The British army is famously stingy at handing out medals. In contrast to our cousins in the United States, where there is a medal for showing up on the first day of training, the Brits leave it to (largely) operational matters, as well as the marking of national events, such as the Queen’s jubilees. This, we hope, puts into context how extraordinary it is to see this collection of medals pinned to Christian Craighead.
In normal circumstances, this level of service would go unnoticed by the general public, for Christian spent a sizeable proportion of his career in the army (from which he retired in 2020) as a member of the SAS. While serving with the regiment in Kenya in 2019, a call came in about a terrorist raid by Al-Shabaab on a large luxury hotel in Nairobi.
