George Medal for Lambeth soldier ‘just doing his job’

A soldier from Lambeth who displayed "sheer personal courage and startling determination" trying to help a fallen colleague in Afghanistan was today awarded the George Medal for bravery.

Rifleman Paul Jacobs, 21, of 2nd Battalion The Rifles, was blinded and suffered multiple injuries when a second colleague stood on another improvised explosive device as they patrolled in one of the most heavily booby-trapped roads in the country.

Despite being seriously wounded, he had the presence of mind to drag himself back onto a route safe from IEDs he had cleared to make his own rescue much safer for his colleagues.

He said today: "I did what I could but they made the ultimate sacrifice. I'm still here taking the mick out of people. I was just doing my job."
Now living in Ramsgate, Kent, he is immensely proud of the job his battalion did in Afghanistan.

His citation said: "Rifleman Jacobs was seriously wounded, suffering severe fragmentation damage to his eyes but bleeding heavily from multiple wounds, he had the presence of mind and experience to drag himself back onto the safe route he had just cleared and into a position where his extraction would be safer to others."