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by Rachael Woods and Jess Banham

rwoods@thekmgroup.co.uk

An Army corporal who dodged enemy gunfire to help his
injured comrades has told of his surprise at being given the
Military Cross.

Cpl James Bedford, 29, based at the Royal School of Military
Engineering, Brompton, is to receive the top military honour for
his selfless actions in Afghanistan, which went "above and beyond
the call of duty".

It was while he was commanding a six-man Royal Engineer search
team on June 10, 2010, that the group came under attack in the
Nahr-e-Saraj district of central Helmand. The team were on service
with the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Task Force.

A hail of bullets left one soldier with a shattered leg and
another injured, but Cpl Bedford ran forward to the stricken men in
view of the enemy and without covering fire.

He used his body as a buffer to protect the wounded soldiers
from gunfire and gave life-saving first aid to the badly injured
man, while directing men to support the other casualty.

Cpl Bedford, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, escaped injury by
a whisker when a bullet hit equipment on his back, just missing his
head and propelling him forward.

Speaking after returning from a tour of duty, Cpl Bedford shook
off claims of bravery: "To use the old cliche the training does
kick in.

"You don't think about what will happen to you, all I was
concerned about was that two of my friends had been injured and I
was going to do whatever I needed to do, to get them out
safely.

"I was very surprised but very proud and very grateful to have
received such an award."

But he said the incident details came as a shock to his
family.

Cpl Bedford said: "I tried to shield what was going on from my
family as much as I could do.

"Obviously when the details of this incident came out, they
found out what was actually going on out there, said a few choice
words to me and that was that."

He even took gunfire whistling past his head in his
stride: "I was very much aware of it but I'm there to do a job and
all that mattered to me was getting in and getting him out of
there."

Cpl Bedford's Military Cross citation reads: "Bedford's
swift and courageous action undoubtedly saved life whilst risking
his own. He demonstrated clear thinking and exceptional leadership
under accurate fire from a determined enemy, thereby ensuring the
recovery of his exposed team members."

Father-of-two Cpl Bedford said: "Getting the award was a
complete surprise, I really hadn't expected anything like
that."

But Cpl Bedford's award was news to his wife Rachel and she had
her own surprise for him. He said: "I hadn't told her about the
incident. When she heard she gave me a clout round the head."