LIFE SAVING AWARDS 873 A Washington Colliery Medal 1922 awarded to G. Venison
WASHINGTON COLLIERY MEDAL 1922, obverse inscribed, ‘Washington Colliery, “F. Pit” Rescue Party, awarded to G. Venison, for Bravery, Sept. 1922’, reverse with laurel wreath, uninscribed, 26mm. dia., 9ct. gold, 10.34g., hallmarks for Birmingham 1922, ring suspension, in card box, good very fine, rare
£280-320
George Venison (1869 – 1933) is recorded in the 1911 census as a Colliery Deputy Overman, living at Monument Terrace, Usworth, Washington, County Durham.
The Washington Colliery Rescue
´Three miners were entombed in Washington Pit yesterday morning [Friday 8th September 1922], and as the result of strenuous efforts the rescue parties succeeded in establishing communication with them at noon today. All three were alive and well. The men who were imprisoned in the mine are Richard Brookes, John Wilson, M.M., and Robert Buck. The men went into the pit at four o´clock yesterday morning, and at about nine o´clock a fall was discovered. It was a very large one, some 30 yards in length, and it cut off the three men from their comrades. Directly the discovery was made the rescue work was undertaken. Mr. Tom Burt, the under-manager, was speedily in the place, with Mr. John Hill, the fore overman, and from then until noon today they had not left the spot. Relays of men worked unceasingly under their direction. At first it was feared that the men could not be reached in time to save their lives, or that they might already be dead, but after a time they were heard knocking in response to the knocking of their rescuers. The task of the rescuers was a difficult one, as they had to cut a tunnel about two feet wide through the fallen mass of stone. At last they were able to converse with the imprisoned men, and they then realised that all being well they would be able to rescue them.´ (Sunderland Daily Echo, 9 September 1922)
´Resounding cheers went up from hundreds of grateful friends gathered round the "F" Pit at Washington, yesterday, when word was brought to bank that the three miners who had been entombed below had been rescued. The men had been imprisoned in the bowels of the earth for nearly two whole days and nights by a heavy fall of stone with nothing to sustain them but a pint of water, which was shared in precious portions between them. The only thing that could have saved them from blank and utter despair was the dull and distant noises of the rescue parties which broke the eerie silence of their surroundings early on Friday night. Then, at 3:25am on Saturday morning the entombed men were able to get a glimpse of the welcome beam from the rescuers´ lamps through the first small crevice they had made in the stone which had blocked their way to the free air above. Soon a hole big enough to hand refreshments through was made, and the men, rejoicing and relieved, though naturally exhausted, soon made their rescuers aware that they were quite sound and uninjured. "What day is it?" queried Brookes, to whom, as well as the others, the weary hours of suspense had doubtless seemed an eternity. "It’s like coming out of the trenches", added Wilson, who like his two comrades is an ex-service man, and who was awarded the Military Medal in the Great War. When the exit had been made large enough for the men to pass through more food and coffee was given them, and they were wrapped in rugs by the doctor’s orders. At 4:30am the rescue party returned to bank, and the news of the success of their endeavours was received with cheers, which increased when the three men were observed coming down the gangway. They were conveyed to their respective homes in a motor-car.´ (Sunderland Daily Echo, 11 September 1922).
With copied newspaper and census extracts. 874
A well documented Boy Scouts Association Gallantry Cross, 3rd Class awarded to J. D. Glenny, for saving a man from drowning, South Shields, 7 December 1917
BOY SCOUTS ASSOCIATION GALLANTRY CROSS, 3rd Class (Gilt Cross), 1st issue, 1st type, silver-gilt, reverse inscribed, ‘J. D. Glenny, for saving a drowning man, South Shields Docks, 17.12.17(sic)’, with ribbon; Royal Life Saving Society Medal, bronze, reverse re-inscribed, ‘J. D. Glenny, December 1917’, first with some contact marks, very fine (lot)
£700-800
‘On 7th December 1917 Albert V. Dodds was working on the offside of a vessel alongside Messrs. Readhead’s Quay at South Shields, when he overbalanced and fell into the Tyne. In his fall he was hit on the head and apparently rendered unconscious.
John D. Glenny was working on the boat from which Dodds had fallen, and he immediately ran from his fire on deck and dived into the water, a distance of about 8 feet. After swimming a distance of about 15 yards he got hold of Dodds and swam back with him to the ship’s side. One of the workmen climbed down the side of the ship and fastened a rope to Dodds’ belt. Glenny then swam to a launch which had arrived on the scene and was about to be taken on board when the workman shouted that Dodds had sunk again as the belt by which they were pulling him out of the water had broken. Glenny at once left the launch side and again dived and brought Dodds to the surface. Both rescuer and rescued were assisted into the launch.
At the place where the rescue occurred the River Tyne is fully 200 yards wide and about 30 feet deep. There were strong currents running and the water is foul.’
For his brave rescue, John Glenny was awarded the Boy Scouts Association Gilt Cross, The Royal Humane Society’s Bronze Medal - ref. case 43913 (not with lot) and Carnegie Hero Fund Certificate. It was also reported that because of family circumstances, ‘a sum of £10 was to be sent to Mayor to be applied in the best interests of the rescuer.’ With the following documents:
1. A colourful award document to accompany the Gilt Cross, this named to 2nd Class Scout John D, Glenny, The South Shields Congregational Troop. Awarded the Gilt Cross of the Boy Scouts for ‘Saving a man from drowning in the West Docks, South Shields, on December 7th 1917’, dated 25.1.1918’ [signed] ‘Robert Baden-Powell’ Chief Scout’. Certificate in glazed frame, 53 x 44cm.
2. Carnegie Hero Fund Trust Certificate, ‘Presented by the Trustees in Recognition of Heroic Endeavour to Save Human Life, to John D. Glenny, South Shields, 7th December, 1917’, dated 28 February 1918. Certificate in glazed frame, 49 x 40cm. With Carnegie Hero Fund Trust, annual report, 1918.
3. Royal Life Saving Society certificate, awarded to ‘John G (sic). Glenny, So. Shields Sch. S.A., for knowledge of Rescue, Releasing one’s-self from the Clutch of the Drowning, also ability to render aid in Resuscitating the Apparently Drowned’, dated December 1913’, minor tear marks, in glazed frame, 48 x 42cm. (All dimensions approximate).
www.dnw.co.uk
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