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	Gallantry		Gallantry

	Walter Johns
	British Empire Medal (Civil Division)
	Date:	1945
	Colliery:	Bideford, Devon
	Occupation:	Plumber & Gas Fitter

 

CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD,

St. James's Palace, S.W.1,

4th September, 1945.

The King has been graciously pleased to give orders for the undermentioned appointments to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for the following awards of the British Empire Medal, and for the publication in the London Gazette of the names of the persons specially shown below as having received an expression of Commendation for their brave conduct.

Awarded the British Empire Medal (Civil Division):—

Walter Johns, Plumber and Gas Fitter, Bideford Gas Works, Devon.

An aeroplane crashed and caught fire. Johns ran alone to the field in which the machine had crashed and found that its forward part was a mass of flame. He heard cries for help from somewhere near and found an airman lying on the ground. Johns dragged him clear of the burning machine. He then returned and, seeing no-one, got down flat on the ground and squeezed in underneath the remains of the starboard wing and found a hole through which he entered the aeroplane. He saw an airman caught between the engines and the stays with his feet off the floor. He had got the man on to his shoulders when the floor of the aeroplane gave way, and he fell to the ground with the injured man still on his shoulders. He slid the airman on to his back so that he was flat on the ground, and with assistance, both were pulled clear. Ammunition was exploding during this action and Johns showed courage and determination in effecting the rescue.

Source: London Gazette (31 Aug 1945)

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