‘This night, the air raid was a particularly severe one locally and the “All Clear” was not sounded until 0600 hours on 11 October. Bombs dropped nearby and the gunfire was intense. The consequent vibration, together with natural ‘settlement’ caused continual shifting of the wreckage, but none of the men in either Rescue Party gave a thought to his own personal safety, and continued the work of rescue, each man working like ten men.’

The original recommendation for James Wood’s G.M., refers.


A particularly fine ‘London Blitz’ G.M. pair awarded to James Wood, Air Raid Precautions Rescue Party, Stoke Newington, who worked without respite for 11 hours to rescue a family trapped in the debris of their home - an act of sustained gallantry that was widely reported in the home press

George Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue (James Wood); Defence Medal 1939-45, minor contact wear, good very fine and better (2) £3000-3500

G.M. London Gazette 23 May 1941. The original - joint - recommendation states:

‘At approximately 2030 hours on 10 October 1940, a high explosive bomb fell in the garden of No. 182 and 184 Green Lanes, London N. 16, completely wrecking these two houses and partially demolishing No. 186.

Rescue Party No. 3 was sent to the site, and Leader F. H. Tritt found a child trapped under a ‘pancaked’ floor at No. 186. Leaving three of his men to extinguish a fire which had broken out, and to jack up the floor, he continued his reconnaissance. The child was released and taken to Dr. Stott’s surgery a few doors away, but on arrival, was found to be dead.

Leader Tritt next crawled through the wreckage of No. 184 and found the occupier, Mr. Emerson, who had superficial head injuries. He was led out, and stated that his wife, daughter (Peggy), two sons (Frank and Peter) and nephew (John) were still buried under the debris. Hearing this, Tritt handed Mr. Emerson to the Stretcher Party Leader for attention, asked the Incident Officer to send for another Party, and re-entered the wreckage. He located Mrs. Emerson buried from the waist downwards, with a collapsed floor only a few inches from her head. To reach her would have meant cutting away the wreckage supporting the floor, so he decided to cut through from above. This work was commenced with the assistance of Party 6, which had arrived in the meantime.

By this means, Mrs. Emerson was reached, and Tritt and Wood of Party 7 climbed down to her. She stated the rest of the family were even further down. The two men started digging with small shovels, and uncovered the heads of John and Peggy. During a quiet moment, Peter could be heard calling, and Tritt made contact with him. He was found to be pinned down with the leg of a bed on one shoulder, and a fireplace on the other. From the shoulders downwards he was completely buried. As he seemed to be getting very weak, it was decided to attend to him first. The leg of the bed was sawn away, and the weight of the fireplace taken off the shoulder, Tritt in the meantime using his own body to shield the casualty from the constantly falling debris. Peter was made as comfortable as possible, and given a drink of water.

They then set to work to release Mrs. Emerson and John in order to have room to get Peggy and Peter out. Much of the debris had to be scooped into buckets by hand, as the space was too restricted in places to use even the small fire shovels. Several times these two casualties were almost free when further falls reburied them, and the work had to be started all over again. Eventually, however, they were extricated, and passed up to other rescue workers outside. After further digging in steadily worsening conditions, Peggy was also released.

Tritt and Wood next commenced the task of getting Peter out, but constantly falling debris made this extremely difficult and dangerous. Tritt again used his own body to shield the injured boy, but, in spite of this, Peter was reburied a number of times. Twice during the night a Doctor had to be sent for, and he gave the casualty a tablet and injection on each occasion. At last, eleven and a half hours after arriving at the scene of the incident, they managed to get Peter clear, and he was removed to the nearest hospital.

Relief Rescue Parties were sent out on two occasions during the night so that No.s 3 and 6 might return to the depot for a well earned rest, but as Peter had pleaded with Twitt not to leave him, both Tritt and Wood refused relief and carried on. Their Parties, too, insisted on staying with them, and continued to give every assistance in spite of a heavy rain of shrapnel.

This night, the air raid was a particularly severe one locally and the “All Clear” was not sounded until 0600 hours on 11 October. Bombs dropped nearby and the gunfire was intense. The consequent vibration, together with natural ‘settlement’ caused continual shifting of the wreckage, but none of the men in either Rescue Party gave a thought to his own personal safety, and continued the work of rescue, each man working like ten men.

Tritt and Wood, by their gallantry and splendid example of devotion to duty, saved the lives of the whole Emerson family, except Peter, who unhappily subsequently died. They never allowed the heart-breaking conditions to discourage them, although they were in constant danger of being buried themselves. Tritt, moreover, by taking the weight of the wreckage on his back, risked permanent disablement.’

James Wood had been a member of the A.R.P. Rescue Service in Stoke Newington - the modern day Borough of Hackney - for seven months at the time of the above described incident. Himself a resident of Clissold Road, N. 16, he was 37 years of age and a builder’s handyman by trade; his fellow rescuer, Francis Tritt, was another local resident and a Master Builder by trade.

From 7 September to the end of November 1940, London was attacked by the Luftwaffe every single night, a period that witnessed some 35,000 bombs fall on the capital with resultant casualties of 12,696 people killed and another 20,000 seriously injured; in respect of Blitz events in Stoke Newington, see Camilla Loewe’s Just Like the End of the World (2012).

Three nights after the incident for which Wood won his George Medal, Stoke Newington suffered a major calamity, an entire block of flats in Coronation Avenue being demolished by a direct hit, trapping the inhabitants in their basement shelter. Only a handful reached safety and by the time the debris had been cleared, the body count had risen to 154. Such were the terrible circumstances of their loss - many were drowned in the basement as a result of ruptured water mains - that the King and Queen visited the site to offer their condolences. The Queen had earlier visited Stoke Newington’s Civil Defence H.Q. in May 1940; sold with copied research, including assorted news paper reports.