Dominic Charles Rupert Troulan, (born 12 December 1962) is a retired

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and former

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

who was awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

on 16 June 2017 for his actions during the 2013

Westgate shopping mall attack On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that starte ...

in Nairobi, Kenya. He was the first civilian recipient of the award in 25 years.

Early life

Troulan was born in Banbury,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, on 12 December 1962.

Military career

Troulan served in the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

for 30 years, first in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

and subsequently in the

. He joined the Royal Marines in June 1979, and fought in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

with

42 Commando 42 Commando (42 Cdo) (pronounced as Four-Two Commando) is a subordinate unit within the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade. Based at Bickleigh Barracks near Plymouth, personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. ...

. He later served in Northern Ireland during

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

and was decorated on two separate tours. As a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

in the Royal Marines, Troulan was awarded the

Queen's Gallantry Medal The Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM) is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the level required for the Queen's Commendation for Braver ...

for his "gallant and distinguished services" in 1993. This was followed by a

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service The King's Commendation for Valuable Service is a British military award for meritorious service in an operational theatre. It was established in 1994, when the award of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct and the Queen's Commendation for ...

for a 2002 tour, by which time Troulan was a

warrant officer class 1 Warrant may refer to: * Warrant (law), a form of specific authorization ** Arrest warrant, authorizing the arrest and detention of an individual ** Search warrant, a court order issued that authorizes law enforcement to conduct a search for eviden ...

in the British Army's Parachute Regiment. He received a short-service commission in the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 15 April 2002. He was granted an intermediate regular commission in the same rank on 1 January 2005, and was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 31 July 2008. On ending active service, he entered the reserve of officers on 31 August 2009.

George Cross

The award to Dominic Troulan was the first George Cross gazetted in 25 years to a civilian, the previous award being the posthumous award to

Stewart Guthrie Stewart Graeme Guthrie, GC (22 November 1948 – 13 November 1990) was a New Zealand Police sergeant and is the most recent Commonwealth civilian recipient of the George Cross, the highest award for conspicuous gallantry not in the face of ...

, a New Zealand police sergeant, in 1992. The most recent award to a British civilian was to John Clements in 1976. The citation for Troulan's award was published in the ''London Gazette''. It concludes, "Troulan had the presence of mind to realise that the terrorists could be hiding among the survivors. Troulan enlisted help and searched the civilians once he had led them to safety, thus ensuring that no terrorists were hiding in their midst.

References

External links

Queen's Birthday Honours: Inspiring stories of bravery in gallantry listNotes on Civilian Gallantry List June 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Troulan, Dominic 1962 births 20th-century Royal Marines personnel British Army personnel of the Iraq War British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) British Parachute Regiment officers British Parachute Regiment soldiers British recipients of the George Cross Living people Military personnel from Oxfordshire Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Recipients of the Queen's Gallantry Medal Royal Marines ranks Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War