Warrant Officer Class 2 Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned officer ranks, ...

Gary John O'Donnell, (21 July 1968 – 10 September 2008) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

expert who was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

twice. The George Medal is the second highest decoration, after the

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

, for "acts of great bravery" not "in the face of the enemy". His second George Medal was the first such award in 26 years and the first ever posthumous bar. O'Donnell was killed in an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

(IED) attack in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Early life

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, O'Donnell was educated at St Thomas of Aquin's High School.

Military career

O'Donnell enlisted in the British Army in 1992, trained as an Ammunition Technician and was posted to 3 Base Ammunition Depot in Germany. After three tours of ammunition depots, he moved to 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

as a Joint Service

Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

No. 1 Operator. As a

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

in 2004 he passed the RLC No 1 IEDD Course as a high-threat operator at the first attempt, one of a small percentage of candidates to do so. He subsequently undertook tours in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

as well as two tours of both

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and Afghanistan.

Iraq War

By 2006 O'Donnell was employed as an IEDD operator in southern Iraq. He was awarded his first

for "persistent courage" for his work in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

. On 23 May 2006, rockets on a timing device were being fired at Basra Air station. When a rocket was discovered with the timer set, O'Donnell decided to minimise the risk to the airbase by manually disabling it as quickly as possible, which meant placing himself in the line of fire of the rocket.

War in Afghanistan

O'Donnell served one tour in Afghanistan in 2007 and returned in 2008. He worked defusing

roadside bomb An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

s in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

, defusing 50 of the devices. On 26 August 2008 he was awarded the

Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is a service medal awarded to personnel in various branches of the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the territories that are or were at some point a part of the British Empire or Commonwealth of Nations. Ex ...

. In September 2008 O'Donnell was attempting to disarm an IED near

Musa Qala Musa Qala (; "Fortress of Moses") is a town and the district centre of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,043 m in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the distr ...

, Helmand Province, when he was killed as he approached a

booby-trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may b ...

ped bomb. His body was returned to the UK and his funeral service was held on 29 September 2008. The service was accompanied by full

military honours A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

, and was followed by a cremation at Oakley Wood Crematorium,

Bishop's Tachbrook Bishop's Tachbrook is a village and civil parish in the Warwick District of Warwickshire, England. The village is about south of Warwick and Leamington Spa. A church at Bishop's Tachbrook is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. The village cont ...

Legacy

The UK Defence Secretary

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

summarised O'Donnell's career by noting that " 'Donnellwas personally responsible for saving thousands of the family, friends and comrades of others from the anguish that is currently being felt by his own." On 6 March 2009, O'Donnell was posthumously awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

to his George Medal for "repeated and sustained acts of immense bravery" in Afghanistan. His Bar was the first to the George Medal awarded in 26 years. The award was for two incidents: *May 2008 – where he had to deal with a booby-trapped bomb in the Upper Gereshk Valley. After he defused this device he continued to search for others eventually finding and defusing 7 more devices. The task took 9 hours and was carried out in 40 °C heat. *July 2008 – he was called to deal with a roadside bomb that was blocking the path of a convoy. He worked for 24 hours and found 11 devices. The

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

attempted to detonate one as he approached, but it failed to go off. O'Donnell's medals are in order of precedence;- *

and

* General Service Medal With "Northern Ireland" clasp * Operational Service Medal for Sierra Leone * Iraq Medal *

Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan The Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan was a British campaign medals, campaign medal awarded by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom for service by British Armed Forces personnel in support of t ...

With "Afghanistan" clasp * NATO Non-Article 5 medal with ISAF clasp *

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal () or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was ...

(UK) *

Accumulated Campaign Service Medal The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal and the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal 2011 are medals awarded by King Charles III to members of his Armed Forces to recognise long campaign service. The original Accumulated Campaign Service Medal, inst ...

(

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

)

In September 2013 O'Donnell's set of ten of his medals together with three letters on

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

headed paper from

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

, the colonel-in-chief of the

, was sold at auction for £110,000.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Gary (British Army Soldier) 1968 births 2008 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Edinburgh Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers Deaths by improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Recipients of the George Medal Royal Logistic Corps soldiers Bomb disposal personnel British Army personnel of the Iraq War British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) British military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Burials in Warwickshire