The New Zealand Bravery Decoration, NZBD, Part 3, M to P,

in #history6 years ago

Instituted in 1999 as part of a Government move to
replace British awards for gallantry with distinctive
New Zealand awards.

The New Zealand gallantry decoration replaced

The Queen’s Gallantry Medal,
The Air Force Cross and
The Air Force Medal.

Awarded for

“acts of exceptional bravery in situations of danger”

Anthony James MILLER 2 April 2011
Snr Sgt NZP

Citation

On 7 May 2009 Senior Sergeant Anthony Miller was one of the first Police Officers to arrive at the scene of the fatal shooting of Senior Constable Len Snee, and the wounding of Mr Len Holmwood, and Senior Constables Grant Diver and Bruce Miller, by Jan Molenaar in Chaucer Road South, Napier.

Though he was unarmed, Senior Sergeant Miller advanced into the immediate scene of the incident with several colleagues and, while under fire from Molenaar, located the position where Senior Constable Miller was lying, wounded.

When Detective Sergeant Smith drove the car to where Constable Miller lay, Senior Sergeant Miller moved forward and, while preparations were being made to move Senior Constable Miller from the scene, covered part of Senior Constable Miller’s body with his own in order to shield him from further injury.

He then assisted in placing Senior Constable Miller into the car before returning to the other members of his group who had been covering their activities from a position nearby.

Senior Sergeant Miller then supervised the withdrawal of Sergeant Heath Jones, Constable Kevin Rooney and himself from the scene to positions at the inner cordon.

A short time afterwards, a group of officers including Detective Sergeant Smith, Detective Sergeant Nicholas Clere and a paramedic, Mr Stephen Smith, made their way down Chaucer Road with a stretcher to recover Senior Constable Diver from his hiding place at No. 45.

Plans had been made for a ‘hot extraction’ using an ambulance, should the group be fired upon at any stage.

A few minutes later, they began their return journey up the hill, but it was apparent that they were having considerable difficulty carrying Senior Constable Diver.

While Constable Rooney provided cover with a rifle from his cordon position, Senior Sergeant Miller and Sergeant Jones ran down the hill to meet the stretcher party and assisted them in bringing Senior Constable Diver to a position of safety.

Senior Sergeant Miller played a leading role in the events that took place on the morning of 7 May.

He displayed exceptional bravery and put his own life in danger during the successful evacuation of Senior Constable Miller from his exposed position near the gunman’s house, while under fire, by initially protecting Senior Constable Miller’s body with his own and then placing the wounded officer in the car.

He followed this with a display of coolness and professionalism when conducting the tactical withdrawal of the group to the cordon, and performed a second act of bravery that morning by going to the assistance of the group evacuating Senior Constable Diver.

Info From

W/C Anthony Frederick Roland MILLSOM 2 April 2011
RNZAF [Rtd]

Citation

On 26 April 2008 Anthony Millsom, then a Wing Commander serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, was at home at Whenuapai when he heard the sound of a small aircraft as it nose-dived into the ground from a low altitude.

Looking out of the window, he saw billowing smoke and immediately ran from his house towards the crash site, which was inside the perimeter of the Air Base.

As he approached the crumpled aircraft he saw it engulfed in flames.

The surrounding grass, which extended to the concrete base of a nearby building, was also burning.

Wing Commander Millsom recognised the building as the one used to store highly inflammable liquid oxygen.

Grabbing a nearby fire hose he ran to the aircraft and quickly realised that one of its occupants was lying face down half out of the plane.

The person’s legs were burning and flames were licking up their back, melting their shirt.

Wing Commander Millsom ran up to the aircraft, but couldn’t see all of it because of the flames and smoke.

He called out to the accident victim, but did not receive a response.

Despite the risk to himself, he attempted to get the occupant out of the aircraft, but was initially beaten back by the flames and heat.

He then made another attempt and managed to grab the victim’s belt and pull him out and away from the aircraft.

Others had now arrived at the scene and were shouting warnings.

The fire had increased in intensity and was getting ever closer to the liquid oxygen store, heightening the risk of an explosion.

Wing Commander Millsom, therefore, had no option but to retire to safety.

In attempting to rescue the occupant of the aircraft, Wing Commander Millsom suffered burns and blisters to both hands and flash burns to the side of his face.

He acted selflessly, and with great courage and persistence, not knowing if the person he was attempting to rescue was alive or dead.

All the time, he was at risk from the surrounding fire and a possible explosion.

Info From

James Alexander MUIR 2 April 2011
Constable NZP

Citation

At 3.00 a.m. on 23 June 2007, a stolen vehicle was observed entering Mt Maunganui.

The vehicle was being driven by two 14-year-old youths who had escaped from a Child, Youth and Family residential bush programme in the Upper Ruatoki Valley.

They had burgled two rural residences, from which they had obtained firearms and ammunition, as well as the car, and had committed further offences in Whakatâne.

Constable James Muir, aged 41 years, and his Police dog, Neo, were called out to join the pursuit.

While the vehicle was being pursued, the passenger climbed into the back seat, armed himself with a 0.303 rifle and began to fire at the Police vehicles, including Constable Muir’s car.

About this time the offenders’ car began to slow, as its tyres had been spiked by the Police earlier in the pursuit.

The offending vehicle was forced to stop.

Constable Muir, seeing that his colleague was in a dangerous situation, came to his aid by parking immediately behind the offenders’ vehicle.

By this time, another officer had got out of his car and attempted to apprehend the driver of the offenders’ car.

The youth in the back of the car pointed the rifle at the Constable who, fearing he would be shot, took cover behind a nearby wall.

The two constables then verbally challenged the two youths to surrender.

The youth with the rifle then pointed it first at the other officer and then at Constable Muir.

At one stage Constable Muir saw the youth work the bolt and heard a ‘click’ as the trigger was pulled.

Fortunately, the rifle chamber was empty.

The driver of the offenders’ car then got out of his vehicle and surrendered.

The youth with the rifle also got out of the vehicle and moved towards the other officer’s Police car, which still had its engine running.

Before he could reach it, Constable Muir released his dog, Neo, who apprehended him.

While this was going on, the other youth attempted to escape, and was also apprehended.

Constable Muir acted calmly and professionally in a dangerous and rapidly changing situation over which he had no control, and in which he had no alternative but to render assistance to his colleague.

Throughout the incident, there was the risk of being shot by an offender who showed that he was prepared to use a firearm to effect his escape.

Info From

Mervyn Raymond NEIL 2 April 2011
Snr Firefighter NZFS

Citation

At 4.00 p.m. on Saturday 5 April 2008 two Hamilton fire crews responded to a monitored smoke alarm at the cool store complex in Tamahere.

Senior Firefighter Mervyn Neil was a member of one of those crews.

Immediately after the crews gained entry to the cool store a massive explosion occurred with flames and debris propelled tens of metres into the air.

The officer in charge was killed in the explosion and seven other firefighters were severely injured.

The most severely injured survivor was Senior Firefighter Neil who received burns to 73% of his body.

Nearby citizens, including several qualified medical personnel, ran to the scene to assist the victims.

They tended to the victims’ injuries and, unaware of the increasing danger to which they were exposed, helped remove firefighters trapped by the debris.

Senior Firefighter Neil, though grievously injured, was aware of the developing danger and quietly and professionally took charge of the situation and led people away from the danger area.

Despite being urged to rest and receive treatment, he continued to work to ensure the safety of his colleagues and their rescuers, cooling the burns sustained by his colleagues with a fire hose and showing others how to do it.

When support appliances started to arrive some 11 minutes after the explosion, the officer in charge of the first appliance to arrive was directed to the scene by Senior Firefighter Neil, who was still assisting with operations despite his life-threatening injuries.

He finally left the scene by ambulance some 40 minutes after the explosion and subsequently spent 10 weeks in a coma.

Senior Firefighter Neil’s actions between the time of the explosion and his evacuation to the hospital were examples of exceptional bravery and professionalism of the highest order and contributed substantially to the safety of members of the public and of his own injured colleagues in the critical period immediately following the explosion.

Info From

Michael Ross O’LEARY 2 April 2011
Inspector NZP

Citation

At 3.55 p.m. on 24 April 2009 Inspector Michael O’Leary was off duty and driving with his family along State Highway One some 17km north of Taupo, when the vehicle in front of him, a Toyota van, crashed head-on with a black sedan coming the opposite way.

The Toyota, which contained six people, flipped into the air, landed on its rear, and rolled four times before going off the road and down a grass embankment and bursting into flames.

Inspector O’Leary was the first person to arrive at the scene.

Instructing his son, Conor, to wave down any approaching traffic, he went first to the black sedan and determined that the male driver showed no signs of life.

Going to the other side, he noticed that the female passenger was semi-conscious and may have sustained a broken leg and other injuries.

He told her that help was on the way, but decided not to try and remove her from the car.

Hearing an explosion he looked over to the other side of the road and saw the Toyota in flames.

Inspector O’Leary crossed the road but the flames and the angle of the bank prevented him from approaching the Toyota from that side.

At this time he was met by Mr Peter Booth, a motorist who had stopped to assist with a small fire extinguisher.

After a few words to Mr Booth, Inspector O’Leary ran down the bank and crossed a wire fence to get to the other side of the vehicle.

From there he could see two children hanging out to about chest level of what was once a window.

As the flames above him were getting stronger, he pulled a two-year-old boy from the Toyota and ran about 15 metres away from the vehicle, where the child was taken by Inspector O’Leary’s daughter back to their car.

He then went back to the Toyota to rescue the second child, and was joined by his son, Conor.

By now the Toyota was full of dense black smoke, the flames were becoming fiercer and there were one or two small explosions from inside the vehicle.

Inspector O’Leary, Conor O’Leary and Mr Booth attempted to pull the second child, a boy, free but he was held inside by what may have been his seat belt, and the flames beat them back.

Determined not to let the child die, Inspector O’Leary asked if anyone had a knife.

Fortunately, Mr Booth had brought a pocket knife with him when he came to assist.

Inspector O’Leary took it and, leaning inside the vehicle, was able to cut away whatever was restraining the child.

The three of them were then able to pull the boy, whose trousers were on fire, clear of the vehicle.

Inspector O’Leary ripped the burning clothes from the child and took him to a place of safety.

By now the Toyota was a ball of fire and further rescues were impossible.

Although he had sustained burns himself, Inspector O’Leary continued to manage the accident scene, especially the care of the injured, until the Police and other emergency services arrived.

He was then taken to hospital for treatment.

Despite the horrific scene that confronted him, Inspector O’Leary displayed coolness, professionalism and exceptional bravery in the manner in which he first controlled the accident scene, and then went about attempting to rescue the people trapped inside the burning Toyota.

At any time during the rescue attempts, the Toyota’s fuel tank could have exploded, killing or seriously injuring him, and those who were with him.

Info From

Karl Hugh PENNINGTON 3 May 2008
Constable NZP

[See Citation under Robert Bruce GIBSON]
Info From

Brian John PICKERING, of Rotorua 29 January 2005

Citation:

On 25 September 2000, Mr John Painting and his son Matthew were tramping in the Kaimanawa Ranges.

At an altitude of almost 5,000 feet, they were caught in what was later reported as a "50 year storm" with freezing temperatures, 70 knot winds and blizzard conditions.

They were found by chance in a distressed condition and suffering from hypothermia by Mr Brian Pickering, who was on the first day of a six day journey into the Kaimanawa Forest Park.

Using his skill and experience, Mr Pickering positioned the two men below a track, placed them in their sleeping bags and gave them food.

He also tried to wrap them with a tent to shield them from the driving wind.

He then dialled 111 on his cell phone and alerted the Police to the situation.

He was able to provide details of their location and names, and requested assistance from the search and rescue organisation.

He managed to get both men into one sleeping bag and remained with them, keeping them as warm as possible until help arrived.

Throughout the incident he kept in regular contact with the search and rescue headquarters.

Mr Pickering put his own life at risk by staying with the two men, who would have died in the storm had it not been for his actions.

Info From

Hakihana Jackson POMARE 23 October 1999
[Deceased]

Citation:

At Matauri Bay, on the evening of 21 June 1997, Hakihana Pomare, aged 11 years, rescued his younger brother from their burning temporary accommodation.

He re-entered the burning structure, amid thick smoke and intense heat, to rescue another brother and his sister but all three tragically died in the fire.

He displayed exceptional bravery.

Citation

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