David Hayden
David James Hayden MC (born c.1979) is the first Royal Air Force non-commissioned officer to win the Military Cross.
[edit] Early life
Hayden was born in Germany and attended the Gleed Boys' School in Spalding, where he grew up. His father (who died in June 2005, aged 49) was a tank driver in the Queen's Royal Hussars, becoming a Warrant Officer Class 2.[1]
[edit] RAF service
Hayden joined the RAF Regiment in 1997 and after a number of tours including time with No.2 RAF Force Protection Wing at RAF Leeming - with which he served in Afghanistan for the first time - he is currently a Corporal with No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment at RAF Honington, Suffolk.[2] He is a qualified instructor.
While serving in Iraq in 2007, as part of No.4 RAF Force Protection Wing (of which 1 Squadron is a sub-unit), he showed outstanding courage while commanding a dismounted patrol in a fight against an insurgent force, repeatedly risking his own life to rescue a wounded comrade and extract his team.[3] His Military Cross was gazetted on 7 March 2008.[4]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "Kate signs last page in memory of James", Spalding Today, 30 November 2005
- ^ "Gunners honoured for outstanding courage", Thetford & Brandon Times, 11 March 2008]
- ^ Ministry of Defence website
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58633. pp. 3615–3619. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
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