Reynolds, Edward Womersley

Date of birth:: June 27th, 1917 (Harborne/Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Date of death:: December 16th, 1955 (Harborne/Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Nationality:: British

Biography

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British Empire Medal (BEM & EGM)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Lieutenant
Unit:: 102 Bomb Disposal Section, Bomb Disposal Royal Engineers, Home Forces, British Army
Awarded on:: September 17th, 1940

"On 17th August, 1940, a 250 kilo bomb fell in a garden amongst some council houses; it did not explode and Lieut. Reynolds was sent to investigate. On digging down 17 ft. he found that it had a new type of fuse about which no instructions had at that time been received. Finding that traffic was suspended on the road and that the inhabitants had had to be cleared out of their houses, he removed the fuse and found that it had a clockwork delayed action. The risk that he took was great, and merit of his action was the greater for lack of exact knowledge of the type of fuse he was dealing with.

On 3rd September 1940 a large bomb fell in a street just before, midnight on September 1st; 1940; it wrecked the front of some business premises and was supposed to have exploded. About 16.30 hours on the 3rd September, a 250 kilo unexploded bomb was found in the debris. Lieut. Reynolds was at once summoned, found that it had a clockwork fuse which was still ticking and according to orders applied to Regional H.Q. for instructions suggesting that the sooner it was dealt with the better, and stating that he was willing to do so forthwith. In view of the damage to property that would have been caused by the explosion of such a large bomb in such a congested area and especially of the possible effect on the public morale permission was given and Lieut. Reynolds immediately extracted the fuse and rendered the bomb inoperative. The risk in doing this was very considerable."

Initially an EGM and changed to a GC.