Barefoot Soldier

Description

In 1999 Johnson Beharry scraped together the airfare for Britain and joined the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. He served in Kosovo, Northern Ireland and was then posted to Iraq. On 1 May 2004, he assisted a patrol caught in a series of ambushes. His vehicle was hit by rocket propelled grenades, but he drove through the ambush and extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. While back on duty on 11 June 2004, a rocket propelled grenade hit Beharry's vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew. Despite his very serious head injuries, Beharry took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area. He required brain surgery for his injuries, and was still recovering when he was awarded the Victoria Cross in March 2005.