Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Captain

Awarded on:

April 1940

Captain Laurent Loussot, Master of the tug Abèille, 22 years old, was rewarded the British Empire Gallantry Medal with palm for conspicuous courage and resource.
A British petrol ship anchored at a French port caught fire. Within ten minutes of the outbreak Captain Loussot had backed the stern of his tug alongside the bows of the blazing petrol ship.
Despite the intense heat of the flames, Captain Loussot and his crew managed to pass a wire hawser around the tanker's anchor cable and fix it so that the tug was able to tow the burning ship out into open water.
Captain Loussot's resource and prompt action thus averted serious damage to the quayside and to other ships in the neighbourhood.