Johnson Beharry says he was put on alert for Queen's funeral

Victoria Cross winner Johnson Beharry says he was put on alert for Queen’s funeral on day monarch met Liz Truss – two days BEFORE she died

• Mr Beharry, 43, revealed that he assumed email he received was royal protocol
• He then got a call 24 hours later to ask him if he could confirm he was available
• She died on September 8, one day after the call he received from the palace
• Mr Beharry attended the funeral and privately went to her Laying in State  

Victoria Cross winner Johnson Beharry has said he was put on alert for the Queen’s funeral on the day the monarch met Liz Truss- two days before she died. 

Mr Beharry, 43, revealed that he assumed the email he received was royal protocol.

He added that he never replied to the email and got a call 24 hours later to ask him if he could confirm that he was available.

The 43-year-old assumed it was the palace ‘updating the process’ and said he would do anything needed. 

Victoria Cross winner Johnson Beharry has said he was put on alert for the Queen’s funeral on the day the monarch met Liz Truss- two days before she died. Pictured: He receives his Victoria Cross from the Queen in 2005

Then, on September 8, two days on from her last official engagement with Prime Minister Liz Truss, the palace announced that the Queen had died. 

Mr Beharry had previously agreed to be part of Operation Bridge, the process for after the Queen’s death- and known about it.

Speaking to the Sun on Sunday, Mr Beharry, who served in Iraq and got the Victoria Cross, he said: ‘Her Majesty was like a gran to me.

‘Without the Queen I wouldn’t have the life I have now.  

‘I always knew about Operation London Bridge as a member of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.’

Then, on September 8, two days on from her last official engagement with Prime Minister Liz Truss, pictured, the palace announced that the Queen had died

Mr Beharry, pictured, was awarded the Victoria Cross for acts of heroism in Iraq. His actions meant that he saved around 30 comrades and suffered life-threatening brain injuries

On 1 May 2004, Beharry drove his Warrior armoured vehicle onto the streets of Al Amarah in Iraq, with four other Warriors behind him. A rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle, setting it on fire and knocking out his commanding officer.

Beharry took over, forcing his vehicle through a barrier blocking the road and driving over a mine that failed to explode before accelerating away. Beharry was shot in the head – the helmet he was wearing at the time can be found with his Victoria Cross in the Ashcroft Gallery at IWM London – but he still managed to lead his own Warrior and the four behind him to safety.

Under continuous fire, Beharry then climbed out of his burning vehicle to rescue his commanding officer and their badly burned gunner before leading two other soldiers to safety.

Still under fire, Beharry drove his Warrior where it would do no damage if it exploded, disabled the vehicle and its weapons and ran for cover. Once safe, he collapsed from exhaustion. He was sent to hospital but soon discharged himself and was back on duty within six weeks.

During the early hours of 11 June 2004, Beharry was again driving a Warrior through the streets of Al Amarah when his company were ambushed and a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle, exploding inches from Beharry’s head.

Terribly wounded and barely conscious, he drove backwards at high speed and to safety. Despite Beharry’s injuries, which included a fractured skull that would leave him in a coma for weeks, he saved the lives of all his fellow soldiers in the Warrior.

Johnson Beharry became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in the twenty-first century on 18 March 2005.

Source: Imperial War Museum 

Mr Beharry was awarded the Victoria Cross for acts of heroism in Iraq. His actions meant that he saved around 30 comrades and suffered life-threatening brain injuries. 

The 43-year-old spoke of first meeting the Queen in 2005, explaining that he never dreamed he would meet her.

She told him he was a ‘very special person’ and spoke to him about his brain injury. 

Mr Beharry met the Queen multiple times after that and they spoke about his family and how he was. 

He added that she asked about how was feeling and coping. 

Mr Beharry explained that the monarch, who called him Beharry, was like a replacement gran for him as his grandmother died in 2003. 

The 43-year-old said that she was respectful and communicated with him like ‘no one else.’ 

Mr Beharry and his wife Mallissa were invited to go to the Queen’s lying in state for a private moment days before the funeral and he felt himself choking up.

The soldier, who serves with the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and first met the Queen in 2005, was emotional as he spoke to her casket. 

He paid his respects to her and thanked her for everything she did for him, adding that he would not be where he was without the Victoria Cross.

He was emotional when he learnt she had died and said he got goosebumps.  

The 43-year-old said that it did not sink in for him that she had died until people sang God Save the King outside the palace. 

He attended the funeral and explained that he was trying to keep calm. He was pushing the wheelchair of Keith Payne VC. 

Mr Beharry said that he was hit with strong emotions when he got to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and got goosebumps. 

He reflected on the last event he attended, seeing the Queen at Westminster Abbey when he did a reading for the Royal British Legion. 

Mr Beharry had not realised that he was in front of President Joe Biden.

He was speaking about security after the funeral with senior officials.

Mr Beharry was told that Mr Biden was annoyed he had to wait for him to walk past.  

Mr Beharry, pictured in 2017, is going to be at the Cenotaph next week for Remembrance Sunday and will be thinking of the Queen

The soldier said he felt privileged to have been at the funeral.

Mr Beharry is going to be at the Cenotaph next week for Remembrance Sunday and will be thinking of the Queen.

He said he will also be saying thank you for everything she did and promised to serve the country until the day he dies.  

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