It's now almost 70 years since His Majesty King George VI instituted a new honour, to be awarded only for the most conspicuous courage or acts of the greatest heroism. At that time, Britain was engaged in war with Nazi Germany and the King wished to respond to the strong national desire to recognise gallantry demonstrated on the home front.
Today, Britain is engaged in a very different kind of military operation. One which, while bearing little resemblance to the world war of 1939-45, is nevertheless crucial to our national security. I've said it before and I repeat it today: long term success in Afghanistan is necessary for the protection of this nation, its citizens and their interests.
But while the world has altered much since the 1940s, and the strategic threats to the UK have changed over time, one thing has remained constant: our success, and that of our nation, rests upon the outstanding commitment and unsurpassed courage of the men and women of our Armed Forces.
We rightly salute the likes of Colonel Stuart Archer - who I'm delighted to welcome here today - for his actions as a young bomb disposal officer in Swansea in June 1940. He earned his George Cross after a series of astonishing actions in which he put his own life in grave danger in order to save the lives of others.
He, I know, will be proud - although not surprised - that his successors have sustained in full measure the standards of selflessness and bravery that he and his colleagues set seven decades ago. I have the signal honour today of announcing the two latest names to join that of Colonel Archer and others as holders of this most prestigious of military awards. Two people who, like Colonel Archer, displayed the highest levels of courage in the field of explosive ordnance disposal.
The names of Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes, who is here today, and Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, will go down in history as the bravest of the brave. It's worth reflecting that all of our people deployed on the front line of operations regularly display astonishing fortitude and courage. Of their number, a few receive operational awards because, even in such uniformly gallant company, their actions stand out. But beyond even this, now and again someone displays such astonishing heroism that it can only justly be recognised by the highest and rarest award. So those words, 'the bravest of the brave', mean exactly what they say.
The citations - which we shall hear in full in a moment - speak for themselves. Staff Sergeant Hughes is judged to have committed the single, most outstanding act of explosive ordnance disposal ever recorded in Afghanistan. And Staff Sergeant Schmid is described as demonstrating indefatigable courage, time and time again, throughout his four-month tour. Through their actions they saved countless military and civilian lives, at considerable risk to and, sadly in one case the cost of, their own. They are true heroes and I salute them both.
But I also want to say something about their families. Like all of us in the Armed Forces, I know only too well how crucial the support of one's family is for anyone deployed on operations. But I'm also conscious of the great burden we place upon those families, and the price that they alas sometimes have to pay. That, too, takes courage - of a very special kind. I'm in no doubt that neither of the men we are honouring here today could have sustained the pressure of their difficult and dangerous jobs without the support of their loved ones at home.
And if I may be allowed to presume, I cannot believe that Staff Sergeant Schmid would feel anything but the most enormous pride at the dignity and bravery displayed by Christina and the rest of his family in the days since his death.
Of course, these two George Crosses are not the only awards included in the latest Operational Honours List. Well over 100 other outstanding men and women feature in the complete list which will be published tomorrow. And I think that it's important that all of these awards should be set in the context of the operations in Afghanistan and the achievements that have been made there. So let me say a few words about 19 Light Brigade, with whom most of those included on the list served, and its time on Operation HERRICK 10 between March and November 2009.
It was an extraordinary tour, in terms both of the heightened threat and of the progress made. It was a tour conducted during the routinely intense fighting of the Afghan summer months.
It was also - and most importantly - a tour of noticeable UK progress in Helmand. Building on the successes of their predecessors, 19 Light Brigade significantly increased the areas of central Helmand under Afghan Government control and created the momentum which paved the way for the progress we have since seen.
Operation PANCHAI PALANG - also known as Panther's Claw - was the key event of the tour. This wrested from insurgent control an area the size of the Isle of Wight. A combination of offensive spirit and bravery brought security, governance and development to the area, and hope to a sizable proportion of the population in Helmand. And more widely across the province, 19 Brigade consolidated and developed the gains that had been made during previous HERRICK tours.
The 9,000 military in Afghanistan for HERRICK 10 included people from most walks of Armed Forces life - ground combat troops, airmen, aviation forces, engineers, artillerymen, electrical and mechanical engineers, logisticians, doctors and medics from all three Services.
Sadly the tour was not without cost - something we hardly need reminding of today. ISAF offensive operations inevitably elicited a response from insurgents across Helmand, and most notably in Sangin. The conflict was far more intense and lethal than on any previous HERRICK deployment, and was marked by a noticeable shift in insurgent tactics - towards much greater use of Improvised Explosive Devices, infiltration and subversion.
We lost some incredibly brave people on HERRICK 10; highly valued comrades and dear friends. But they and their colleagues changed the dynamic in Southern Afghanistan - they set the conditions for the considerable success of our operations this year.
I pay tribute to the many thousands of service personnel who played their part, and particularly to those whose names appear on the Operational Awards List. We can and should be proud of them all. But as I said earlier, their outstanding record serves to throw into even sharper relief the deeds of the remarkable men we are honouring today. Staff Sergeant Hughes and Staff Sergeant Schmid are exceptions in an already exceptional group: the bravest of the brave. Let me ask the Commander of 19 Brigade on Op HERRICK, Brigadier Tim Radford, to tell us why.