Commendation for Gallantry

The Commendation for Gallantry is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force, it recognises acts of gallantry in action considered worthy of recognition. The award was introduced on 15 January 1991, replacing the Imperial equivalent of the Mentioned in Despatches. It is ranked fourth in the Gallantry Decorations in the Australian Honours System.

Commendation for Gallantry
Type	Medal
Awarded for	"Acts of great heroism or conspicuous gallantry in action in circumstances of great peril"
Presented by	Australia
Eligibility	Members of the Australian Defence Force
Status	Currently awarded
Established	15 January 1991
First awarded	1998
Last awarded	2024 Special Honours
Total	114
Ribbon bar of the Medal
Order of Wear
Next (higher)	Royal Victorian Medal
Next (lower)	Commendation for Brave Conduct

Description

• The insignia of the Commendation for Gallantry is a Federation Star superimposed centrally on a gold-plated silver row of flames.
• The insignia is attached to a plain orange ribbon. The centre of the Federation Star is 19 mm from the bottom of the ribbon and 16 mm from either edge.

Recipients

Name	Rank	Date awarded	Citation	Notes
Anonymous		14 June 2010	For acts of gallantry in warlike operations in Afghanistan in 2009.
A	Corporal	14 June 2010	For acts of gallantry in action in Afghanistan in 2008.
A	Private	26 January 2011	For acts of gallantry in action while a machine-gunner under enemy fire in Afghanistan in January 2010.
B	Sergeant	26 January 2010	For acts of gallantry in action as the commander of an explosive ordnance detachment in Afghanistan in 2008.
B	Corporal	10 June 2013	For acts of gallantry in action as a team commander, Special Operations Task Group on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
B	Private	26 January 2015	For acts of gallantry in action during Operation SLIPPER.
Nathan David Bendle	Private	26 January 2013	For acts of gallantry in action on 7 September 2011 while deployed on Operation SLIPPER as a member of Mentoring Task Force 3 in Afghanistan.
Phillip Mowbray Bessell	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army in March 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt in about April 1942.
Neil Raymond Bextrum	Private	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as a member of 7 Section, 12 Platoon, D Company of the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
Marley Clifton Bird	Private	26 January 2011	For acts of gallantry in action while a rifleman and Acting Section Second-in-Command, 6 Section, Combat Team Bravo, Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force 2 during Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan from July 2009 to February 2010.
Stephen Geoffrey Bloomfield	Corporal	31 May 2019	For acts of gallantry in action as a Special Air Service Regiment medical assistant left alone for three days in enemy territory to tend to a severely wounded fellow soldier who had been gored by an elephant in Kalimantan during the Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation in June 1965.
Ronald Howard Brett	Private	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as a member of 2 Platoon, A Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
Forrest Jack Bridges	Private	3 June 1998	n/a
Justin James Brown	Able Seaman	25 March 2000	For gallantry during a reconnaissance of an amphibious landing site in East Timor on the night of 21 October 1999.
Brook Burgess	Trooper	25 March 2000	For gallantry in providing medical support to two wounded fellow soldiers while under fire with the International Force East Timor on 6 October 1999.
C	Corporal	26 January 2012	For acts of gallantry in action while a team commander.
Ian Martin Campbell	Private	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as a member of 10 Platoon, D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
Harold Bertie Chatfield	Flying Officer	19 September 2017	For acts of gallantry in action as a member of Number 615 Squadron, Royal Air Force, during the air war in Burma from December 1943 to June 1944.
Anthony Patrick Clarke	Corporal	26 January 2014	For acts of gallantry in action while commanding a high risk search team in the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment Task Group, in Khas Uruzgan, Afghanistan, on 2 September 2012.
D	Private	14 June 2010	For acts of gallantry in action in Afghanistan in 2009.
D	Corporal	26 January 2012	For acts of gallantry in action while a team commander.
D	Sergeant	11 June 2012	For acts of gallantry in action while deployed as a troop sergeant on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
D	Private	26 January 2013	For acts of gallantry in action.
Clifford Edmond Danaher	Sergeant	12 February 2015	For acts of gallantry in action while a prisoner of war.
John Edward Durkin	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army in early March 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt on 14 August 1945.
James Frederick Elmore	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army on 3 February 1942 until his death on 22 May 1945, as a result of an escape attempt in March 1945.
Wilkins Fitzallen	Lieutenant	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action while held in captivity, during his escape and subsequent recapture by the Imperial Japanese Army on Dutch Timor during the period 23 February 1942 until his execution on, or before, 23 October 1942.
Arthur Edward Ford	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army on 15 February 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt on 17 March 1942.
Noel John Grimes	Private	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as a member of 12 Platoon, D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
William Michael Hall	Lance Corporal	3 June 1998	n/a
Adam John Heemskerk	Corporal	26 January 2012	For acts of gallantry in action on 20 August 2010 while a section commander with Mentoring Team Alpha, the 1st Mentoring Task Force at Musazai, Mirabad Valley, Afghanistan.
Mitchell Jon Howden	Corporal	14 June 2021	For acts of gallantry in action while a Section Commander in the Quick Reaction Force Platoon, Task Group Taji X, Iraq on 11 March 2020.
J	Private	26 January 2011	For acts of gallantry in action as a team member during heavy and sustained enemy fire on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan in 2009.
J	Private	26 January 2011	For acts of gallantry in action while a patrol signaller and joint terminal air controller Afghanistan in 2009.
Jack Victor Jones	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army in March 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt in about April 1942.
K	Sergeant	26 January 2013	For acts of gallantry in action.
William Albert Kinloch	Warrant Officer	26 March 2024	For acts of gallantry in action over two tours of operational service with Number 464 Squadron.
Shaun Miller Kober	Lance Corporal	26 January 2012	For acts of gallantry in action during October 2010 and January 2011 while a sniper team second-in-command in Mentoring Team Four Three Bravo, Combat Team Delta, the 2nd Mentoring Task Force in Chora, Baluchi Valley, Afghanistan.
L	Corporal	13 June 2011	For acts of gallantry in action while on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
L	Private	26 January 2014	For acts of gallantry in action while on operations with the Special Operations Task Group on Operation SLIPPER.
M	Private	13 June 2011	For acts of gallantry in action while on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
Howard Thomas Manning	Sergeant	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army in March 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt in about April 1942.
Norman Heather McArtney	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army on 15 February 1942, until his execution as a result of as escape attempt on 12 July 1943.
Alan Mull	Major	6 July 2022	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army on 15 February 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt on 10 March 1943.
Justin Reginald Mulligan	Pilot Officer	26 March 2024	For acts of gallantry in action over two tours of operational service with Number 464 Squadron.
Richard Murray	Private	13 October 2023	For an act of gallantry in action while a Far East Prisoner of war at Ranau which resulted in his execution on 20 May 1945.
O	Trooper	13 October 2023	For acts of gallantry in action while deployed as a patrol medic on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
Trent Ollis	Private	9 June 2008	For gallantry in action in hazardous circumstances while acting as Lead Scout of 12 Platoon, Security Task Group, 2nd Reconstruction Task Force under enemy fire at Musazai on the 8th August 2007.
Shaun Patrick Parker	Private	26 January 2012	For acts of gallantry in action on 24 August 2010 while a machine gunner with Mentoring Team Delta, the 1st Mentoring Task Force at Derapet, Tangi Valley, Afghanistan.
Kevin Richard Paulsen	Warrant Officer Class Two	3 June 1998	n/a
Geoffrey Michael Peters	Private	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as a member and later acting section commander of 1 Section, 10 Platoon, D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
R	Sergeant	11 June 2012	For acts of gallantry in action while a platoon sergeant on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
R	Sapper	10 June 2013	For acts of gallantry in action as a special operations engineer, Special Operations Task Group on Operation SLIPPER in Afghanistan.
William Alfred Roche	Private	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as a section second in command and section commander in 10 Platoon, D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
Bernard Ronald Ryan	Private	26 January 2010	For gallantry in action while an advanced medical technician in the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team at Kwajeh Ahmed, Afghanistan on 24 March 2009.
S	Private	26 January 2010	For acts of gallantry in action.
S	Lance Corporal	11 June 2012	For acts of gallantry in action while a team second-in-command on Operation Slipper in Afghanistan.
Gordon Cameron Sharp	Second Lieutenant	2 November 2016	For acts of gallantry in action as the platoon commander of 11 Platoon, D Company, 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, during the Battle of Long Tan, Phuoc Tuy Province, Vietnam on 18 August 1966.
Scott James Smith	Corporal	26 January 2013	For acts of gallantry in action on 21 October 2012 while an Explosive Ordnance Reconnaissance Technician in Special Operations Task Group Rotation XVIII in Afghanistan.
Daryl Maxwell Sproule, DFC	Squadron Leader	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following his capture by the Imperial Japanese Navy and until his execution as a result of an escape attempt around the middle of August 1943.
Scott Philip Tampalini	Corporal	26 January 2010	For gallantry in action while an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team member in Afghanistan at Chora 19 December 2008, Kakarak 16 March 2009 and Sorkh Morgarb 18 March 2009.
W	Corporal	9 June 2014	For acts of gallantry in action on Operation SLIPPER.
Nathen Fane Webb	Corporal	26 January 2010	For gallantry in action while a section commander in 2 Platoon, Combat Team TUSK, Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force 1, in the Chora Valley, Afghanistan on 29 December 2008.
Sidney Arthur Webber	Private	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army on 15 February 1942 until his death as a result of escaping on 18 June 1945.
Bertram John West	Sergeant	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action while held in captivity, during his escape and subsequent recapture by the Imperial Japanese Army on Dutch Timor during the period 23 February 1942 until his execution on, or before, 23 October 1942.
Henry Whitton	Sergeant	5 February 2019	For acts of gallantry in action following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army in March 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt in about April 1942.
Kyle Anthony Wilson	Private	26 January 2013	For acts of gallantry in action on 7 September 2011 while deployed on Operation SLIPPER as a member of Mentoring Task Force 3 in Afghanistan.
Barry Leon Young	Captain	4 September 1998	n/a

See also

• Australian Honours Order of Precedence

External links

• It's an Honour Archived 25 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine