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7
London Auxiliary
Fireman Harry Errington wearing
his George Cross.
(London
Fire Brigade)
LIVERYMAN
HARRY
ERRINGTON, GC
Issue No 5 of
Salamander
carried
the obituary of
former
London
wartime
auxiliary
fireman Harry
Errington,
the only member of
the British
Fire
Service
to
be
awarded
the George Cross.
Harry, who died on 17 December 2004, won
the
George Cross
for
the
rescue of
two
fellow
firefighters
following
a direct bombing
hit on
Rathbone
Street AFS
sub
station
in London’s
Soho district on 17
September 1940. Harry was
a
proud Liveryman of
the Worshipful Company of
Firefighters
and
it was
therefore
a pleasure
to
learn
that Harry’s memory was being
commemorated by
a
special display
that opened
in
January 2006
at
the
Jewish Museum, Albert
Street, London, NW1. At
the opening
ceremony,
Harry’s medals were presented
to
the Museum
by
his
cousin Robert Errington.
(The Editor
acknowledges material
included
in
this
report
that was
provided
by
Freeman Michael
Leaver)
This dramatic
scene of
firefighting
operations
in Queen Victoria
Street, EC 4, on
the
night of 10
May 1941
graphically
illustrate
the
conditions
under which
the
London
Fire
Service operated
during
the
concentrated Blitz
period on
the
capital.
From
September
to November 1940,
regular
and
auxiliary
crews
faced
a
fiery period
that
included 57
nights of
unbroken
enemy
high
explosive
and
incendiary
attacks.
(London
Fire Brigade)