Coventry paratrooper honoured for Kabul evacuation bravery

Cpl Jamie Found was deployed to Kabul to assist the evacuation efforts

A paratrooper from Coventry has been recognised for his part in the evacuation of people from Kabul as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

Cpl Jamie Found, 32, of the Second Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS).

He was recognised for his "outstanding bravery and selflessness", the Army said.

Cpl Found said he felt privileged and honoured to receive it.

He is one of three Colchester-based paratroops cited for their roles in the operation at the evacuee handling centre at Kabul airport in August, preventing people from being crushed as thousands tried to flee the country.

A suicide bomb was also detonated killing dozens of people, including British nationals and US troops.

Operation Pitting, as the mission was known, saw personnel deployed at very short notice to support the evacuation.

More than 1,000 military personnel were involved in the evacuation from Afghanistan

The rifle section commander with C Company, 2 Para, led his team into the crowd, pushing them back and forming a protective barrier to hold the line, the Army said.

"For hours he commanded the action at the shield wall, revealing himself above the crowd whilst nervy and tense Taliban fighters observed from mere feet away," his citation reads.

"Providing hands-on managements of his personnel, he reinforced the baseline himself when it was most vulnerable, enabling it to hold for more than three hours before relief eventually arrived."

'Part of history'

The operation went on to rescue 5,000 British and 8,000 Afghan nationals, including 2,100 children.

"[It] felt like we were a part of history," Cpl Found said.

"It was an operation we've not really seen before - not the norm we would train for.

"We've done public order training to prepare us for certain situations but for the humanitarian side of it, I don't think there's any way you can train for that. It was quite surreal once we did get out there."

He said it was an honour to have been nominated "to stand out from everyone else who I was working alongside out there".

"To be honest, I feel that everyone did such a good job that you can't really separate what I did from everyone else I worked alongside."