Operational Medals have been presented to 75 sailors from RNAS Culdrose in recognition of the vital contribution they paid to the international fight against Ebola. Only 3,000 "Ebola Medals" for services in West Africa have been awarded nationally.

Aviators and engineers from 820 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), who served on Operation Gritrock, were recognised for their efforts at a medals' parade held on Thursday. The squadron, who deployed at very short notice, were away for a total of six months. As well as flying 300 sorties, delivering much needed aid to the communities of West Africa, they also managed to raise a large amount of money for the EducAid charity.

Three Merlin MK2 helicopters and 80 personnel from 820 NAS joined RFA Argus on its deployment to Sierra Leone in October 2014. During the mission, the team supported the construction of six Ebola treatment centres by delivering much needed stores, people and medical supplies to inaccessible areas. Also, to enable RFA Argus to deliver reactive medical cover for personnel working in the country, the squadron provided an alert aircraft for casualty evacuation. This alongside a busy daily flying programme meant that the engineering team had to provide 24 hour cover with each man working a gruelling eight hours on/eight hours off shift pattern for the entire deployment.

Another success was the delivery of food relief to the isolated Sherbro Islands which had been cut off from the mainland due to strict infection control laws - subsequently the inhabitants were facing starvation. Over two days, the 820 team delivered in excess of 200 tonnes of food aid by flying over 100 under slung load missions. As a result enough food aid was provided to feed the 16,000 inhabitants for over a month.

Commander Ross Spooner, commanding officer of 820 Naval Air Squadron, said: “Every person deployed should be incredibly proud of what they have individually contributed to the fight against Ebola. It was a rollercoaster of a deployment, but we made a real difference to communities in West Africa.

“When I reflect back, when we left the UK nearly a year ago, we were faced with many uncertain variables. We didn’t really understand the risk of what we were facing in Sierra Leone, what we would find or how long we would be away from home. Over a six month period, our team delivered vital equipment, supplies and food packages to remote areas which were totally cut off. The aid that we delivered was really appreciated by the local communities and without our versatile Merlin helicopters, it would have been really difficult for the teams on the ground to reach them.”

Commander Spooner also paid tribute to the “incredible level” of support received from the families of personnel. “We were tasked at very short notice, to a place which was at the time, full of uncertainty and fear," he said. "Although we had all undergone a great deal of training and the risk of us contracting the Ebola virus was low, it was a very frightening time for some families. I must thank them for their support during this and our other recent overseas deployments.”

On top of the unrelenting operational flying programme of daily tasking and night time alerts, the squadron personnel were also keen to do more, as Commander Spooner explains: “Another significant achievement was the relationship that we developed with EducAid. There was a great desire amongst the team to do a bit more. Something tangible, especially when we saw the children who had been made orphans due to Ebola.

"The ship, squadron and families back in the UK all worked together to raise funds for isolated schools and create parcels of aid for those in real need. We managed to raise about £70,000 which continues to be put to good use even now we are back in the UK.”

Such was the impact the charity had on the squadron, they invited Miriam Mason-Sesay MBE (the country director and principal of EducAid Schools) to present the medals at the ceremony. Miriam, who flew in from Sierra Leone, worked closely with 820 NAS during the deployment and runs a network of free schools in Freetown for vulnerable young people.

She said: “Sierra Leone is currently the fifth poorest country in the world, and I work with some of the poorest and most vulnerable people, arguably due to their lack of education. To have people coming to help when most of the world was shunning us was vital. I greatly appreciate all that the Royal Navy did for Sierra Leone. In particular, I am sure that the children in my care will never forget the visit that they received from Father Christmas and his elves who were all delivered to us by a Merlin helicopter. If was fantastically exciting for them – some of them have lost everything and it was a welcome distraction in a time of great fear.”

Personnel from 820 Naval Air Squadron are currently deployed on operations in the Gulf, proving the versatility of the personnel and their state-of-the-art Merlin helicopters.