AN Army officer who works in Wilton has been awarded the George Medal for his bravery and devotion to duty in Iraq.

Captain Kevin Ivison (25), who is now working on the introduction of new bomb disposal equipment at Land Command headquarters, defused a bomb in Iraq at the spot where two of his colleagues had just been killed by another explosion.

He knew the device was likely to detonate and kill him and that terrorist snipers might be watching, but he had to act quickly to protect the crowd of Iraqis that had gathered and allow casualties to be removed.

The veteran of Afghanistan, Kosovo and Northern Ireland is one of two members of the armed forces who is to receive the George Medal, which is on the second rank below the Victoria and George Crosses.

Capt Ivison, of the Royal Logistic Corps, said: "My immediate reaction was shock, humility, embarrassment and pride, but it was a team effort."

At the time of the incident in February, Capt Ivison was the ammunition technical officer for the multinational forces in Maysan province. When a bomb killed his colleagues, Private Lee Ellis and Captain Richard Holmes, and they had no robot to defuse a second bomb at the scene, he attempted to disable the device, before detonating it from a safe distance.

His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Edwards, said: "Captain Ivison displayed the most conspicuous bravery and extreme devotion to duty in the presence of hostile forces over a period of four hours.

"With calmly calculated disregard for his life he decided to take the long walk', accepting that the most likely outcome was his death."

Capt Ivison is one of 64 service personnel to receive honours for service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

The other person to receive the George Medal is 21-year-old Fusilier Daniel Smith for trying to save the lives of his comrades when his vehicle patrol was attacked twice in one week.