Wednesday 14 September 2022 08:14 PM Military heroes are invited to Queen's funeral trends now

British military heroes who hold the Victoria Cross - including an RAF ace who sunk a German U-boat then landed his damaged plane while wounded during the Second World War and an Iraq War veteran who saved his comrades during an ambush by Islamist militants - will all be invited to the Queen's state funeral at Westminster Abbey next week, it has emerged.

All recipients of the VC - the highest and most prestigious award of Britain's honours system introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria during the Crimean War - or the George Cross will be asked to attend the ceremony in London on Monday, September 19.

This means the three living VC holders - World War Two pilot John Alexander Cruickshank, Nepalese Gurkha recipient Rambahadur Limbu and Colour Sergeant Johnson Beharry - will join world leaders including Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau, Jacinda Ardern, Jair Bolsonaro and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in paying respects to the late British sovereign.

They will be joined by all living holders of the GC, which was created in 1940 by Elizabeth II's father King George VI during the Blitz.

Among their numbers are Jim Beaton, a retired police officer who rescued the Princess Royal from her would-be kidnapper Ian Ball on The Mall; John Bamford, now 85, who at the age of 15 saved the lives of his two younger brothers a house fire at their home in Newthorpe; Warrant Officer Class 1 Barry Johnson, who was seriously injured after defusing a mortar bomb in Northern Ireland during The Troubles; and Major Peter Norton, an Iraq War veteran who lost his left leg and part of his left arm while helping US allies who had been attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED).

From the Commonwealth realms, a country's Prime Minister plus a guest, the Governor General plus a guest and the High Commissioner will all receive an invitation.

They are also allowed to bring 10 people from their nation - with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese already announcing that 10 Australians had been invited by Buckingham Palace for their 'extraordinary contributions to their communities'. 

And while most countries around the world have been invited to send their head of state, invitations to the Queen's state funeral have not been sent to Russia, Syria, Belarus, Myanmar, Venezuela or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. North Korea and Nicaragua have been invited only at ambassadorial level, joining Iran in that category.

It comes as 500 world leaders, foreign dignitaries and heads of state will be at the historic service honouring Britain's longest-reigning monarch - the first full State Funeral that Britain has hosted since Winston Churchill died in 1965.

However, the snub list for the Queen's state funeral grew again today as it was revealed official invitations will not be extended to Syria, Venezuela or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Syria's autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad, Venezuelan tyrant Nicolás Maduro and representatives from the Taliban have all been left off the exclusive guest list.

European royalty, who have deep ties to the House of Windsor, have all confirmed they will attend, including Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.

The presence of Brazil's right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London could spark protests that would widen if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum are also invited to Britain.

Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin faced fresh humiliation on the world stage as he was snubbed along with his ally, Belarus' Aleksandr Lukashenko.

Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar will also not be asked to attend as relations between the two countries remain frosty since the violent military coup of 2021.

It is not thought the trip will be made by Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky, who took time out from organising his country's fightback against Putin's forces to sign a book of condolence for the Queen.

Buckingham Palace had earlier declined to comment on who is on the guest list and when it is expected to be finalised.

Now 102, John Alexander Cruickshank was awarded the VC for sinking a German U-boat during the Second World War then successfully landing his damaged plane.

He joined the Territorial Army, enlisting in the Royal Artillery in May 1939, before he was transferred to the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1941.

After training in Canada and the US he earned his wings in July 1942 and was assigned to No 210 Squadron in March 1943, piloting Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats, flying from RAF Sullom Voe in Shetland. 

Sullom Voe, a flying-boat base during the Second World War, was used by 210 Squadron of RAF Coastal Command in its battle to keep the North Atlantic and Arctic sea lanes open for supply convoys. 

At the age of 24, Flying Officer Cruickshank piloted a Consolidated Catalina anti-submarine flying boat from Sullom Voe on July 17, 1944 on a patrol north into the Norwegian Sea to protect the British Home Fleet as it returned from the unsuccessful Operation Mascot raid on the German battleship Tirpitz.

Catching a German Type VIIC U-boat on the surface, he sunk the U-boat, killing all 52 crew members on board. However, Cruickshank was seriously wounded in the melee and, together with his colleagues, flew the damaged plane five and a half hours back to base. 

At the age of 26, Rambahadur Limbu - a lance corporal in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles - was ambushed during the Borneo Confrontation of 1965.

The citation for his VC explains how he was in an advance party of 16 Gurkhas when they encountered about 30 Indonesians holding a position on the top of a jungle-covered hill. The lance-corporal went forward with two men, but when they were only 10 yards from the enemy machine-gun position the sentry opened fire on them.

Limbu rushed forward and killed him with a grenade, while the remaining enemy combatants opened fire on the small party, wounding the two men with the lance corporal who made three journeys into the open, two to drag his comrades to safety and one to retrieve their Bren gun.

His original VC was stolen while he was asleep during a train journey in India to his native Nepal in 1967. He was issued with a replacement.

Colour Sergeant Johnson Gideon Beharry saved members of his unit, the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, from ambushes during the Iraq War.

He was driving a Warrior Tracked Armoured Vehicle that had been called to the assistance of a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes on May 1, 2004. 

Due to damage to his periscope optics, Beharry was forced to open his hatch to steer his vehicle, exposing his face and head to withering small arms fire. He then drove the disabled Warrior through the ambush, taking his own crew and leading five other Warriors to safety, before extracting his wounded comrades from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire.

His own vehicle was then attacked on June 11, 2004, during which he received serious shrapnel injuries to his face and brain. However, he retained control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness.

Jack Bamford is the youngest person to have been directly awarded the George Cross. At the age of just 15, he saved the lives of his two younger brothers during a house fire at their home in Newthorpe on October 19, 1952. He took four months to recover from serious injuries. 

Retired British police officer Jim Beaton, the Queen's Police Officer from 1983 to 1992, received the George Cross in 1974 for protecting the Princess Royal from the would-be kidnapper Ian Ball during an attack in The Mall. 

Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace from a royal engagement when their car was stopped by another car

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