WAR HEROES INVITED TO WALES V IRELAND MATCH

They will be joined by a third member of their regiment who was mentioned in dispatches.
 
On 18 March, 2005, The Ministry of Defence announced the armed forces operational honours awards.  These included the award of the Military Crosses to three members of the Royal Welch Fusiliers for gallantry under fire in Iraq.
 
“We felt it would be nice to honour the gallantry of these three Welsh soldiers by inviting them to the Grand Slam occasion. They will be guests of the WRU and will be presented to the crowd before the game,” said Paul Sergeant, Millennium Stadium general manager.
 
The three recipients of the Military Cross are:
Fusilier David Evans (25) of  Swansea
Company Sergeant Major (WO2) Mark Evans (39) of Dyserth
Sergeant Neil Griffiths (30) of Ynysybwl.
Unfortunately, Company Sergeant Major Mark Evans is unable to come to the game today. However, Sergeant Martin Gregory (27) of the Rhondda will replace him. He was mentioned in dispatches in the same action in Iraq.
 
The Royal Welch Fusiliers were on operations in Iraq between April and November of 2004, during an significant upsurge in violence and terrorism.These operations were carried out under oppressive weather conditions with high humidity and temperatures rising to 50 degrees centigrade. 
 
During this period the Royal Welch were in regular contact with their enemy both in the Mayan district South of Basra and in Al Amarah, where A Company 1RWF were attached to the Princess of Wales’s Own Regiment Battle Group. 
In each case these men displayed cool courage and brave leadership whilst under heavy fire from the enemy, defeating them even when the odds were numerically stacked against them. Their actions undoubtedly saved the lives of their colleagues.