A senior British army officer who was cleared of allegations of war crimes in Iraq has been honoured by Queen Elizabeth for his contribution to the war effort.
Lieut Col Tim Collins, former commanding officer of the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment, was widely praised for a rousing speech made on the eve of war in which he exhorted his troops to be ferocious in battle but magnanimous in victory.
However, he was later accused by a US military officer of abusing prisoners his troops had taken on their advance into the southern Iraqi city of Basra, an accusation of which he was cleared by Britain's Ministry of Defence.
A copy of his speech was reportedly put on the wall of President Bush's office and Prince Charles wrote to him praising his "stirring, civilised and humane" words. Lieut Col Collins was made an OBE - an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Among the 374 service men and women honoured yesterday was trooper Christopher Finney, (19), who rescued a colleague during a "friendly fire" attack by US jets on a British armed column.