A fine Second World War Liverpool Blitz G.M. pair awarded to Fireman T. Flood, Auxiliary Fire Service, who, on the night of 3-4 May 1941, rescued two buried children after tunnelling under tons of rubble and debris for nine hours: on emerging from his ordeal with bleeding hands and his clothing ripped to shreds, he was greeted by a large cheering crowd

George Medal, G.VI.R. (Thomas Flood); Defence Medal 1939-45, privately inscribed, ‘Fireman Thomas Flood, G.M.’, good very fine or better (2) £2000-3000

G.M. London Gazette 7 July 1941:

‘During an air raid a house-dwelling was wrecked. Flood tunnelled under the debris and, after working an hour, heard a baby crying. He continued and found a child underneath a perambulator. He obtained food and fed her and, with difficulty, he eventually extricated her unharmed. Flood heard the cry of another child under the rubble and, after tunnelling seven feet and sawing through an iron cot, he was successful in rescuing a small boy. Whilst Flood was under the rubble releasing the children, heavy pieces of masonry and timber were continually falling, making his task both dangerous and difficult. Flood was exhausted but refused to be detained in hospital. Although too weak to take any physical part he directed further operations, which resulted in two more children being found. Flood displayed great gallantry and determination in effecting these rescues.’

George Flood enacted the above cited deeds at 125 Towson Road, near Anfield, on the night of 3-4 May 1941, when much of the street was demolished by a parachute mine. The occupants of No. 125 - Mr. and Mrs. O’Neill - had eight children, six of whom were resident when disaster struck. Somehow the parents and two of the children escaped unscathed, but two of the other children were killed outright. That left Kathleen, aged 14 months, and George, aged 2 years and six months, trapped in the wreckage, both of whom were rescued by Flood. An accompanying copy of eye-witness statements makes compelling reading, one Senior Air Raid Warden stating:

‘During the whole time that Flood was engaged rescuing these two children, he was in constant danger of being killed by collapsing debris, and although he was aware that a high leaning wall might fall any minute, and the fact that he was warned of the danger under which he was working, Flood showed no concern for his own safety and risked his life the whole of the time, until he was exhausted and removed to hospital.’

Such was the ferocity of the Luftwaffe’s assault on Liverpool on the night of 3-4 May 1941 that it became known as the ‘great fire blitz’. Within two and half hours 60 fires were ranging inside the city and 56 in the suburbs, placing unprecedented pressure on the rescue services. Commander Firebrace, Inspector-in-Chief of Liverpool’s Fire Services - a tough veteran who lived up to his apt name - later recalled how one of his officers collapsed in the Control Room without any warning, a consequence of sheer mental and physical exhaustion. It’s an incident which perhaps highlights the extraordinary stamina - and courage - of George Flood, working as he did for nine hours under appalling conditions amidst the rubble of Towson Road.