Regimental Sergeant Major 'Tiny' Lawson died very suddenly on Sunday 17th May and I am very distressed by that news. I knew Tiny for most of my military service and worked with him most closely when he sat beside me as gunner in my Warrior armoured fighting vehicle throughout our 6 month tour in Bosnia during 1992 - 93. At the time he was the Gunnery Sergeant Major of 1st Battalion The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment which I was commanding. Before we deployed he had volunteered to man the weapon systems in 'Juliet', my command vehicle and there could have been no better man for the job.
In Bosnia we spent a huge amount of time together and I came to know him especially well. Tiny was a big man in every sense - the perfect Sergeant Major. He was very brave; under fire unchanged - calm and calming, efficient and practical. When Tiny was around I knew I didn't have to watch my back - he did. In one incident, when stationary, the Warrior behind me mistakenly fired its main armament and the high explosive round only just missed me as I was standing on the top of Juliet. The HEAT round flew off to detonate on a hill 2,000 metres away. Tiny was out of his gunners position incredibly fast and almost flew to the rear vehicle. Quickly he returned holding the commander and gunner of that Warrior, who happened to be young officers, by the scruffs of their necks. He was not amused!.
But Tiny had a great sense of humour and how we laughed when together. On the ground he was always there to sort things out - especially when I made mistakes, which happened too often. On occasions he would give me hell for some action or other. I took it because he was right and he was only trying to look after me. Of course, like many big men, he had a soft side; for instance, once positioning pillows around me so I could sleep in the turret as we travelled through the night after yet another very long day. As we journeyed around he always talked about his wife and then his daughter who he fretted about constantly because she had a bad back which pained her constantly. He desperately wanted her to be fixed. I am terribly upset by the loss of this great man and my heart goes out to his family who must be utterly distraught. God Bless you Tiny Lawson.