Draft:Taff Groves

• Comment: Also please familiarise yourself with WP:MOS FuzzyMagma (talk) 09:51, 31 December 2024 (UTC)

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Taff Groves a former Special Air Service personnel and a key rescuer in the 2013 September Westgate Mall Attack, was born in Cardiff, Wales and grew up in the Ely and Cathays areas.

At 19, he joined the Royal Regiment of Wales. In 1985, Groves passed the United Kingdom (UK) Special Forces selection on his first attempt and was attached to the Special Air Service (SAS) serving in 'B' Squadron 22 SAS and in L Detachment Reserves. His military career spanned over 30 years, primarily within UK Special Forces.

Westgate shopping mall attack

Groves (far right) discussing with a Kenyan Law enforcement commander, rescue arrangements. Westgate Mall Terrorist attack, 2013.

On 21 September 2013, Groves was visiting Nairobi, Kenya, from the UK in his civilian capacity as an international security advisor for a Technology company. On this day, the Westgate Shopping Mall attack occurred.

The assault, carried out by Al-Shabaab militants, resulted in 67 deaths and over 200 injuries. Groves and his East African country manager, Lorcan Byrne an ex Irish Ranger Tier 1 who was based in Nairobi, responded to the incident unarmed.

Amongst the first responders to the scene, Groves and Byrne coordinated the evacuation of civilians, at times under direct fire. They guided many to safety from hiding places, including the mall's loading area, underground car parks, the Java Café and the worst hit area of the rooftop car park. The militants had launched their attack during a children's cooking competition held in that area. Here it was a chaotic and urgent scene,[1] multiple shots had been fired and grenades detonated, one of which caused a competition gas canister to explode, scattering shrapnel.

Local radio host Sadia Ahmed remembers that a white man in a checked shirt (subsequently identified as Groves) appeared and began to persuade the walking wounded to leave the dead and follow him into the building and on to the fire escape. Many were reluctant to go, insisting that they must know if their loved ones were dead before they would leave.

Groves who was an experienced SAS 4-man patrol medic [2], attempted to give first aid and systematically covered the deceased with red tablecloths from the cooking competition. Witnesses reported that he repeatedly paired the injured with the uninjured. "On the roof, a British man with close-cropped hair and a background in the SAS (Groves) ushered the survivors through a side entrance to the third floor Java Coffee shop, from where a fire escape led to the ground floor and safety". [3]

These included Elaine Dang and some were so severely injured that they needed to be carried by Groves. All the while close range shots and explosions could be heard and still an unexploded grenade lay nearby.

Later in the afternoon, outside in-between evacuations, Groves was then seen to approach a police commander and a Kenyan army general who had arrived. He was recorded in media coverage shown during the day, discussing military response arrangements and urgently asking for medical assistance. Footage of this was later included in the documentary Terror at the Mall.

British best-selling author and filmmaker Damien Lewis, a fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the Royal Geographical Society with over twenty years of experience reporting from conflict zones, commended Groves' actions, stating: "Courage beyond measure, but knowing this guy as I do, that's hardly surprising". [4]

Media reports and survivor accounts have highlighted and praised Groves and Byrne's contributions, However, there is no record of official recognition. In contrast, Dominic Troulan was formally acknowledged and awarded the George Cross in 2017 for his role in the incident.