On July 23, 1974, during the war in Cyprus, a Canadian patrol conducting a group of combatants out of a UN controlled area came under fire. Several combatant soldiers were killed or wounded and the Canadian officer leading the escort party was wounded. One of his men who began to render first aid to the fallen officer was also hit. At the bottom of a creek bed, the victims were exposed to continuing machine gun fire. Coming on the scene, Alain Forand arranged for covering fire and, with complete disregard for his own safety, he crawled forward over the exposed ground, to aid the two casualties. Single-handedly, he managed to drag the wounded officer some distance up onto the bank of the creek where others helped carry him out of the danger area. Forand then directed the rescue of the wounded soldier.