Lt Comm Martin Lanni, Lt Michael Paulet, and Flt Lt Lee Turner all received the Air Force Cross for their role in the helicopter rescue of a group of climbers from Ben Nevis in May 2007.

BBC: UK soldiers honoured for bravery

Paulet is the only person to appear in all five of the finished "Card Players" works, which were the subject of a major exhibition at London's Courtauld Institute and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last year.

CNN: March 30, 2012 -- Updated 1502 GMT (2302 HKT)