Morecambe soldier awarded United Nations Medal
A soldier from Morecambe has received a medal from Princess Anne.
Cpl Leanne Carr was presented with the United Nations Medal, earned after she deployed on a six-month peacekeeping tour to Cyprus with The Coldstream Guards from last October until April this year.
Leanne, 33, was posted to 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps on her return. She received her medal from The Princess Royal during a visit to the Colchester-based unit in her capacity as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Logistic Corps.
Leanne said: “It adds a bit of sparkle to my medal to receive it from the Princess Royal! She asked how the tour went and congratulated me.”
British troops have served with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus since it was set up in 1964 after fighting between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.
“Cyprus was an interesting experience,” Leanne, a former Heysham High School pupil, said.
“The island is divided and we were patrolling the buffer zone between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. We provided security whenever there was a meeting between the two sides and it got quite tense at times.
“I was a section commander, and I had infantry and engineers working under me. It was a good challenge to build and lead a team. I learnt a lot from working with soldiers from different parts of the army.”
Leanne is a supply chain operator, responsible for tracking, storing and distributing all the supplies the Army needs to fight. She has been in the Army for 15 years and been on exercise in Canada, Norway, Germany and France.