As the Sun Military Awards approach, we reveal nominees and honour the Armed Forces’ incredible heroes
The Millies is the nation’s salute to Britain’s amazing Armed Forces
THE SUN Military Awards – affectionately called The Millies – is the nation’s salute to Britain’s amazing Armed Forces.
Our event, now in its ninth year, is sponsored by BAE Systems and takes place on Wednesday before a star-studded audience in London. Here are some of the nominees.
All categories and nominations are listed below.
Hero at home (individual): Private Jake Farr
WHEN a desperate mum handed him the lifeless body of her five-week-old son, Private Jake Farr knew he had to act fast.
Summoning all of his combat medical training, the infantry soldier immediately began CPR on the tiny baby. And in an awesome feat of life-saving heroics, the 25-year-old bought the boy back from death.
Now Jake, of the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, is up for the Millies’ Hero at Home Individual award for saving the life of little John Edward Marshall.
The dad of one was on leave and visiting his parents when neighbour Sophie Marshall rushed out of her house screaming that her young son had stopped breathing.
Jake, from Hayes, Middlesex, said: “I looked in her arms and I just saw this waxy doll. That’s what it looked like at first.
“When I looked back again at this child I knew there was no time to get to the hospital. So I started doing CPR using what we have been trained to do in the Army in battle casualty drills.
“The baby started making some noise so I stopped the CPR, but his eyes started to roll to the back of his head and he stopped breathing again. So I started CPR again.
“While I was doing that my wife Georgina was stripping his clothes off so I could get skin-to-skin contact.
“He came round again, but this time I didn’t stop CPR. I felt euphoric. He was five weeks premature, he was five weeks old, and he had bronchitis which had blocked his lungs and because he was not getting enough oxygen his heart had stopped.
“So when I started breathing for him, that’s when his heart kickstarted again.”
I feel like I owe him everything
Sophie Marshall
The ambulance team later told Jake that the chances of a baby so young being brought back before they arrived are just 0.2 per cent.
He added: “That’s when it sunk in what had happened, I started shaking, thinking what if he didn’t come round. But thank God he did.”
Overjoyed mum Sophie, 25, said: “If Jake hadn’t done what he did, John Edward wouldn’t be here with us now. I feel like I owe him everything.”
Of his Millies recognition, Jake said: “You couldn’t take the smile off my face. To be nominated is an amazing feeling.”
Overcoming adversity: Para Colour Sergeant Marty Wilson
BEING shot in the head on tour in Afghanistan and battling a brain injury has not curbed Para Colour Sergeant Marty Wilson’s drive or determination.
Following his recovery he has pushed himself into achieving some incredible physical feats – which is why he is up for our Overcoming Adversity award.
Marty, 43, from Colchester, racked up nine tours before he suffered a horrendous head wound on February 5, 2011.
He was on patrol in Helmand when he was hit through the temporal lobe, which controls speech. He said: “I remember lying down and could feel blood in my mouth. I stood up, I could talk for a couple of seconds but then it was just gibberish. I wanted to talk but I couldn’t make the words.
“The doctor said it was because it was that part of the brain that was dying.”
After a four-day induced coma in Birmingham Hospital, Marty began the long road to recovery. That included an 18-month stint at Forces’ rehab centre Headley Court near Epsom in Surrey, working with two speech therapists.
As well as recovering, Marty has gone on to thrive, with the support of military charity The Not Forgotten Association.
He has climbed Kilimanjaro, completed the New York Marathon and done an Ultra-triathlon. Next year he plans to do the Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara – the hardest run in the world.
Marty said: “It’s been a lot of frustration, but I’m still alive so I’ve got to smile.
“The Parachute Regiment pretty much forges you into becoming more than you. I will always be a soldier.”
Inspiring others: Captain Hannah Winterbourne
HER incredible work in changing the face of our Forces has led to Captain Hannah Winterbourne being nominated in a new category, Inspiring Others.
Hannah, 29, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, is the most senior transgender soldier in the Army.
She said: “It’s a huge honour to be nominated. The Army is full of people who are doing really good work, so the fact that I have been selected out of all those people is a huge honour.
“People are inherently good, and people get that the Army is about relationships with people. That’s what makes us effective.”
Her brave story of transforming from a male officer to female after a tour in Afghanistan has been a beacon of inspiration to a new generation of soldiers.
When The Sun revealed transgender Guardsman Chloe Allen, inset, had become the first woman in history to join a frontline Army unit, Chloe personally cited Hannah as inspiring her decision.
Hannah, who is the Army LGBT Forum transgender representative, said: “I know there were people who really inspired me and helped me come to a realisation of who I was and made my life better.
People are inherently good, and people get that the Army is about relationships with people
“All I wanted was to try and spread a bit of that love and hopefully help other people.
“It’s nice to know that the effort you put in to work to try and make people’s lives better across the military is having a tangible effect on junior soldiers.”
She added: “I wouldn’t want to detract from Guardsman Allen’s achievements, I’m just one person who has captured the imagination of the public, but she is a true ground-breaker.
“She just wants to be a soldier who wants to get on with her life, and I think that’s so commendable.”
Hero overseas: Sergeant Carl Taylor
WAR hero Sergeant Carl Taylor, who is a nominee in the Hero Overseas Individual category, is no stranger to awards.
The 30-year-old of 1 Mercian was decorated with the Military Cross in 2012 for racing through enemy gunfire in Helmand to rescue three terrified Afghan children.
This year he spent months in embattled Ukraine, training classes of up to 100 local troops in British soldiering skills to help them repel the Russian threat.
Sgt Taylor overcame the language barrier and earned their trust, so much so that officers demanded him by name to carry out their training.
The father of two from Birmingham said: “They had a foreign army coming to train them and they were a bit sceptical. But after a while we compared our experiences and we found the mutual ground, regardless of what we did and what they did. The same principles applied to both.
“Once they got shown new skills they understood it and were really receptive to the training.
“Some of them found out about the MC, some of the officers who found out about it were impressed and wanted to know more about it.”
He described being nominated for a Sun Millie as “humbling”.
The Sun Millies nominees
BEST RESERVIST: Colour Sergeant Roger Coates, Phoenix House Recovery Centre, Catterick: CSgt Coates is a battle back instructor who has dedicated himself to inspiring and encouraging troops facing life changing injury and illness.
Lieutenant Ruairi Holohan, HMS Hibernia: One of the first reservists to play a role in the desperate migrant crisis last year, Lt Holohan saved countless lives and tenderly cared for scores of orphans.
Sergeant Phill Bower, 2623 Sqn RAuxAF Regt, RAF Honington: Sgt Bower has served 16 years in the RAF Reserves, deployed twice to Afghanistan, and raised around £20k for local charity.
HERO AT HOME – INDIVIDUAL: Private Jake Farr 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment: Pte Farr saved the life of a five week old baby whose heart had stopped, twice administering CPR to re-start his heart.
Sergeant Adam Threlfall, Airborne Delivery Wing: When Sgt Threlfall witnessed two parachutists collide mid air, he immediately changed course, dodging others in the air to land a stone’s throw from the injured pair, where he began life-saving first aid.
Lieutenant Ryan Morris, Commando Logistic Regiment, Royal Marines: Lt Mo Morris has dedicated the last five years to supporting injured Royal Marines. He set up the Royal Marines Rehabilitation Triathlon which now boasts over 200 competitors.
HERO AT HOME – UNIT: 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps: The bomb hunters of 11 EOD are on stand-by 365 days a year, and so far have reacted to 1,502 incidents in the UK of which 241 were possible Improvised Explosive Devices.
Carlisle Sea Cadets: When Storm Desmond hit last year the youngsters of Carlisle Sea Cadets rescued residents trapped in homes, and delivered hot food and clean water to affected homes.
RAF Odiham: During the same horror flooding the Chinook helicopters of RAF Odiham ferried a whopping 420 tonnes of sandbags and 6.5 tonnes of barriers to dam a gap in river defences.
HERO OVERSEAS – INDIVIDUAL: Surgeon Commander Matthew Turner, Royal Naval Medical Services: Surgeon Commander Turner led a medical team on chartered ship Vos Grave which saved 4,250 migrants trying to flee Turkey for Greece.
Sergeant Carl Taylor MC, 1 Mercian: Sgt Taylor passed on his expert soldiering skills to Ukraine troops trying to defence their country from invading Russia.
Wing Commander Chris Picken, Station Medical Centre, RAF Akrotiri: Wing Commander Chris Picken is the base medical officer for RAF Akrotiri, launch pad for ops against ISIS. In 2015 he had to care for 110 migrants who washed up at the base.
OVERSEAS HERO – UNIT: 2 Battalion The Rifles: Soldiers from 2 Rifles deployed to Gabon, West Africa, to train 117 Rangers currently combating heinous elephant poaching.
HMS Enterprise: Survey ship HMS Enterprise saved 8,000 men, women and children in the Mediterranean, including 700 in one mission.
RAF contribution to Operation Shader: RAF airman have rolled back the advance of ISIS in Iraq and Syria with a relentless bombing campaign – now recognised as the most intense single operation for 25 years.
INSPIRING OTHERS: Captain Hannah Winterbourne, Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers: Capt Winterbourne is the most senior transgender soldier in the British Army, and her brave example is an enduring inspiration.
Lieutenant Commander Paul Meadows RNR, Beccles Sea and Royal Marines Cadet Unit: Lt Cdr Meadows has racked up three decades volunteering with the Cadets, transforming countless lives.
Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty, Headquarters Air Cadets, RAF Cranwell: Air Commodore McCafferty is Commandant to the Air Cadet Organisation inspiring 42,000 young people.
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY: Former Colour Sergeant Marty Wilson: Former Para CSgt Marty Wilson survived being shot through the brain to take on a series of jaw-dropping physical feats.
Petty Officer Emma Grant, HMS Collingwood: PO Grant suffered life changing injuries after an accident left her paralysed. She has gone on to become the female captain of the Royal Navy powerlifting team.
Former Corporal Stuart Robinson: Former RAF Reg Cpl Stuart Robinson lost both legs in a horror bomb blast in Helmand but is now a double medal winner at the Invictus Games and is on the Team GB rugby wheelchair development squad.
INNOVATION AWARD: Trauma Simulation Ltd: This organisation creates incredibly life-like models of injured bodies so surgeons can drill the skills needed to save lives on the frontline.
RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine: This is a centre of excellence to the defence flying community, creating a series of life saving innovations.
Airbus Zephyr: Airbus created the Zephyr drone which is so sophisticated it acts more like a satellite than a surveillance drone and already holds a host of flight world records. It will be used by UK Special Forces.
SUPPORT TO THE ARMED FORCES: Tickets for Troops: Tickets for Troops provides free tickets for Our Boys and Girls to sporting, music and comedy events, bringing joy and respite to thousands.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity and Fisher House: This is a “home from home” for the families of injured while they are being cared for at Birmingham Hospital.
BLESMA: This outstanding charity has supported limbless veterans for almost a century rehabilitating, counselling and supporting thousands of injured heroes.
Plus one Judges Special Recognition Award to be presented on the night.