The very good Second World War London Blitz 10th December 1940 Enfield Air Raid Rescue Policeman’s George Medal pair awarded to Police Constable Willis Griffiths, “Y” Division, London Metropolitan Police. A serving policeman since November 1926, Griffiths was with “Y” Division, a unit whose area of operations included parts of London, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. He was serving as such on the outbreak of the Second World War, and then found himself involved in civil defence duties during the Luftwaffe’s London Blitz in 1940 to 1941. The Luftwaffe’s attack launched on London on 1st December 1940 was a subsidiary raid to a larger strike on Southampton, with the Luftwaffe having to rely on ‘DR’ (Dead Reckoning) as cloud and mist obscured much of the city. Encountering medium flak of moderate accuracy, the 17 attacking aircraft dropped around 30 tonnes of High Explosive bombs, most of the evening’s damage being sustained in the outer suburbs, of which Enfield was one. It was for his actions in the Enfield area on the evening of 1st December 1940 after a high explosive bomb practically demolished a house in Bush Hill Road, Winchmore Hill and fractured gas and water mains, that he earned the George Medal. It was learned that a woman was trapped beneath the debris, and Griffiths, together with an Inspector, climbed over the wreckage, broke down a door and removed many bricks which were holding it fast. Griffiths then cut through one of the rafters with a saw, and was able to crawl below the floor, clearing a passage through a pile of bricks and mortar. Owing to the confined space, this had to be done by scraping it away by hand and passing it back. The woman was trapped behind a spring mattress, part of which was resting on her legs, and another mattress obstructed approach to her. After tying a rope around it the officers were able to drag it away. With the aid of a small coal shovel, sufficient debris was removed to enable a doctor to reach the woman and give her an injection. A saw and some pliers were then passed to Griffiths who sawed through the mattress frame and released the woman's legs. The spring was then broken away from the frame and the woman extricated through the cavity. The rescue took about two hours of hard work.
Pair: George Medal, GVI 1st type bust; (WILLIS GRIFFITHS); Defence Medal 1939-1945.
Condition: first with neatly repaired suspension loop, otherwise Nearly Extremely Fine.
Provenance: ex Christies, November 2000; and Dix Noonan Webb, September 2009.
Willis Griffiths joined the London Metropolitan Police in November 1926 and was posted as a Police Constable to “Y” Division, a unit whose area of operations included parts of London, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. He was serving as such on the outbreak of the Second World War, and then found himself involved in civil defence duties during the Luftwaffe’s London Blitz in 1940 to 1941.
It was for his actions in the Enfield area on the evening of 1st December 1940 after a high explosive bomb practically demolished a house in Bush Hill Road, Winchmore Hill, that he earned the George Medal.
The Luftwaffe’s attack launched on London on 1st December 1940 was a subsidiary raid to a larger strike on Southampton, with the Luftwaffe having to rely on ‘DR’ (Dead Reckoning) as cloud and mist obscured much of the city. Encountering medium flak of moderate accuracy, the 17 attacking aircraft dropped around 30 tonnes of High Explosive bombs, most of the evening’s damage being sustained in the outer suburbs, of which Enfield was one.
The original recommendation for Griffiths award states: ‘In the Enfield area of Middlesex, in the northern suburbs, a high explosive bomb practically demolished a house in Bush Hill Road, Winchmore Hill, at 11.15 p.m. on 1st December 1940, fracturing gas and water mains and trapping a woman below the debris. P.C. W. Griffiths, together with Inspector J. C. Pulham, climbed over the debris, broke down a door and removed many bricks which were holding it fast. The Constable then cut through one of the rafters with a saw and was able to crawl below the floor, clearing a passage through the pile of bricks and mortar. Owing to the confined space this had to be done by scraping it away by hand and passing it back. The woman was found to be trapped behind a spring mattress, part of which was resting on her legs while another mattress was obstructing the approach to her. The two officers were able to drag the second mattress away with a rope and a small coal shovel was then used to remove sufficient debris to enable a doctor to reach the woman and give her an injection. A saw and some pliers were then passed to the constable who sawed through the mattress frame and released her legs and broke the spring away from the frame, allowing her to be released after the rescue action had taken two hours.’
Griffiths award was published in the London Gazette for 28th March 1941, with the following citation: ‘A high explosive bomb fell, practically demolishing a house and fracturing gas and water mains. It was learned that a woman was trapped beneath the debris. Police Constable Griffiths, together with an Inspector, climbed over the wreckage, broke down a door and removed many bricks which were holding it fast Griffiths then cut through one of the rafters with a saw, and was able to crawl below the floor, clearing a passage through a pile of bricks and mortar. Owing to the confined space, this had to be done by scraping it away by hand and passing it back. The woman was trapped behind a spring mattress, part of which was resting on her legs, and another mattress obstructed approach to her. After tying a rope around it the officers were able to drag it away. With the aid of a small coal shovel, sufficient debris was removed to enable a doctor to reach the woman and give her an injection. A saw and some pliers were then passed to P.C. Griffiths who sawed through the mattress frame and released the woman's legs. The spring was then broken away from the frame and the woman extricated through the cavity. The rescue took about two hours of hard work, and P.C. Griffiths showed great courage throughout.’
Griffiths was invested with his George Medal at Buckingham Palace on 21st December 1941. The Inspector with whom he was involved in the rescue, John Charles Pulham, was also awarded the George Medal in the same gazette, this being earned for a number of incidents.