Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid is to be posthumously awarded the George Cross for his “selfless gallantry, his devotion to duty, and his indefatigable courage” saving countless military and civilian lives during Operation Panthers Claw.

Olaf, who was 30 at the time of his death, personally dealt with 70 confirmed IEDs during his deployment in Helmand. Olaf died trying to defuse a complex IED in Sangin on Saturday, October 31 2009.

In one incident noted in the citation Olaf led his team on an 11 hour clearance operation that destroyed his remote controlled vehicle at the first discovered IED requiring him to manually place explosive charges whilst he was inside the most lethal arc of the IEDs. He went on to manually clear this and three other IEDs to successfully reopen a vital resupply route road to ISAF Forces.

Heroic and selfless acts

His citation credits the subsequent success of the battlegroup’s operation to the heroic and selfless acts of Olaf in clearing a safe route to supply the soldiers.

The citation also highlights a second incident two months later at the beginning of October in Sangin District centre where Olaf’s actions personally saved the lives of countless Afghan civilians.

A live radio controlled IED had been set to cause maximum casualties in a bustling Afghan bazaar. With time against him and at considerable risk to his own safety he decided to neutralise the IED manually.

Manual neutralisation is rare as any error proves instantly fatal. It is only done in extreme circumstances where the emphasis is on saving other peoples’ lives even, if necessary, at the expense of the IEDD operator.

Bravery of the highest order

His citation reads: “In an instant Schmid made the most courageous decision possible, consciously placing his own life on the line in order to save the lives of countless Afghan civilians and demonstrating bravery of the highest order well beyond the call of duty.”

On the day of his death, Olaf had already dealt with three IEDs when transiting to another compound a searcher discovered a command wire running down an alleyway they were using. Trapped in the alleyway with no safe route back or forwards without knowing the location of the IED, Olaf managed to trace the wire to a complex command wire IED that incorporated three linked buried main charges. He was killed whilst dealing with the device.

His citation reads: “Schmid’s actions on that fateful day, when trapped in an alleyway with no safe means of escape, probably saved the lives of his team. These occasions are representative of the complexity and danger that Schmid had faced daily throughout his four month tour.”

A fitting tribute

Speaking at the announcement ceremony in London on Thursday March 18th Olafs wife Christina said: “I am so proud of my husband - truly thrilled. It’s a fitting tribute, a legendary award for my legendary husband. He was loyal to his trade. He wanted to apply his specialist skills and he was constantly challenged working in that trade.

“I am really happy. It’s a massive award. I’m part of a massive family and I do feel completely supported. It’s far from ideal but an award like this is a fantastic reminder of what he achieved. It brings back a lot of love.”

The announcement was made last week with the release of the latest operational honours and awards list, which includes 160 personnel. The awards are for the period April 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009.