Originally Posted by
Douglas Bahada
wrt Sam Drennan he was a serial “offender”. A true one off.
Seven years later, by then a major serving with the Northern Ireland Regiment AAC, Drennan was called out on December 16, 1989 to Croslieve Hill in south Armagh to evacuate a soldier who was seriously injured after falling on the rocky slope, where his unit was to relieve another patrol positioned at an observation post on Croslieve Hill.The injured soldier, explained Drennan’s official award recommendation, “was badly concussed and unable to move”. It added: “There was a suspicion that his skull had been fractured.”
At the time it was snowing heavily, visibility was poor and there were gale force winds.
Because of these conditions, the crew of another army helicopter that had initially been called out to airlift the casualty was forced to abandon the attempt.
However, “due to the seriousness of the casualty’s condition, Major Drennan volunteered to attempt the casevac [casualty evacuation],” in his Lynx helicopter, revealed the award recommendation.
“Undeterred by the conditions, Major Drennan, with the greatest skill, determination and daring, edged his aircraft to the pick-up point, talking himself in by radioing to the troops on the ground,” it continued.
With the aid of his night vision goggles, Drennan managed to land the leading edge of the Lynx’s skids on the slope of the hill and the injured soldier was carried on board. Drennan safely landed back at his base and the soldier went on to make a full recovery.
For what his medal citation described as an “outstanding performance”, Major Drennan was awarded the prestigious Air Force Cross for his daring rescue a year later, in November 1990
Wasn't aware of that. Either that or I've forgotten about it.
