Gavin John Hamilton

Covered his signaller when wounded and surrounded in battle.

Gavin John Hamilton was born on 15 May 1953. Commissioned into the Green Howards, he later served with the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment. In 1982 he commanded 19 Mountain Troop, D Squadron, during operations to recover the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

His Military Cross citation describes an unusually sustained series of operations. In April he helped lead a reconnaissance patrol on the Fortuna Glacier, where extreme weather caused the loss of two helicopters during evacuation attempts. He subsequently participated in the advance on Grytviken. On the Falklands he took part in the Pebble Island raid, personally destroying seven of the eleven Argentine aircraft put out of action.

Further tasks included a diversion near Darwin and operations around Mount Kent. After a helicopter accident reduced his available strength, he continued his assignment with the remaining men. At Mount Kent his patrol captured an Argentine prisoner and resisted attacks while British troops established themselves. Another encounter resulted in the capture of five enemy soldiers.

On 5 June Hamilton led a four-man observation patrol onto West Falkland, establishing a position near Port Howard. Argentine troops surrounded the patrol on 10 June. Hamilton was wounded in the back and could no longer move effectively. He continued to engage the attackers, allowing his signaller an opportunity to get away, and was killed in the fighting.

The posthumous Military Cross recognized his conduct across the campaign rather than a single isolated episode. His South Atlantic Medal carries the rosette associated with service during the qualifying operational period. He was twenty-nine when he died and was buried at Port Howard. His final action brought an end to a demanding sequence of reconnaissance, raiding and holding operations in which he had repeatedly led small parties far from immediate support.