Gerry Brooke unearths the untold story of Fred Rose, the first Bristolian to be awarded the George Medal for outstanding bravery in wartime.

In May 1941, nearly two years after the outbreak of World War II, eight proud civilians were invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the King and be honoured for their bravery during wartime raids.

Seven of them received the George Medal and one the OBE.

The king - George VI - talked to these heroes one by one, congratulated them, shook their hands and presented them with silver medals.

It was a very proud day for all - but especially so for Frederick Rose, who was not a firemen like the others but a maintenance engineer at Filton’s BAC works.

At this time, during the height of the Blitzes, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage.

But as the existing awards open to civilians were not deemed suitable it was decided that two new decorations, the George Cross and the George Medal, would be created.

The latter, instituted by the king himself, remains the second highest level of civil decoration in the United Kingdom.

The reverse of the medal shows St. George on horseback slaying the dragon along with the legend, THE GEORGE MEDAL around its top edge.

Announcing his new award, the King said: "In order that they should be worthily and promptly recognised, I have decided to create, at once, a new mark of honour for men and women in all walks of civilian life.

“I propose to give my name to this new distinction, which will consist of the George Cross, which will rank next to the Victoria Cross, and the George Medal for wider distribution."

The medals, he added, would be granted in recognition of "acts of great bravery."

Frederick Rose was just the third person in the whole country, and the first in Bristol, to receive the George Medal.

So, what had he done to deserve it?

On September 25, 1940, a squadron of German bombers, aided by Messerschmitts, hit the BAC works at Filton.

Their objective, obviously, was the factory itself but by the time it was all over 91 civilians, many of them in shelters, had lost their lives.

Fred, stated Bristol’s local paper, was in charge of a salvage party at the works while the raid was in progress and bombs and debris were falling all around. According to the report he led his two assistants into damaged buildings and, “though hampered by flood water and darkness personally distinguished fires which had started among a store of magnesium.

“He then led his men to help check fires which had broken out in another area.”

“ Their pluck and daring undoubtedly saved further conflagration.”

In the October of the same year Fred was invited to London’s Grosvenor House for a tea party reception hosted by Lord Queenborough for all the holders of the George Cross and George Medal.

Although invitations had been sent out to 1,244 medal holders many were unable to be there because of the distance and the ties of work and duty.

In the end 266 holders of the George Medal turned up and eight winners of the George Cross.

Each was invited to bring a friend or relation.

Fred was luck enough to be there and to have his picture and story in the London Illustrated magazine.

When the hero died, aged 66, at his home in Patchway in 1948, he left behind a widow, three sons and two daughters.

But the engineer’s heroism certainly hadn’t been forgotten in the intervening years.

BAC’s Sir Stanley White sent a special message of sympathy, now a treasured possession, to Fred’s family from his home in Hollywood Tower.

But grandson David Sansom, of Stoke Lodge, believes that, on the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II something more should be done to honour his memory.

“To me, Fred remains an unsung hero” he says.

“The family have always been very proud of what he did and the honour he received.

“It’s not something we will ever forget.

“But when I went to a talk about the Blitz the historian there said that he had never heard of Fred or his story.

“That’s strange, because when I applied for an apprenticeship at Bristol Siddeley in 1963 and was asked about any other relatives who had worked at Filton, his name was still well known.

“It was like a door opening for me.

“Everybody at the works seemed to know about Fred. He was a local hero.

“Despite his bravery, and the many lives which must have been saved, there is no memorial to his name at BAC or in Bristol’s Council House.

“In fact, I have found it very difficult to find out any more about Fred and his George Medal outside of the family.

“It would be wonderful if his wartime bravery were more well known, say with a plaque or even his name mentioned on a memorial of some kind.

“As I have said, he is an unsung hero who deserves an honoured place in the city’s wartime histor