Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The George Cross (exchange Edward Medal) awarded to Albert Meadows, an Assistant Store Keeper at at the distillery of Messrs. W. & A. Gilbey, Ltd., Camden Town, who made 4 attempts to rescue fellow employees overcome by fumes in a large vat on 18 September 1931

George Cross (Albert John Meadows) very fine £7,000-£9,000

Edward Medal London Gazette 29 December 1931:

‘The King has been pleased to award the Edward Medal to Harold Henry Hostler and Albert John Meadows in recognition of their gallantry in the following circumstances:-

‘On the 18th September 1931, John Gale, an employee at the distillery of Messrs. W. A. Gilbey, Ltd., Camden Town, who was cleaning out with a hose-pipe the residue in an empty cherrybrandy vat, was discovered unconscious in the vat by his mate, Frederick Wormald, having apparently been gassed. Wormald went down the ladder and tried unsuccessfully to get Gale out. He then called Leonard Wright, one of the firm's analysts, and went down again but was slightly gassed and had to be assisted out by Wright. Wright then went down himself but fell unconscious in the bottom of the vat. In the meantime, the manager had sent for assistance, and Harold Hostler, a vatter, arrived on the scene and immediately emptied the vat. He succeeded in dragging Wright to a sitting position near the foot of the ladder, but feeling himself being overcome by the fumes he was forced to come out of the vat. He made a second attempt with a wet cloth round his mouth and at a third attempt, with a rope round his body, he succeeded in getting Gale to the foot of the ladder and part of the way up, when he was overcome by the gas and Gale slipped from his grasp. Hostler himself was drawn up by the rope.

Albert Meadows (assistant storekeeper) then volunteered to go into the vat, and at the second attempt, with a wet cloth round his mouth and a rope round his body, he succeeded in rescuing Wright. Although partially affected, he made a third but unsuccessful attempt to rescue Gale. He then asked for a length of rubber gas-piping and, placing it in his mouth to breathe through and taking a looped rope with him, he went down a fourth time. He managed to place the rope round Gale and he and Gale were both drawn up from the vat. Wright and Gale recovered consciousness after an hour.

Both Hostler and Meadows displayed great courage and resource in their attempts to rescue the two men. Both were aware of the risks they were incurring, as two of the rescuers had already been overcome by the gas, and both took precautions calculated to render their attempts at rescue successful. They showed great persistence in facing deliberately what was a considerable risk. Hostler entered the vat three times and Meadows four times and the periods occupied by their attempts at rescue were 10 to 15 minutes, and 15 to 20 minutes, respectively.’

Albert John Meadows was born in June 1904, and was employed by W. & A. Gilbey Ltd. Founded in the 1850s, the firm flourished on the import of cheap wines and was famed for its gin. It occupied a large site between Camden Town and Chalk Farm, where the Oval Road led to Gilbey’s yard. In 1971, following the change of the Royal Warrant, Meadows elected to exchange his Edward Medal for a George Cross. By this time Hostler had died, and Meadows himself died in March 1988.