''A Message from the Falklands: The Life and Gallant Death of David Tinker'' is a book about

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

David Hugh Russell Tinker (14 March 1957 – 12 June 1982), a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

supply officer who was killed in action during 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 ...

. His father,

Hugh Tinker Hugh Russell Tinker (20 July 1921 – 15 April 2000) was a British historian. He taught politics at Lancaster University for many years. Biography Tinker was born on 20 July 1921 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, to Clement Hugh Tinker and Gertru ...

, published the book after Tinker's death as an edited collection of Tinker's letters.

David Tinker

David Hugh Russell Tinker (14 March 1957 – 12 June 1982) was a

supply officer, appointed as captain's secretary in the . He was killed in action on 12 June 1982, shortly before the end of the

, when ''Glamorgan'' was hit by an

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...

missile fired from a lorry by an Argentine Navy team in Stanley; he was on duty as flight deck officer on the

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...

, aft of the ship, within the helicopter bay, at the time. Twelve other sailors were also killed. Tinker was born on 14 March 1957, the son of Hugh and Elizabeth Tinker. His father was a writer and

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

. He was educated at St. Paul's C. of E. Primary School and

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformis ...

, where he served as

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boa ...

in the naval section of the school

CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the am ...

. After training at Dartmouth (Britannia Royal Naval College), he studied at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. Tinker was married to Christine Daybell, who still lives in the cottage they bought together in Shropshire.

Publication

Following Tinker's death, his father privately published a book, ''A Message from the Falklands: The Life and Gallant Death of David Tinker'', which contained some of David's letters home, and

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

written earlier in his life. The poems are reminiscent of

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced b ...

's earlier work. The book was taken up first by the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', and then by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Louise Page Louise Mary Page (7 March 1955 – 30 May 2020) was a British playwright. Life Page was born on 7 March 1955 in London. Page studied at University College Cardiff (now Cardiff University) and at the University of Birmingham. She was commissione ...

as a stage play titled ''Falkland Sound'', which was first performed at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

in 1983. The book has also been published in Spanish in Argentina, and in German (as ''Das kurze Leben des Leutnants zur See David Tinker'').

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

Tinker, Lieut. David, R.N. Roll of honour
British military personnel killed in the Falklands War Royal Navy officers Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War People who died at sea Burials at sea 1982 deaths People educated at Mill Hill School 1957 births Alumni of the University of Birmingham Falklands War books {{UK-navy-bio-stub