Draft:Taff Groves

Early life and military career

Taff Groves was born in Cardiff [1] and grew up in the Ely and Cathays areas. At the age of 19, he joined the Royal Regiment of Wales. After a brief period with the RAF Regiment, he returned to the Royal Regiment of Wales. In 1985, Groves successfully passed the selection for the United Kingdom (UK) Special Forces on his first attempt and was subsequently attached to the Special Air Service (SAS). He served in 'B' Squadron 22 SAS and later in L Detachment Reserves. His military career spanned over 30 years and was principally within UK Special Forces.

Post military life

After retiring from full-time service in the British Army, Groves embarked on a career as a security consultant within the private business sector. Using his extensive expertise in security matters, he played crucial roles in various high-stakes engagements. [2] [3] One of the most notable incidents occurred during the Westgate Shopping Mall terrorist attack in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013. [4] [5] [6]

For a decade, his true involvement and identity remained undisclosed to the public. However, in September 2023, marking the 10th anniversary of the Westgate attack, Groves was persuaded by survivors to share his story. [7] This revelation highlighted his heroic actions and the significant impact he had during one of the most harrowing terrorist attacks in recent history. Made all the more the more remarkable because he assisted and saved 100's while unarmed.

Damien Lewis, British best selling author and filmmaker, fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the Royal Geographical Society, who has spent over twenty years reporting from and writing about conflict zones in many countries said of Groves; "Courage beyond measure, but knowing this guy as I do, that's hardly surprising."

Personal Rescue Response

Background

In his role as the senior global security advisor for a logistics company, Groves arrived in Nairobi on Thursday, 19th September 2013. His visit, scheduled to last only a few days, included his first face to face introduction to Lorcan Byrne, an ex-Irish Ranger Tier 1 and the company's East Africa security manager based in Nairobi.

Events Leading Up to the Attack

Originally, Groves and Byrne had planned to meet with a client in the field, but logistical issues meant they had to rearrange to an informal meeting at a café on the ground floor near the front entrance of the Westgate Mall. This was in the morning of Saturday, 21st September 2013. After their meeting, they returned to their nearby company office.

The Attack

Shortly after returning to their office, Byrne received a text message from a local security manager reporting gunfire at the Westgate Mall. It was suspected that a criminal or terrorist attack was underway. As historical records show, at least four Al-Shabab terrorists had entered the Westgate Mall, targeting the very café where Groves and Byrne had been meeting just 30 minutes earlier.

Emergency Response

Upon learning of the attack, the company's standard emergency response plan was activated. The initial steps involved accounting for all personnel and their family members, informing them of the ongoing incident, advising them to stay safe, and preventing them from moving towards the danger zone. It soon became evident that two company employees were unaccounted for and likely still inside the Westgate Mall.

These concerns were confirmed: Herman Lang and his wife Noella were trapped within the mall.

Lang and his wife had arrived at the mall shortly before the attack and were dining at the Onami restaurant (Now closed permanently) on the third floor when the terrorists struck. Lang, an experienced company member, on recognizing the sounds of gunfire and explosions, quickly took action. Leading around 20 people, including himself and his wife, to safety in a liquor storeroom. More people eventually joined them from the air vents above. He then supervised barricading of the door as the terrorists fired and tried to enter.

Westgate shopping mall attack

Groves and Byrne's Intervention: Arrival and Initial Assessment

In text contact with the Lang's, Groves and Byrne reassured them to stay hidden and they would attempt to rescue them.

At around 13:00, Groves and Byrne arrived at Westgate Shopping Mall, unarmed and having navigated through fleeing crowds. Forced to abandon their vehicle midway, they continued on foot. Nearing the mall, they encountered the sounds of gunfire and explosions, along with numerous casualties and wounded individuals.

Tactical Entry and Initial Encounter

After a brief discussion, Groves and Byrne opted to enter the mall via the underground car park, aiming for the supermarket. Moving tactically from pillar to pillar, their approach was abruptly halted when shots were fired in their direction. Forced to retreat, they reconsidered their entry point and decided to try the loading area at the rear of the Nakumatt supermarket.[8]

Organizing the Evacuation

Upon arrival at the loading area, Groves and Byrne found 150 to 200 people hiding behind trucks and other obstacles. Utilizing their military training, they quickly took control of the situation, organizing the civilians into groups. During lulls in the gunfire, they guided these groups down the service road to the street exit, successfully evacuating all those hiding in the area.

While in the loading area, Groves noticed a hand waving from the upper-level car park, clearly covered in blood. Recognizing the urgency, they decided they would need to reach that location. However, their immediate priority was to clear the loading area, ensuring all civilians were safely evacuated before proceeding.[9]

Collaboration with Local Law Enforcement

In the loading area, Groves and Byrne encountered several Kenyan policemen, including two reservists and two regular officers, all armed but with low ammunition. Although the officers could not spare any weapons, they agreed to assist Groves and Byrne in entering the building via the fire escape stairwell to facilitate further evacuations.

The policemen, willing to be advised, followed Groves and Byrne's guidance on stairwell tactics, carefully advancing while the sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the mall.[10]

Securing the Java Café

Reaching the top near the Java café, they encountered an armed security guard. Groves requested the guard to secure the corridor leading to the stairwell, which he agreed to do. Groves and Byrne then banged on the door of the Java café, reassuring those inside that they were there to help. After some persuasion, the door was opened. There was carnage in the café at least 20 people were dead and the same number injured. They began the process of moving trapped individuals down the secured stairwell, instructing them to head for the loading area exit once at the bottom.

The Rooftop Car Park Scene

The Java café overlooked the rooftop car park, separated by a low wall with a bamboo partition. The terrorists had launched their attack during a children's cooking competition held in this area. The attackers had shot people and thrown grenades, causing at least one gas canister used in the competition to explode, spreading shrapnel. Amidst the chaos, an unexploded grenade lay near the cooking area.

Groves and Byrne found approximately 100 men, women, and children, many traumatized, hiding under cars or within the cooking area. The living were intermixed with the dead and injured, creating a harrowing scene.

At this point, witnesses confirm that Groves and Byrne split up. Byrne had been given a pistol with 15 rounds from one of the fleeing shoppers. He knew the Mall's layout well and with one of the armed policemen set off to rescue the Lang's from the Onami restaurant. They would become involved in a skirmish with the Terrorists.[11]

Local radio host Sadia Ahmed[12] recalls a white man in a checked shirt who appeared and attempted to persuade the walking wounded to leave the deceased and follow him into the building and onto the fire escape. Many were hesitant, insisting they needed to confirm whether their loved ones were deceased before leaving.

Groves systematically covered the deceased with red tablecloths from the cooking competition. Witnesses reported that he paired the injured with the uninjured to assist them down the stairs. Some were so severely injured that they needed to be carried.

All the while close range shots and explosions could be heard and still the unexploded grenade lay nearby. A greater concern was that the terrorists would double back to use the rooftop ramp as an exit point.

Byrne eventually returned from rescuing not only the Lang's but 60 other evacuees. Still armed and with just a few bullets left, he leads them down the secured stairwell with Groves taking up the rear with the slower, exhausted stragglers. Byrne then evacuates the Lang's to a company car.

Groves was seen to approach a police commander and a Kenyan army general who had arrived. Video was taken and included in media coverage of the day, also later in the documentary Terror at the Mall footage. Groves requests assistance, offers to show a secured route to the carpark and explains he is a soldier himself. He is told they are waiting for Kenya's equivalent of a Swat team, the "Recce crew", to arrive and would take no action until they did. Groves decided not to wait. He persuades a non-uniformed Kenyan soldier (name unknown) and a civilian Sikh man, Satpal Singh, to go with him and Byrne back into the danger zone.

Back on the roof there was chaos. Volunteers from Kenya's Red Cross had ignored safety warnings and driven an ambulance up into the parking area. They had stretchers and medical kit, but no experience of trauma or triage. It would be a further hour before any Doctors arrived.

Using the cookery tables as stretchers, the pair worked for an hour alongside the volunteers. Eventually hours later all injured had been evacuated from the rooftop area and only sadly the dead remained. Kenyan security forces were now within the Mall searching for the Terrorists.

It was at the exit of the Mall where Dominic Troulan of Newport Africa encountered them on the street for the first time in the day's rescue efforts. Though Groves did not know Troulan, Byrne knew him well, having both been stationed in Nairobi. Troulan, upon hearing a brief account of their recent activities inside the Mall, sought their help in finding one of his clients who was still trapped inside.

They agreed to assist Troulan and led him inside via the stairwell they had been using. However, once on the roof, concerned about a military helicopter circling above the Mall, Groves and Byrne advised Troulan they all exit the rooftop to avoid appearing suspicious and risking friendly fire. They retreated down a stairwell and left the Mall. Troulan's client was subsequently freed by Kenyan security forces.

Reactions

Survivors made contact with Byrne in Nairobi shortly after the attack to thank him for his rescue efforts. However, it would take over 5 years in 2017 for them to trace UK based Groves and learn of his true identity. In 2018 survivors Amanda and Simon Belcher invited Groves to visit Kenya as their guests, meet with other survivors he helped rescue and pay respects to those who lost their lives at the Amani Memorial Garden.

In 2023, to coincide with the 10th anniversary British and Kenyan press highlighted Groves and Byrne's story. They saved 100's of peoples lives and without doubt changed the course of that day.