On 9th August 2004 Major Dave Bradley led B Company 1PWRR in Warrior armoured fighting vehicles into the heart of Basra to rescue a small team of Royal Artillery
(RA) soldiers who had been forced to abandon their vehicles and were holed up in a house surrounded by hundreds of insurgents intent on killing them.
On the way to the rescue the company was ambushed. Dave dispatched one of his platoons to try and get to the trapped soldiers and as soon as he had sent
the order his vehicle was hit by up to 13 RPGs simultaneously. One of these hit Dave's hand destroying his rifle, blowing two of his fingers off and part of his hand,
removing part of his shoulder, bursting his eyeball and penetrating his chest. Almost all of the men in his vehicle sustained shrapnel wounds. They managed to
extract whilst the rest of the company fought their way out and managed to successfully rescue the RA soldiers, but the price had been high - as well as those
injured, Pte Lee O'Callaghan, a 20 year old soldier from Dave's Company had been killed.
Dave underwent emergency surgery and was given a 5% chance of survival. Somehow he pulled through spending weeks in intensive care, months of reconstructive
surgery and the next 3 years in and out of rehabilitation at the Defence Services Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court. He has partial sight restored in his
right eye, his hand has been partially rebuilt although he still misses a finger and lacks dexterity and strength and his shoulder has large bits missing - he would win
most scar competitions.
Dave will never regain sufficient fitness to return to front-line service and will therefore this year be medically discharged from the army. He wants to leave on a high
and he wants to put something back for the care that he has received particularly from the staff at Headley Court. We are therefore attempting the Devizes to
Westminster canoe marathon this Easter to raise money for 'Help for Heroes'a who are aiming to fund the building of a pool and
gym complex at Headley Court. It is disappointing that our Government is happy to commit our forces to fighting contentious wars on multiple fronts whilst not being
prepared to commit public money to providing basic care to the injured, however we the public can show that we care for these brave men and women who are daily
putting themselves at risk for us and therefore I ask that you visit our just giving site, dig deep and contribute to this worthy cause.
Many thanks
Steve Vinall and Dave Bradley
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