´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was added to the peoples war web site by Rod Sutton on behalf of David Bolitho,the author,with his permission. He fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

The story of how a Cornish-American fire-fighter battled for 60 years to obtain his Defence Medal.

My Father, the late Mr. Percy Bolitho, emigrated to America with his family in 1921, where my brother John was born in 1929. The disastrous Great Depression caused our family to return to their native Cornwall in 1932, as my Father lost his job and was unable to secure employment. We lost everything and returned to Cornwall in poverty-stricken circumstances.

During the 1944 German air raid on Swanpool Fuel Storage Depot, near Falmouth, one of the fireman’s pumps was caught in the path of the flames and seriously damaged. It was towed to the fire depot at the bottom of Old Hill. Later, with permission of the Fire Officer, my Father cut off part of the undamaged tread from the tyres and used it to sole and heel our shoes!

At the time of the Second World War my brother John was working as an apprentice fitter at Falmouth Docks. Of course being born in the USA he was actually an American citizen. At 17 years of age he joined the National Fire Service as a volunteer; this was in 1941 and when he started he was a part time messenger boy, before being promoted to fireman. He was proud to have been one of the fire fighters who bravely battled the inferno at Swanvale in Falmouth after the oil tanks were bombed during an air raid on May 30 1944. He was a member of the NFS for over three years, until he joined the American Merchant Navy, in which he served for five years. Afterwards he returned to civilian life in the USA where he lived in Ohio with his wife Muriel and daughter.

My Brother John always believed that fire-fighters and other non-combatants during WW11 should have been eligible to receive the British Defence Medal, which was only given to those ‘in arms’, such as the Home Guard. He campaigned for this medal for many years with my full support and that of retired Regimental Sergeant Major Terry Joll.

Eventually, after 60 years, the British Government, mainly through the persuasive powers of Terry Joll, decided that non-combatants should also be eligible to receive the Defence Medal, and it was accordingly awarded to my brother for his service with the NFS during World War 11. His medal, with an accompanying message from the Home Secretary, was of course sent to him in the USA.

It was a proud moment when Terry Joll and I went to Falmouth Fire Station, where we presented the station staff with a framed photograph of John Bolitho, then aged 76, with his medal. I received, on John’s behalf, a certificate from Cornwall County Fire Brigade giving official recognition of his membership of the NFS.

My brother, John, who was the last surviving fire-fighter involved in the Swanpool fuel tank conflagration, died in Ohio, USA at the age of 78

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.