Orders, Decorations & Medals - Australian Groups

Lot 2474    SESSION 14 (2.30PM THURSDAY 28TH NOVEMBER)    Orders, Decorations & Medals - Australian Groups

Estimate $1,250,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au

VC GROUP OF TEN AND TWO SINGLES: Group of Ten: Victoria Cross for Australia; Australian Active Service Medal 1975-, - two clasps - ICAT, Iraq 2003; Afghanistan Medal 2004; Iraq Medal 2004; Australian Service Medal 1975, - clasp - East Timor; Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012; Defence Long Service Medal; Australian Defence Medal; United Nations Medal (UNMISET); NATO Service Medal, - clasp - ISAF; Singles: Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal 2022; King Charles III Coronation Medal 2024. 8214572 Cpl D.A. Keighran, RAR chisel engraved on back of suspension bar and 24th August 2010 chisel engraved on the central circle on the reverse of first medal, 8214572 D A Keighran on second to fifth and seventh and eighth medals, the sixth, ninth and tenth medals unnamed as issued, also the two loose single medals unnamed as issued. Apart from the first medal, all named medals pantographed. Ten of the medals are court mounted and the last two medals with pin-back suspension are loose, overall nearly uncirculated.

Together with cases for all medals and the mounted group including a case by Hancocks for the Victoria Cross for Australia; also some suspension clasps and a miniature for the Defence Long Service Medal and some spare ribbons for the Defence Long Service Medal as well as a pin-back riband.

Also entitled to Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star awarded to Mentoring Task Force One in 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours; Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star awarded to Task Force 66 in the 2015 Australia Day Honours; Infantry Combat Badge.

VC: CAG 2/11/2012, p1, to Corporal Daniel Alan Keighran, Mentoring Task Force 1 in Afghanistan Conflict 2001-2021. The award was presented by Dame Quentin Bryce AD, CVO, FAAL, FASSA, Her Excellency the Governor-General at Government House, Canberra on 1 November 2012. In her words, 'A man selfless in the face of threat. Courageous in the face of terror. Generous in the face of suffering. And humble in the face of an honour bestowed.'

Citation: 'For the most conspicuous acts of gallantry and extreme devotion to duty in action in circumstances of great peril at Derapet, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, as part of the Mentoring Task Force One on Operation SLIPPER.'

Corporal Daniel Alan Keighran deployed to Afghanistan in February 2010 with the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. On 24 August 2010, he was a member of a partnered fighting patrol with soldiers of the Afghan National Army's 1st Kandak, 4th Brigade, 205th (Hero) Corps which was engaged by a numerically superior and co-ordinated enemy attack from multiple firing points in three separate locations. The attack was initiated by a high volume of sustained and accurate machine-gun and small arms fire which pinned down the combined Australian and Afghan patrol and caused a loss of momentum.

In the early stages of the attack, and upon realising that the forward elements of the patrol needed effective fire support, Corporal Keighran and another patrol member moved under sustained and accurate enemy fire to an exposed ridgeline to identify enemy locations and direct the return fire of both Australian and Afghan machine guns. On reaching this position and with complete disregard for his own wellbeing, Corporal Keighran deliberately drew enemy fire by leaving the limited cover he had and moved over the ridgeline in order to positively identify targets for the machine gunners of the combined patrol. After identifying some of the enemy firing positions, Corporal Keighran, under persistent enemy fire continued to lead and mentor his team and move around the ridge to both direct the fire of the Afghan and Australian machine gunners and to move them to more effective firing positions.

As the intensity of enemy fire grew, Corporal Keighran returned to the crest of the ridgeline to identify targets and adjust the fire of Australian Light Armoured Vehicles. His actions resulted in the effective suppression of enemy firing points, which assisted in turning the fight in the favour of the combined patrol. Moving to a new position, Corporal Keighran deliberately and repeatedly again exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to assist in target identification and the marking of the forward line of troops for fire support elements whilst simultaneously engaging the enemy. Realising that the new position provided a better location for the patrol's joint fire controller, Corporal Keighran moved over 100 metres across exposed parts of the ridgeline, attracting a high volume of accurate enemy fire, to locate and move the fire controller to the new position. He then rose from cover again to expose his position on four successive occasions, each movement drawing more intense fire than the last in order to assist in the identification of a further three enemy firing points that were subsequently engaged by fire support elements. During one of these occasions, when his patrol sustained an Australian casualty, Corporal Keighran with complete disregard for his own safety, left his position of cover on the ridgeline to deliberately draw fire away from the team treating the casualty. Corporal Keighran remained exposed and under heavy fire while traversing the ridgeline, in order to direct suppressing fire and then assist in the clearance of the landing zone to enable evacuation of the casualty.

Corporal Keighran's acts of the most conspicuous gallantry to repeatedly expose himself to accurate and intense enemy fire, thereby placing himself in grave danger, ultimately enabled the identification and suppression of enemy firing positions by both Australian and Afghan fire support elements. These deliberate acts of exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril were instrumental in permitting the withdrawal of the combined Australian and Afghan patrol with no further casualties. His valour is in keeping with the finest traditions of the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force.

MUC (1): to Mentoring Task Force 1 - 13 June 2011 - For sustained outstanding service in warlike operations in Operation Slipper in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, between 20 January and 30 October 2010.

MUC (2): to Task Force 66 (Special Operations Task Groups IV - XX) - 26 January 2015 - For sustained and outstanding warlike operational service in Afghanistan from 30 April 2007 to 31 December 2013, through the conduct of counter insurgency operations in support of the International Security Assistance Force.

Daniel Alan Keighran, born at Nambour, Qld on 18Jun1983; early life was very tough for Daniel particularly after the family moved to Lowmead near Bundaberg where they bred paint horses, taught dressage and organised rodeos; Daniel graduated from Rosedale State School in 2000 and was a torchbearer for the 2000 Summer Olympics torch parade and received a Pierre de Coubertin Award in recognition of his Olympic spirit; joined Australian Army in 2000 at the age of 17; in 2001 posted to 6RAR and served as Rifleman in Delta Coy and deployed to Rifle Coy Butterworth Malaysia on Operation Citadel - East Timor; in 2004 to Rifle Coy Butterworth Malaysia; promoted to L/Cpl in 2005 in Mortar Platoon of Support Coy, 6RAR; in 2006 deployed to Iraq as a Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle driver; in 2007 deployed to Afghanistan then with Mentoring Task Group 1 and in Feb2010 with Special Operations Task Group also as a driver; promoted to Cpl in 2009 and posted to D Coy 6RAR; trf to Active Reserve in 2011 and then commenced a career in the mining industry, he later moved to Thales, among other things a major manufacturer of military equipment following their acquisition of Australian Defence Industries including the manufacture of the Bushmaster PMV (Protected Mobility Vehicle) which is used by various country's defence forces; in 2020 both a hardcover and soft cover version book titled 'Courage Under Fire' by Daniel Keighran VC (author) as told to Tony Park was published. Among several reviews was one by Air Chief Marshall Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC (Ret'd) who wrote, 'From a tough upbringing in outback Queensland to selfless courage on the battlefield in Afghanistan to save his mates, this book tells the inspirational story of a soldier's soldier.' In 2013 Daniel Keighran had an audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty was the patron of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association from 1956 onwards. In September 2022 when she passed away at the age of 96, Mark Donaldson VC, Daniel Keighran VC, Keith Payne VC, AM, Michael Pratt GC and Ben Roberts-Smith VC, MG flew to London to attend her funeral.

On 1 November 2012 Dame Quentin Bryce AD, CVO, FAAL, FASSA, Her Excellency the Governor-General of Australia presented the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal to Victoria Cross recipients, Keith Payne VC, AM, Benjamin Roberts-Smith VC, MG and Daniel Keighran VC as well as Michael Pratt GC at Government House, Canberra.

Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeanette Young AC, PSM, the Governor of Queensland on 28 November 2022 presented the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal to Victoria Cross recipients, Keith Payne VC, AM, Benjamin Roberts-Smith VC, MG and Daniel Keighran VC as well as Victor Boscoe CV; then on 2 May 2024 she presented the King Charles III Coronation Medal to Keith Payne VC, AM, Daniel Keighran VC and Victor Boscoe CV.

The Victoria Cross for Australia awarded to Cpl Daniel Keighran was the first ever awarded to the Royal Australian Regiment and the first to a non-Special Forces recipient.

Sold on behalf of the recipient.