Superb ‘Afghanistan 2010’ Bomb Hunter’s Military Cross Sells for Hammer Price of £32,000 at Noonans

The superb ‘Afghanistan 2010’ bomb hunter’s Military Cross group of eight awarded to Captain, late Warrant Officer Class I, Gareth ‘Woody’ Wood of the 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, part of the Royal Logistics Corps sold for a hammer price of £32,000 at Noonans Mayfair (16 Bolton Street) in an auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria  on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. It had been expected to fetch £20,000-30,000

Described as a specialist in every sense of the word, Wood served as an Ammunition Technical Officer in Nad e-Ali, Afghanistan over a six-month tour – during which he defused more than 50 bombs and was blown up on four occasions. Wood applied his unique skill set in ‘Helmand province, the largest in Afghanistan ... without doubt currently the most dangerous place on the planet. One of his best friends, Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, was killed in Helmand ... Going in to defuse the bomb.

On 30 March 2010, 28-year-old Wood and his team were flown in to rescue troops of the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh, whose two Mastiffs had become trapped in an improvised Taliban minefield north of Nad-e’Ali district. They were under fire, and Wood only had 4 hours of daylight remaining to clear any IEDS. With automatic fire ‘raining down on him, Woody insisted the others took cover while he defused the first device. While wrenching the second from the ground, the bones in the first two fingers of Woody’s right hand snapped like dry twigs and his palm was sliced open. In considerable pain, and using just his left hand, Woody neutralised a further three devices in 20 minutes, enabling the stricken crew to extricate themselves safely under the cover of darkness through the path he single-handedly engineered.

Following the sale, Mark Quayle, Medal Specialist and Associate Director of Noonans commented: “We were very pleased with the hammer price of £32,000 which exceeded the pre-sale estimate and will allow Woody to help his daughters plan for their future. It was bought by a private collector against strong interest via the telephones.”  

Also, of note in the sale was a superb and extremely rare 22 carat gold Georgian Knight’s Investiture sash badge from the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, with the hallmarks for London 1821 and the maker’s mark ‘JJE’ for John James Edington which sold for a hammer price of £70,000 against an estimate of £18,000-£22,000. It was bought by a European Collector of fine Orders and Decorations [lot 102].