Orders, Decorations and Medals

The unique O.B.E., G.M., B.E.M., Q.F.S.M., group of eight awarded to William James Gorman, Director of Fire Services, Hong Kong

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; George Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (William James Gorman, O.B.E., B.E.M.); Medal of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division (William James Gorman); Queen’s Fire Service Medal, E.II.R., 1st issue, for Distinguished Service (Ch. Officer William J. Gorman, B.E.M., Hong Kong Fire Brigade) minor correction to naming; Defence and War Medals; Coronation 1953, these unnamed; Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, 5th type, bronze (Fireman William J. Gorman, Canning Town, 1918) very fine and better (8) £8000-10000

O.B.E. London Gazette 12 June 1958. ‘William James Gorman, Esq., B.E.M., Chief Officer, Hong Kong Fire Brigade’.

G.M. London Gazette 7 October 1960. ‘A fire broke out in an old four-storey block facing Hong Kong Harbour. A flash-over among drums of chemical stored there blew out an iron grille and heavy door and killed a hawker. The entire ground floor with the lower wooden staircase was immediately enveloped in flames and the Fire Brigade was called out. The first two appliances arrived on the scene barely five minutes after the call, but ten inmates had already jumped from verandahs to the street, five losing their lives in doing so. The situation had become extremely serious, and the whole building was in imminent danger of collapse; the fire was spreading rapidly and the buildings on either side were stocked with kerosene, matches and chemicals, all in great quantity. An onlooker then told a police officer that an elderly Chinese woman might perhaps still be in the house next door. This officer searched the ground and first floors but the whole house was filled with smoke and he was blinded and choked and forced to leave. When he had recovered in the fresh air he reported the story to Chief Officer Gorman, who had arrived and was directing operations. Mr Gorman at once ran into the house without seeking either a mask or help. He searched the second floor, discovered a 70 year old woman unconscious under a bed and carried her to the first floor in spite of the suffocating smoke. Here he was met by a fireman who helped him to carry the woman to safety.

On a subsequent occasion Chief Officer Gorman displayed great bravery and resource when in command of rescue operations following a fire and an explosion on a ship carrying a cargo of oil.’

B.E.M. London Gazette 7 July 1920. ‘.... for services in connection with the War which have been distinguished by great courage or self-sacrifice, or by exceptional merit.’ ‘Gorman, William James, Fireman, West Ham Fire Brigade. For conspicuous courage and devotion to duty at fires at munitions factories.’

Q.F.S.M. London Gazette 10 June 1954. ‘William James Gorman, B.E.M., Chief Officer, Fire Brigade, Hong Kong.’

Fireman William James Gorman, together with Firemen John R. Exall and Frank W. Nethercott, were each awarded the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire Medal in Bronze, plus the sum of £1.1.0., for their work in saving the life of Katherine Macarthy, aged 82 years, from a fire in Canning Town, on 10 January 1919.

Exall, Gorman and several other members of the West Ham Fire Brigade were awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire in 1920 for service at fires at munition factories (as above and see also The Times, 21 September 1917). The recommendation shows that Gorman was rewarded for his work in attending the fires at:

1. Judd’s Match Factory, Stratford, 25 September 1916. During which time a zeppelin raid was in progress.

2. Silvertown, 19 January 1917. The West Ham Fire Brigade was the first to arrive at the scene. ‘The first motor pump and motor escape upon arrival were put out of action by the explosion, two firemen being killed, and the remainder of the crew injured. One of the duties performed by this Brigade was to closely guard a tank containing many tons of T.N.T. ....’

3. The premises of Burt Boulton and Haywood, North Woolwich Road, Silvertown, 11 August 1917. ‘This outbreak originated in a still containing many tons of explosive material. This particular still was one of four and it was only at great personal risk that the Brigade prevented the adjoining stills from becoming involved. The still immediately next to the one on fire contained liquid T.N.T.’

4. Ladysmith Road. Rescue of two boys from a house wrecked by a bomb.

Much later in his career, as Chief Officer of the Hong Kong Fire Brigade, Gorman was awarded the O.B.E. and Q.F.S.M. for his long and distinguished service. He was then awarded the George Medal for his bravery in saving life at a fire on 7 April 1960 at 120 Connaught Road, Hong Kong, and for further bravery at a fire onboard the vessel Hong Kong Fir in Taikoo Docks on 20 August 1960.

In 1961 Gorman was appointed the first Director of Fire Services of Hong Kong, a post he held until 1965.

With copied recommendation documents re the George Medal and the British Empire Medal; gazette extracts, Coronation Medal roll extract and other research.