Lifetime Achievement Award Finalists 2023
An award to honour a person whose lifetime of dedicated service has provided a significant contribution in support of the Armed Forces community.
In partnership with Oracle.
Introducing the Finalists...
Capt Carol Betteridge OBE
Captain Carol Betteridge joined the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service in 1990. She has deployed to Iraq, Gibraltar, and Afghanistan, and supported training exercises in Germany, Egypt, Oman,
and Norway. Appointed to The Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood as a Medical Planner, she deployed to Malawi and assisted in the co-ordination of the evacuation of casualties from the Lebanon during Operation HIGHBROW.
Carol was later Commanding Officer of the Hospital Regiment for Operation HERRICK 14 which she describes as “a humbling and life changing experience.” Following deployment, she was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal and appointed to the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 Operational Honours List for her leadership.
Following promotion in 2013, she was appointed as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff. In this role she assisted with operational planning for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and military assistance to the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
On her retirement in 2015 Carol became the first Veterans Clinical Advisor for Help for Heroes, before expanding and then leading the dedicated clinical services team supporting the very seriously injured. In her current role she leads a team consisting of Clinical Advisors, Community Nurses, Occupational Therapists, and admin co-ordinators.
In her 25-year service to her country Carol has treated thousands of injured service men and woman. She continues her dedication to their care and rehabilitation, describing her work as “unfinished business”.
Khumi Burton
Khumi Burton was born in Manipur, India, near the Burmese Frontier in 1948. Supporting her community and charities has been a big part of Khumi’s life both in India and in the UK. Having grown up where some of the greatest battles of WW2 took place, she has always been a champion of Remembrance, and has actively encouraged the community to support service charities. VJ Day is particularly important to Khumi, especially those who served in the Far East, in particular the Fourteenth Army.
As a young girl Khumi was involved in the National Cadets Corps in Manipur and always had an interest in the military – her uncle fought in Burma during the Second World War and received the Military Cross. After graduation, she joined Air India and had postings around the world. In 1976 she married a retired Major from the Cheshire Regiment, moving halfway around the world to be with him.
She was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester in 2003 (the first South-East Asian woman to hold the post) and became the East Cheshire County Poppy Appeal Coordinator in 2013.
Khumi has been a long-term supporter and fundraiser for Combat Stress – her drive and dedication is unstoppable and she continues to raise awareness of the charity.
Reg Charles
Reg joined the 5th Battalion Ox and Bucks Regiment and moved to 1st Battalion in June 1944, before heading to Normandy in July 1944, landing on Gold Beach. Although he was an infantryman, he would take any opportunity he was given to drive. This included driving Ford lorries, a bren gun carrier, and more regularly jeeps.
In the Ardennes, Reg would drive a jeep to the front line at night and again in the early morning with supplies for the troops, bringing casualties back from the front line to the field hospital. He did so in the pitch black through a minefield. As you can imagine, this made him somewhat different to many of the infantryman he served with.
Reg went from Normandy to Belgium, on to the Netherlands, then back to Belgium (the Ardennes) for the Battle of the Bulge, back into the Netherlands, on into Germany for the Reischwald Forest battle, then crossed the Rhine to Hamburg just before VE Day!
Eventually, Reg ended up in Berlin before coming back to the UK when he demobbed in April 1946, returning to his occupation as a domestic Coal Merchant.
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