David Tinker

Lieutenant David Hugh Russell Tinker (14 March 1957 – 12 June 1982) was a Royal Navy supply officer, appointed as captain's secretary in the County-class destroyer HMS Glamorgan. He was killed in action on 12 June 1982, shortly before the end of the Falklands War, when Glamorgan was hit by an Exocet missile fired from a lorry by an Argentine Navy team in Stanley; he was on duty as flight deck officer on the flight deck, aft of the ship, within the helicopter bay, at the time. Twelve other sailors were also killed.

His father, Hugh Tinker, a writer and university professor, privately published a book, A Message from the Falklands: The Life and Gallant Death of David Tinker, which contained some of David's letters home, and poems written earlier in his life. The poems are reminiscent of Wilfred Owen's earlier work. The book was first taken up by The Sunday Times, and then by Penguin books. It was subsequently adapted into a stage play called Falkland Sound by Louise Page which was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1983. The book has also been published in Spanish in Argentina.

David Tinker went to Mill Hill School where he served as coxswain in the naval section of the school CCF. After training at Dartmouth, he studied at Birmingham University. He was married to Christine Daybell, who still lives in the cottage they bought together in Shropshire.

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External links

• Tinker, Lieut. David, R.N. Roll of honour
• Memorial site with poem