LCpl TIMMINS QGM

LCPL DAVEY TIMMINS QGM

By Brigadier Chris Murray CBE, Colonel Commandant of The Royal Logistic Corps

On 15 June 2021, The Royal Logistic Corps was presented with Lance Corporal Davey Timmins’ Queen’s Gallantry Medal (QGM).

The presentation was conducted at a poignant ceremony in the newly opened RLC Museum, where I had the honour of receiving Davey Timmins’ QGM and framed Citation from Cathy and Stephen Timmins, on behalf of the Corps. Present were key members of the Regimental Headquarters and, wonderfully, some of Davey’s colleagues from 11 EOD&S Regiment RLC, who had served with him and knew his family. Davey’s QGM has now joined the other gallantry medals that form part of the Corps’ Medal Collection.

Davey Timmins was awarded his QGM for his gallantry as part of a High Threat IEDD team in Sangin, Helmand Province, in June 2009. A week later, Davey himself suffered life changing injuries from a victim operated IED that saw him being evacuated from Afghanistan and recovered to the hospital in Selley Oak, Birmingham; right alongside the young Sapper whose life he had saved the week before. Davey sadly passed away earlier this year and it was his fervent wish that his QGM be presented to the Corps.

I was privileged to be the Director of The Royal Logistic Corps at the time of Davey’s gallant actions and his subsequent injuries. In 2009, the Afghanistan operation was undergoing a brutal phase and the Army was decisively engaged in a bitter fight in Helmand Province. The casualty rate was significant.

In June, I visited Selley Oak hospital with my wife, to see all the RLC casualties whilst Davey was in intensive care. Sadly we had quite a few. The accompanying Warrant Officer mentioned that a young Royal Engineer soldier had heard that I was on the ward and was very keen to see me. He was the casualty on whom Davey had done such a great job the week before, with the amazing first aid he had administered in the middle of another roadside IED explosion. There was no doubt in this young Sapper’s mind that Davey had saved his life and this was reiterated by the medical staff who said Davey had done such a professional job. The Sapper, selflessly, was keen to make sure that Davey’s efforts did not go unrecognised. A little later Davey was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal (QGM) for his actions that day.

During our visit, I met up with Davey’s mum and the family in a waiting room adjacent to the intensive care ward and I remember mentioning to her at the time that Davey had two families – their family and his Corps family. I told them they are also part of our family and I hoped they have felt the reassuring arm of The RLC around their shoulders ever since.

We gratefully receive Davey’s medals into the Corps and they will be displayed with honour for generations

of RLC officers and soldiers and the general public to see. Everybody will recognise his extraordinary actions. Davey humbled us all by embodying the values that we all hope we could live up to when the call comes – those being ‘selfless commitment’ and of course putting ‘team before self’. Davey undoubtedly saved the life of another soldier who sustained horrific, life-changing injuries in an IED explosion. It was right and fitting that Davey was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal, a rare award that made his family proud and us, his brothers and sisters in arms.

Following the QGM presentation, the family was presented with a framed copy of The RLC Roll of Honour where Davey’s QGM is rightly recorded. We learnt from the family that Davey had been supporting a local Army Cadet Force unit in Glasgow following his discharge from the Army. They intended to create a ‘Davey Timmins QGM Memorial Trophy’ to be presented annually to the best Cadet in the detachment. We requested that The RLC be allowed to procure that trophy and told the family that the Corps would relish the opportunity to be there when it was first presented. The QGM Citation: QUEEN’S GALLANTRY MEDAL LANCE CORPORAL DAVID JAMES TIMMINS ROYAL LOGISTIC CORPS High Threat IEDD Infantry Escort Sangin, Helmand Province Jun 09

Lance Corporal Timmins, a member of a High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) team, along with a Royal Engineers Search Team (REST), was tasked to provide support to 2 Rifles Battle Group during an operation to clear Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Fully aware of the risks, the teams started to clear the road and detected a victim operated lED (VOIED). The team pulled back to prepare for the disposal action. Whilst clearing a safe area, a second VOIED was initiated by a team member resulting in his traumatic injuries, Timmins’ reaction was immediate and despite the considerable risk to his own life, he quickly searched forward to the casualty, shouting assurances, reporting back to his commander and marking out a safe route for others to follow. On reaching the casualty he cleared a wide safe area and directed two other men to start first aid whilst he accounted for the team and provided support, in his primary role, to the IEDD Operator making the area safe. Returning to the casualty, Timmins assessed the situation and decided to take charge stemming the flow of blood quickly with well placed tourniquets, field dressings and HEMCON. He worked fast but highly effectively, remaining cool and calm. Throughout his deployment, Timmins’ incredible commitment has been pivotal to the sustainment of the enduring fighting spirit of the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group. His actions and selfless sacrifice are in the very finest traditions of the Service.