Sourcing City Marketplace are delighted to announce that Johnson Beharry VC is to be the opening speaker at SC Marketplace at 9.15am on Tuesday 23rd September.

Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC, is the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross in more than 30 years, and he will be talking about his inspirational life experiences and how he faced unimaginable enormous challenges.

Johnson was born in Grenada, moving to the UK in 1999. In august 2001 he joined the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. After training at Catterick, he became a driver of Warrior armoured vehicles in C Company, 1st Battalion. Prior to Iraq, he served for six months in Kosovo and three months in Northern Ireland.

He then went to Iraq. On 1 May 2004, Beharry helped assist a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes. On 1 May 2004, he was driving a Warrior Tracked Armoured Vehicle that was hit by multiple rocket propelled grenades. The platoon commander, the vehicle’s gunner and a number of other soldiers in the vehicle were injured. Beharry was forced to open his hatch to steer his vehicle, exposing his face and head to withering small arms fire. Beharry drove the crippled Warrior through the ambush, taking his own crew and leading five other Warriors to safety. He then extracted his wounded comrades from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. He was cited on this occasion for ‘valour of the highest order’.

While back on duty on 11 June 2004, a rocket propelled grenade hit Beharry’s vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew. Despite his very serious head injuries, Beharry took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries, and he was still recovering when he was awarded the VC in March 2005.

The full citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 18 March 2005 and commented, “Private Beharry carried out two individual acts of great heroism by which he saved the lives of his comrades. Both were in direct face of the enemy, under intense fire, at great personal risk to himself (one leading to him sustaining very serious injuries). … Beharry displayed repeated extreme gallantry and unquestioned valour, despite intense direct attacks, personal injury and damage to his vehicle in the face of relentless enemy action.”

Johnson competed in the 2011 series Dancing On Ice. Today he supports a number of military charities, has his own JBVC Foundation and he is also a member of the WW1 Victoria Cross Panel. His story is told in his own book entitled: Barefoot Soldier.

Pre-Booking your appointments guarantees you great success at SCM! Our online system is simple to use and packed with useful information. Suppliers are of course delighted for you to call to request an appointment, indeed it shows them that you are interested in meeting with them. So, please set aside some time now to get the best appointments.

NB: This year we also have ‘Runaround Sessions’ where you can catch up with distributors who you do not have booked appointments.

If you would like to ask us anything or if we can help in any way at all
please contact: Jason or Hannah on:
0844 504 5000
jasongrenham@sourcingcity.co.uk
hannah@sourcingcity.co.uk