Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Private

Unit:

2 West Yorkshire Regiment, The Sherwood Foresters

Awarded on:

April 20th, 1944

Citation:
"On 14thJanuary, 1944, Private Blagg was with a section on a standing patrol about 1000 yards in front of his company at Bagona, Arakan. During the night the company was attacked and his patrol in accordance with its orders, tried to rejoin its company. They were unable to do so, one man being wounded in the attempt. The section commander then decided to work round the flank and try to reach Bn HQ, but they got badly lost amongst the maze of chaungs in the area. For two days and nights they wandered, losing one man by drowning but still carrying the wounded man. Private Blagg, being the only strong swimmer of the party, was indefatigable in his efforts, and had to ferry the wounded man across all the chaungs. In addition he made two attempts to rescue the drowning man. The party got split up, but eventually Private Blagg reached Bn HQ with the wounded man and gave a very accurate report of the happenings. Again on the night of 22nd January, Private Blagg’s platoon was ordered to attack an enemy strong post at Nyunggyaung, which had been holding up two company’s of another unit. During the advance, the platoon came under very heavy file, killing the platoon commander, and holding up the advance. Private Blagg worked his way forward and silenced an MG post by throwing grenades, thus enabling his section to gain their objective. During the operations he has shewn remarkable coolness and has set a high example to his comrades by his courage and determination."

WO 373/31/71