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Auction: 1005 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 19

A Fine 1941 Plymouth ´Blitz´ G.M. Pair to Patrol Officer, Later Section Officer, G.H. Wright, Plymouth Auxiliary Fire Service a) George Medal, G.VI.R. (George Henry Wright) b) Defence Medal, good very fine or better, with a comprehensive file of research and original newspaper cuttings enclosed within (2) Estimate £ 2,000-2,500 G.M. London Gazette 25.4.1941 George Henry Wright, Patrol Officer, Plymouth Auxiliary Fire Service [in a joint citation with Cyril George Lidstone, Leading Fireman] ´During an intense enemy air raid on Plymouth a large petrol tank was set alight. The roof was well down in the tank and to reach it was necessary to scale a steel stairway on the outside of the tank and then descend a steel ladder to a depth of thirty-two feet inside the tank. The petrol was well ablaze around the sealing ring, between the rim of the roof and the tank wall. With the contents of the tank so low the possibility of an explosion became a very serious contingency. Patrol Officer Wright and Leading Fireman Lidstone hauled up hose and foam equipment to the platform on top of the outside stairway. Wright, without hesitation, then descended the inner ladder to the roof and started his attack on the fire. He made gallant efforts to extinguish the flames but was not able to complete the circuit without assistance. Lidstone immediately descended to the roof and with his help the fire was successfully overcome. These men showed great gallantry as they were fully aware of the possibility of an explosion which would have cost their lives.´ The Recommendation states: ´On the evening of Monday, the 13th January, 1941, an intense enemy air raid was directed against the City, particularly in the Prince Rock and Cattedown areas. The Air Raid "Warning" was sounded at 1837 hours and the "Raiders Passed" message was received at 2130 hours. The latter could not be sounded, however, because of severe air raid damage which had cut off the electricity supplies. During the three hours attack, several large fires were started in the Prince Rock, Cattedown and Coxside areas, mainly by incendiary bombs. These fires afforded the enemy bombers excellent means for locating their targets, and following aircraft made good use of the now well lighted areas to drop many medium and heavily calibre bombs. In the intervals between falling H.E., showers of incendiaries were dropped, the clusters, in some instances, being particularly heavy, making it difficult for Fire Watchers to extinguish so many in such small areas. Hence the fires already mentioned, in a short time reached serious proportions in places somewhat widely apart. Among the places affected, was a large lubricating oil store in the Petroleum Board´s Depot in Oakfield Terrace Road, which soon reached serious proportions. At approximately 2215 hours, it was observed that nearby, in one of the spirit compounds, a 5,000 ton petrol tank was alight, and attention was immediately directed to this, because, of the difficulties of dealing with a petrol fire when once well ablaze. The tank in question was one of the floating roof type and the roof, which acts like a piston, was well down in the tank. The quantity of petrol in this case approximately something under 1,000 tons. To reach the roof, a steel ladder had to be descended to a depth of 32 feet, after first scaling a steel stairway on the outside of the tank. The petrol was now well ablaze around the sealing ring, between the rim of the roof, and the tank wall, and with the contents of the tank so low, the possibility of an explosive petrol/air mixture having formed below the roof became a very serious contingency. As the water mains had been seriously damaged, hose had to be laid to the water front to obtain supplies for the foam branchpipes. Upon completion of this line, Patrol Officer G.H. Wright, and Leading Fireman C.G. Lidstone, hauled up the hose and foam equipment to the platform on top of the outside stairway. Wright then, without hesitation, descended the inner ladder to the roof and started his attack on the fire. It was noted that, in his gallant efforts to extinguish the fire, Wright was not able to complete the circuit of the roof without further assistance, as the hose was fouling the leg tubes standing up from the roof. Lidstone thereupon immediately descended to the roof to free the hose, after which the fire was successfully overcome in very quick time. Had either man hesitated during this critical period, the extent of the fire may have been serious, as adjoining this tank was another of similar capacity, but which contained over one million gallons of petrol. It will be appreciated that these men not only showed great gallantry in very dangerous and trying circumstances, but faced the danger at a time when their strength must have been at a low ebb, following the heavy work of laying many lengths of hose from the seafront, dragging some over the compound wall, and then up the stairway. Furthermore, the work of operating a foam branchpipe in this case, a No. 10, and dragging a charged line of hose around such a large tank roof, is no mean task in itself.´ Section Officer George Henry Wright, G.M., born Plymouth, 1911 and resided at ´71 Neath Road, St. Judes, Plymouth´; joined the A.F.S. as a part time member, May 1938, becoming full time with the outbreak of the Second World War; posted to Cattedown A.F.S. Station and it was from the latter that he set out on the 13th January 1941; the raid itself consisted of approximately 50 enemy aircraft, which dropped 21 tons of HE bombs and thousands of incendiaries; the area´s Chief Petroleum Officer wrote the following of Wright´s actions that night, ´In a quiet talk with Wright the following morning, I found he was aware of the risks, but that he had confidence in his ability to deal successfully with the fire, particularly when he had regard to his instructions in his previous drills. It is pleasing to find his confidence was not ill-placed. I have personally congratulated Wright on his pluck that night, but have taken no steps until now to tell you of these men´s exploits because Wright´s attitude then, and has been since, was that no particular mention should be made of the episode´. Wright and Lidstone were presented with their awards at Buckingham Palace during the 1st week of June 1942: they were amongst the first recipients to come from Plymouth to be awarded the George Medal. They appeared together on a BBC Radio programme called ´Under Your Tin Hate´, 21.5.1941; Wright was promoted Section Officer but had to leave the A.F.S. in 1944 because of his trade as a builder.

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