Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine and early ‘1940’ George Medal awarded to Mr. F. E. Rose, for his gallantry during two raids in August 1940 at the Bristol Aeroplane Company Ltd’s base at Filton. Employed as a Maintenance Engineer at the latter, he is believed to be the first Bristolian to have been awarded the George Medal

George Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Frederick Ernest Rose) good very fine £2,800-£3,200

Provenance: Morton and Eden, November 2012.

G.M. London Gazette 30 September 1940:

‘Rose was in charge of the salvage party at the factory at which he is employed. Although a raid was in progress and bombs and debris were still falling, Rose led his two assistants into damaged buildings and though hampered by flood water and darkness personally extinguished fires which had been started amongst some magnesium.
He then led his men on to another affected area and assisted to check fires which had also broken out there. By his personal courage and coolness he was an outstanding example to others. On another occasion he was brought to notice for gallant work during an air raid.’

Further detail is given by a recommendation provided by H. J. Thomas, Director of The Bristol Aeroplane Company Ltd:
‘I have the honour to bring to your notice the name of Mr Frederick Ernest Rose for consideration of recognition for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the air raid on these works during the night 22/23 August 1940.
Mr Rose is Maintenance Engineer and is in charge of the salvage party at the Engine Department. After bombs had fallen on No. 4 shop and Nos. 4 and 11 test hangars, although the raid was still in progress and bombs and debris were still falling, Mr Rose led his two assistants into the damaged buildings and though hampered by flood water and darkness personally extinguished fires which had been started amongst some magnesium. He then led his men on to the other affected area and assisted to check fires which had broken out there also. By his personal courage and coolness he was an outstanding example to others.
On the night of 15/16 August, during an air raid, Mr Rose, regardless of personal danger, dealt with the gas and sprinkler systems which had been affected, thus greatly reducing the risk of further damage and danger which might have resulted.’

Frederick Ernest Rose was born in Bristol, and resided at Carlton Lodge, Gloucester Road, Patchway. He was employed as a Maintenance Engineer at the engine department of The Bristol Aeroplane Company Ltd’s base at Filton. The two raids during which Rose distinguished himself are described thus in Bristol at War by J. Penny:

‘With the German offensive finally under way, on the afternoon of 14 August bombers ranged far and wide over the west of England and Wales engaged in armed reconnaissance against R.A.F. airfields and aircraft factories, but unfortunately for the Luftwaffe, late in the day three Heinkel 111’s from 111/KG 27 were shot down in quick succession over the Severn Estuary by Spitfires of 92 Squadron, with two of the raiders crashing to earth in Somerset. These, and other heavy losses suffered elsewhere that day had far reaching consequences, forcing Luftflotte 3 to return to the night bombing of inland targets, which although inherently less accurate than sorties flown in daylight, was likely to result in loss of very aircraft. So it was that just before midnight on 15 August elements of 11/KG 27 took off to carry out nuisance attacks on objectives in South Wales and the West of England, one of which was the Bristol Aeroplane Company's premises at Filton. Returning crews claimed that their Heinkels had dropped some 40 - 50kg high explosives. Sadly 13 of those fell in a residential part of Filton and resulted in the death in hospital of 14 year old Mervyn Bradley and his 66 year old grandmother, the first fatalities to be suffered in the district, while 16 other bombs caused minor damage to BAC’s East Works and the nearby R.A.F. aerodrome.

Owing to bad weather a period of relative calm set in on the 19 August and this lasted until the evening of 22 August when conditions improved enough to allow KGR 100 to carry out their first precision attack under Luftflotte 3, the target chosen again being the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The operation against Filton involved 23 Heinkel 111s which were dispatched from KGR 100s newly established base at Vannes in Brittany, the aircraft all flying along an approach beam radiated from a transmitter at Cherbourg. During the raid, which lasted from 11.19pm to 2.50am, nearly 17 tonnes of high explosives and 576 incendiaries were dropped, and for the first time in an attempt against a target in the Bristol area nearly every bomb fell relatively close to the objective. Although only four people were injured considerable damage was caused to BAC works, in particular at number 4 Factory and number 11 Test Bed, while once again a lack of effective night defences ensured that all the participating German aircraft returned safely to base.

Down below on the ground the company’s staff reacted quickly and while bombs were still falling Frederick Rose, a maintenance engineer in charge of a salvage party, led his assistants into one of the damaged buildings where, although hampered by flood water and darkness, he personally extinguished a number of fires which had started amongst stored magnesium. He then moved on to another affected area where he assisted in checking several more outbreaks of fire, his personal courage and coolness at all times provided an outstanding example to his men. In recognition of this on 30 September 1940 he was awarded the George Medal, the first person in the Bristol area to receive such a decoration.’

Rose died in September 1948.

Sold with copied research and a photographic image of recipient.