Peter Norton (GC)

Peter Norton
Peter Norton in March 2013
Born	(1962-12-10) 10 December 1962 (age 54) Edmonton, London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1983–2013
Rank	Major
Service number	24592939 557344 (after commission)
Unit	Royal Logistic Corps
Battles/wars	The Troubles Iraq War
Awards	George Cross FBI Star (United States)

Major Peter Allen Norton, GC (born 10 December 1962) is a retired ammunition technical officer with the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps who was awarded the George Cross for his service in Iraq.

Norton was born in Edmonton, London, but grew up in Margate, Kent.

Norton joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (which later amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps) as a private in 1983. He reached the rank of warrant officer class 1 and was appointed a conductor, the most senior non-commissioned appointment in the British Army, before being commissioned as a captain on 8 July 2002.

Norton deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he was second-in-command of the American Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC) based in the outskirts of Baghdad. Going to the aid of a United States Army patrol that had been attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) on 24 July 2005, he was checking for the presence of further devices when a secondary victim-operated IED exploded. He lost his left leg and part of his left arm, and he sustained serious injuries to his other leg and lower back. Despite his injuries, he continued to give instructions to his team, suspecting that further devices might be in the vicinity. He refused to be evacuated until he was certain that all personnel on the ground were aware of the danger. A third device was subsequently located and dealt with the following day.