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Victoria Cross paratroopers at heart of new display

Video report by ITV News Anglia's Chloe Keedy

Two Victoria Crosses won by paratroopers in Afghanistan have gone on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.

Corporal Josh Leakey is the only British soldier to win the Victoria cross in Afghanistan - and live to tell the tale.

His medal has now gone on display as part of a new exhibition telling the stories of soldiers who go to war from the air.

The Victoria Cross is the highest award for gallantry in the military - in fact it is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon anyone in the UK.

Josh Leakey is only the 15th recipient of the VC since the end of the Second World War, although he is the second member of his family to be awarded one. His second cousin, twice removed, Sgt Nigel Gray Leakey, won a posthumous VC while serving with the King's African Rifles in Abyssinia in 1945.

Corporal Josh Leakey was recognised for single handedly turning the tide of a Taliban attack and preventing a considerable loss of life during an assault in 2013, as he repeatedly ran through heavy fire to man machine guns.

Josh’s medal will be displayed alongside that of Corporal Bryan Budd in the exhibition. Cpl Budd, a paratrooper from Colchester, was given a posthumous award for his bravery during heavy fighting in Helmand in 2006.

I think it’s very important that we remember our history - Paratroopers are very proud of our history and I feel very honoured to have been part of the latest chapter, which was the campaign in Afghanistan.

– Cpl Josh Leakey

The Victoria Cross was first introduced in January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. According to the Imperial War Museum, it has now been awarded 1,358 times.

The medal is hand-made, traditionally using bronze taken from a gun captured in the Crimean War. VC medals are so rare and valuable, they are kept under lock and key. The versions on display at the Imperial War Museum are replicas.

A third Victoria Cross was won in Afghanistan by Lance Corporal James Ashworth. The Grenadier Guardsman from Corby was killed in action in 2012.