George Cross awarded to retired major who rescued 200 during terror attack

Dominic Troulan with his George Cross. Credit: PA

A retired special forces officer who saved around 200 people during a deadly terror attack has been awarded the George Cross for his bravery, and dedicated the medal to the victims of such atrocities.

Major Dominic Troulan is the first British person to be awarded the UK's highest civilian honour for bravery in 41 years, after he returned a dozen times to the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi in 2013 to search for survivors and lead them to safety after al-Shabab extremists stormed the centre armed with machine guns and grenades.

Yet Maj Troulan said he was just the "custodian" of the honour presented to him by the Queen, adding that many "good human beings" have "amazed" the world by standing up for democracy during similar incidents.

Speaking after the ceremony he said: "Whilst I take this award - and very humbled and honoured I am to receive it from Her Majesty - it is definitively (from) a position of custodian for all the victims not only of Westgate but of terrorism generally...

"The world over the last few years has got worse, arguably.

"And when you see all the incidents in the UK and in Kenya on that very day, and in other parts of the world, it is the good human beings that amaze people how they stand up and help - medically, logistically - and stand up for the right and good of democracy."

Smoke rises from the Westgate Shopping Mall during the siege. Credit: AP

Maj Troulan, who moved to Kenya 12 years ago with his family and works as a security risk manager, first heard about the siege when he received a phone call from a friend asking him to find his wife and daughter who were in the shopping complex.

Maj Troulan went into the shopping centre time and again armed with just a pistol.

His George Cross citation was read out to the investiture guests, who were told: "He managed to bring two women to safety and decided to stay to help others.

"Over the course of several hours, despite getting increasingly exhausted, dehydrated and being fired at, he went into the building at least a dozen times and managed to bring many innocent civilians to safety."

Bullet holes in a shop door in the Westgate Shopping Mall. Credit: AP

The siege ended three days after it began with 67 people killed and more than 175 reportedly wounded.

Maj Troulan said his familiarity with the shopping centre, where he regularly went with his family, put a different slant on events.

A security officer helps a woman flee the shopping centre. Credit: AP

He said: "In this instance there were some other courageous people with me and around me and when you go into somewhere, where you've taken your family for a few years to do weekly shopping, see the cinema, use the cafes, it puts a different context on the situation developing in front of you.

"And the situation developing is quite graphic and horrific in what is a sterile shopping centre with clean floors, clean walls and you've got young children and families killed.

"The horrific carnage that the terrorists managed to conduct in pretty short order really will live with all of us that were involved there, both the hostages, the victims' families and extended friends who were actually in there and saw it first-hand."