Heroic Royal Marine raises £160,000 for veterans’ retreat by auctioning rare medal for world record price

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A heroic Royal Marine hailed for his bravery has raised £160,000 for a veterans’ Highland retreat, by auctioning off a rare medal for a world record price.Brad ‘Bugsy’ Malone, 37, left the Royal Marines after 16 years in 2018 and is now aiming to build a homestead in the Scottish Highlands for like-minded soldiers to use and experience a new way of life.Originally from Newcastle, Brad now lives in Drymen with wife Sacha.To be able to finance his plans, he decided to sell his Operation Herrick IX - Afghanistan Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) that was awarded when he was section commander with 45 Commando Royal Marines.The CGC sold to a private collector for a hammer price of £160,000 in London last week, which was a world record price for that type of medal.

Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area. Following the sale, Brad said: “I’m overwhelmed. The medal sold for more than the estimate so the additional money plus the money I have been given via my Go Fund Me page, will help give my project Sacred Laoch the best of starts.”Christopher Mellor-Hill, head of client liaison at auction house Noonans said: “We are delighted to see that Brad’s great story of gallantry has been rewarded with a record price at auction for a CGC and that the proceeds will go to such a noble cause to aid the greater good of his former comrades.“The medal was purchased by a British collector who loans items to go on display.”Brad is thought to be one of around just 30 people, along with one regiment, to receive the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, which is one level away from the Victoria Cross.He joined the Marines at the age of 16 and has been on tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.Malone, as part of Zulu Company, operated out of a