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	Gallantry		Gallantry

	John Wapplington
	Edward Medal, Second Class
	Date:	30 Sep 1910
	Colliery:	East Markham, Nottinghamshire
	Occupation:	Labourer

 

Whitehall, February 11, 1911.

His Majesty The King has been graciously pleased to award the Edward Medal of the Second Class to Frank Smith and John Wapplington under the following circumstances:—

On the 30th September, 1910, John Wapplington and another labourer, named Albert Templeman, were engaged in sinking a well at East Markham, in Nottinghamshire, and had fired a shot in order to blast the rock at the bottom. After an interval, during which they tested the air with a lighted lamp and found no gas, Templeman went down the well and struck the rock with a crowbar. Immediately afterwards he cried out that he was feeling dizzy, and asked Wapplington to lower a ladder and rope. He did not wait to fasten a rope round himself, but tried to mount the ladder, and fell back when he was half way up. Wapplington, calling for help, went down to Templeman's assistance; but found that he could not lift him, and came up in a dazed condition. After a rest of a quarter of an hour, he bravely made another attempt; but called out that he could not attach the rope to Templeman, as he was overcome by the gas. He managed, however, to reach the top before becoming unconscious. Frank Smith, foreman, then came to the spot with other men, and, fastening the rope round his body, went down the well, and succeeded in getting the rope round Templeman, by which means he was hauled up. Smith reached the surface in a state of collapse, though he soon recovered. Templeman was found to be dead.

Source: London Gazette (14 Feb 1911)

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