New Year Honours
30 Dec 2025 - Hearty congratulations to MCDOA past-President Roger Readwin on being appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours announced last night.
We dined Roger out of the Royal Navy at our Annual Dinner last month
Roger was appointed a CBE for his outstanding work as our Naval Attaché & Assistant Defence Attaché in Washington, a key post at a critical time in our relationship with the United States.
Also, congratulations to WO1(MW) Andrew 'Ozzy' Osborne and CPO(D) Craig ‘Waggy’ Waghorn on being awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. No more than 51 MSMs may be awarded in the Royal Navy & Royal Marines each year and this total is seldom reached,
Ozzy Osbourne has organised all four of the Mine Warfare Annual Dinners & Awards Ceremonies to date as chronicled on this site. Waggy Waghorn is the Chairman of the RN Clearance Divers Association (RNCDA) and welcomed the late 100-year old veteran Render Mines Safe (RMS) officer Sub Lt Boyd Salmon RNVR to Horsea Island in June last year as chronicled here.
Ozzy Osborne addressing attendees at the 2025 Annual MW Dinner & Awards Ceremony
Waggy Waghorn reading a tribute to Sub Lt Boyd Salmon RNVR at DTXG HQ on Horsea Island
Congratulations also to CPO(D) Phil Brierley on being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), MCDOA member John Bainbridge and LS(MW) Matt Kell on being awarded First Sea Lord Commendations, and MCDOA member Michael Dunbar, CPO(MW) Matt Routliff and LS(MW) L Stone on being awarded Royal Navy Commendations.
Congratulations, too, to ex-Clearance Diver Michael ‘Mick’ Raine on being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Overseas and International Honours for services to Humanitarian Land Mine Clearance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Overseas.
According to his citation, Mick has “led major clearance operations across Somaliland, Bosnia, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Vietnam and beyond, consistently combining technical expertise with strong leadership. His work with UNMAS in Cyprus, South Sudan and Somalia strengthened national EOD capacity and improved the safety of operations in active conflict zones. Since 2022, as Programme Manager for APOPO in Cambodia, Mick has overseen the clearance of hundreds of hectares of hazardous land and pioneered innovative methods in mine clearance employing animal scent detection systems. His service has had a lasting impact on communities worldwide by making land safe, usable, and productive again.”