Captain Timothy Gould, the son of Odeon Cinema manager Chris Gould and his wife, Anne, of St Helier, is one of three British soldiers who have been honoured with the QGM, which is given for exemplary acts of bravery.Capt Gould (30) of the Royal Logistics Corps, who is now back in the UK from Iraq was said by his father to be surprised and delighted.’He didn’t expect it,’ he said, ‘and he feels that the medal is a reflection and recognition of the team work involved in his work.’Details of the citation have not yet been announced by the Ministry of Defence.
An investiture will be held in the New Year at which he will receive the medal from The Queen.He was one of the first British soldiers to enter Iraq at the start of the war to secure and make safe oil wells.
During the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein had many oil wells blown up or set alight, and the allies were determined that this would not happen a second time.Capt Gould’s role in explosive ordnance disposal includes bomb disposal and defusing anti-personnel devices of all sorts.
Last May, Capt Gould took part an 118-mile walk in the Gulf in aid of three of his colleagues who died in the conflict.
They walked from Basra Airport to Kuwait City in just 24 hours to raise money for their wives and children – they had left four children between them.
Two of his colleagues had been captured by the Iraqis, and another was killed during an exercise.
The walk raised £28,000 in total, including a substantial sum from Jersey.’Tim has told me that although it is dangerous work, he and his colleagues don’t actually realise the danger until something goes wrong,’ Mr Gould said.
He added that although he and his family were confident in Capt Gould’s abilities in ordnance disposal they were nervous when he was in a war situation.
They were very pleased when he returned and was stationed in the UK for two years.
