as an Infantry Instructor at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick and he spent the majority of his career serving with the Highlanders, 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Throughout his service he was deployed on Operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan and he took part in major overseas exercises in the Falkland Islands, Cyprus, Jordan, Kenya, Canada and Germany. He was then employed as the Senior Permanent Staff Officer Instructor at Glasgow & Strathclyde Universities’ Officer Training Corps. He was awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal in 2016 and left the Army in 2021 in the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2 after completing 23 years of loyal and dedicated service.
Shortly after leaving the Army, he chose to auction his medals at Dix Noonan Webb in London. Shaun decided to sell the medal group in order to secure a house for his family. The hammer price for the medal group realised on 21 July 2021 was £140,000.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PRIVATELY HELD.
