One of the most decorated soldiers of the modern era has sold his medals for £150,000 ($198,590).
Sgt Maj John Thompson, 43, has fought off enemy forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has been repeatedly recognised for his bravery in combat and for saving the lives of his comrades.
Sgt Maj Thompson put his medals, including a rare Afghanistan 2007 Battle of the Sluice Gate Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, up for sale and they fetched a record price at London's Dix Noonan Webb when they were bought by a private collector.
“I’m a single parent of a 6, 8 and a 21-year-old, and the money will enable me to provide the best opportunities for them as they grow up," said the Royal Marine Commando, who now lives in Barnstaple.
“Being a father is the most important role I’ve ever had, which I didn’t fully appreciate when I was running around Iraq and Afghanistan, and I’m doing this for them.
“Initially when I thought about selling them I felt quite anxious, but ultimately I’m quite content to sell them because I know they’ll stay in a cherished collection.
“At the end of the day, the greatest thing for me is not the medals, it is that my children know their daddy is a hero.”
Sgt Maj Thompson, who was born in Dunfermline, Fife, but has lived most of his life in Devon, joined the Royal Marines in 1998.
After training, he joined the 40 Commando Royal Marines and was sent to Northern Ireland in 2000.
In 2003, he received a Mentioned in Despatches medal for exceptional gallantry after he rescued colleagues in his Delta Company who had become surrounded by enemy forces at Al Yahudia, Iraq.
Sgt Maj Thompson was then given the CGC after his entire company was ambushed by the Taliban in Habibollah Kalay, in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, in January 2007.
During the prolonged battle, when ammunition was running low, he stayed in the killing area and opened fire on five enemy points, making himself the focus of shooting and allowing his team to dismount.
Sgt Maj Thompson suffered burst eardrums because of his closeness to rocket-propelled grenade and machinegun fire, but his “selfless and courageous actions” led the company to win the firefight.
“Tommo’s amazing Conspicuous Gallantry Cross group is markedly different from most of the others in that, not only was he awarded the CGC for gallantry in Afghanistan, but he had been previously awarded the MID gallantry award of a Silver Oak Leaf on his Iraq medal for being Mentioned in Despatches," said Christopher Mellor-Hill, associate director of Dix Noonan Webb.
“This makes him one of only a handful of men to have been decorated twice for gallantry in Iraq and Afghanistan and shows that this bravery was in his character, as well as a reflection and credit upon on his fellow Royal Marines in those actions.
"And this has been reflected in it making this a record auction price for a CGC group of medals.”
