Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Police sergeant

Unit:

Liverpool Police Force, British Police Forces, Home Office, British Government

Awarded on:

July 29th, 1941

"During an air raid a building was demolished by enemy action. Portions of the interior walls collapsed, and the outside wall was leaning dangerously inwards. Gartland, Baker and Uren, accompanied by Tolen, entered the building and, after searching in complete darkness, they found a firewatcher, trapped and almost buried under the debris on the ground floor. When some of the wreckage had been removed, a large wooden beam, which was carrying the weight of the debris of the roof and upper floor and which was directly over the trapped man, appeared about to collapse. Constable Uren at once got under the beam, supporting it with his shoulder. He remained in this position for a considerable time, during which the other three men worked frantically to free the victim. The weight of the beam became too much for Uren to support and Baker took up a position beside him. It was clear that the whole building might collapse at any moment and the Sergeant, who is a man of exceptional strength, placed his arms round the man's body and with a powerful and sustained effort pulled him clear of the debris. Constable Baker then got away from trip beam but owing to the great weight Uren was unable to move. The Sergeant took hold of him and snatched him away bodily. As he did so the upper floor collapsed, completely covering the place where the rescuers had been working. During the whole of this time Tolen had been untiring in his efforts to release the trapped man, entirely regardless of the near danger. Constables Uren and Baker, by supporting the beam for over an hour, made the rescue possible. Had they collapsed under the severe strain, the rescuers and rescued would have been killed. Sergeant Gartland, who was in charge of the operation, showed initiative and leadership of the highest order with complete disregard of danger."