GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY 1794
An extremely rare British Empire Medal for Gallantry awarded to Trooper M. E. Downs, 14/20th King’s Hussars, ‘the youngest soldier in the British Army’ to receive the award
BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL, (Military) E.II.R., with gallantry emblem (23923263 Tpr. Michael E. Downs, 14/20th King’s Hussars), in its Royal Mint case of issue, extremely fine
£1200-1500 B.E.M. London Gazette 21 May 1963:
‘At 9.30 p.m. on 25 November 1962, Trooper Downs and a companion were walking along the Promenade at Blackpool when they saw an old man supporting himself by the sea wall. After passing the man they then heard the sound of groaning and splashing coming from the sea. Trooper Downs saw the old man in the water, being carried away from the wall. The tide was fairly high, the sea choppy and there was a heavy swell; it was also very foggy. Trooper Downs, after telling his companion to telephone for assistance and removing some of his clothing, dived into the sea and swam towards the man who was now 50 yards from the sea wall.
After a strenuous struggle in the rough water Trooper Downs succeeded in holding the man up with his right hand and started to swim back by breast stroke with his left hand. This was extremely difficult owing to the weight of the man’s clothing, but after a great effort he managed to reach the sea wall. Here Trooper Downs dragged the man towards the steps where he was able to pull him almost clear of the water and support him until the arrival of an ambulance. Unfortunately the man died on the way to hospital. Trooper Downs displayed, in the face of forbidding conditions, great gallantry and determination in his efforts to rescue a fellow man.’
Local newspapers quickly covered the story of 17 year old Michael Downs’ gallantry, one of them revealing that the young soldier had been absent without leave - ‘He went back after the incident and got a telling-off from his C.O., but they were delighted with what he had done in trying to save the man in the sea and no action was taken against him’. While another stated that whilst he had been awarded a school proficiency certificate for swimming, he had failed the lifesaving test.
Michael Downs was convicted of murder at Manchester Crown Court in July 1989.
1795
A B.E.M. group of three awarded to Flight Sergeant G. Colledge, Royal Air Force
BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL, (Military) E.II.R. (No.977113 F. Sgt. Gilbert Colledge, R.A.F.); GENERAL SERVICE 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya,
G.VI.R. (977113 Sgt., R.A.F.); ROYAL AIR FORCE L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (977113 F. Sgt., R.A.F.) good very fine (3)
£220-260 B.E.M. London Gazette 1 January 1968.
1796
A good Second World War “Southampton Blitz” B.E.M. awarded to F. C. Clouder, a Southern Railway crane driver who was decorated for his gallantry during a daylight raid on the docks in August 1940
BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL, (Civil)
G.VI.R., 1st issue (Frederick Charles Clouder), edge nicks, good very fine B.E.M. London Gazette 24 January 1941:
‘Just after bombs had been dropped in Southampton, Clouder volunteered to assist in removing a wounded soldier from the roof of the Cold Store. This was burning fiercely and A.A. shells standing there were exploding from the heat on the roof. He ran to a crane and guided a rope sling looped on to the crane hood which was placed on the Cold Store roof. The soldier was placed in the sling and Clouder lowered him to the ground. As the raid was still in progress Clouder showed great presence of mind and courage in carrying out this operation in spite of flames and smoke as well as exploding A.A. shells.’
The above incident took place in a daylight raid on Tuesday 13 August 1940, on which occasion Mr. William Fisher, a dockworker who assisted Clouder, was awarded the George Medal. The wounded soldier was Private S. W. Jones of the 71st Light A.A. Battery, R.A.
As “Gateway to the South”, Southampton endured 57 raids during the Blitz, with resultant casualties of 633 killed and 922 seriously injured. In fact the city was hit by a total of 2,600 bombs and 32,000 incendiary devices, with 4,000 homes being destroyed and another 36,000 damaged - an accompanying copied newspaper feature from the Southampton Echo states that Clouder had been in the employ of Southern Railway for 12 years at the time of the above related incident, and that he, too, had been bombed out of his home and was living with his parents. He died in December 1968, aged 63 years.
£350-400
www.dnw.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256 |
Page 257 |
Page 258 |
Page 259 |
Page 260 |
Page 261 |
Page 262 |
Page 263 |
Page 264 |
Page 265 |
Page 266 |
Page 267 |
Page 268 |
Page 269 |
Page 270 |
Page 271 |
Page 272 |
Page 273 |
Page 274 |
Page 275 |
Page 276 |
Page 277 |
Page 278 |
Page 279 |
Page 280 |
Page 281 |
Page 282 |
Page 283 |
Page 284 |
Page 285 |
Page 286 |
Page 287 |
Page 288 |
Page 289 |
Page 290 |
Page 291 |
Page 292 |
Page 293 |
Page 294 |
Page 295 |
Page 296 |
Page 297 |
Page 298 |
Page 299 |
Page 300 |
Page 301 |
Page 302 |
Page 303 |
Page 304 |
Page 305 |
Page 306 |
Page 307 |
Page 308 |
Page 309 |
Page 310 |
Page 311 |
Page 312 |
Page 313 |
Page 314 |
Page 315 |
Page 316 |
Page 317 |
Page 318 |
Page 319 |
Page 320 |
Page 321 |
Page 322 |
Page 323 |
Page 324 |
Page 325 |
Page 326 |
Page 327 |
Page 328 |
Page 329 |
Page 330 |
Page 331 |
Page 332 |
Page 333 |
Page 334 |
Page 335 |
Page 336 |
Page 337 |
Page 338 |
Page 339 |
Page 340 |
Page 341 |
Page 342 |
Page 343 |
Page 344 |
Page 345 |
Page 346 |
Page 347 |
Page 348 |
Page 349 |
Page 350 |
Page 351 |
Page 352 |
Page 353 |
Page 354 |
Page 355 |
Page 356 |
Page 357 |
Page 358 |
Page 359 |
Page 360 |
Page 361 |
Page 362 |
Page 363 |
Page 364