Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The unique G.C. (converted E.G.M.), K.P.M. and Bar, Indian Police D.C.M. group of ten awarded to Acting Assistant Commissioner G. J. Adamson, Indian Police, who, having won the K.P.M. for gallantry in 1926 and a Bar in 1931, was awarded the E.G.M. for his courage on the River Hooghly in May 1936 when, as an officer in Calcutta’s River Traffic Police, he piloted, beached, re-floated and sank a barge full of defective dynamite: throughout the 18 hour ordeal the dynamite exuded nitroglycerine, as a consequence of which a small accident such as the striking of a bootsole nail on the deck or a rock ‘would have resulted in practically certain death ... and a disaster of the first magnitude’

George Cross (George John Adamson, River Traffic Police, Calcutta, 1st February 1937), with its Royal Mint case of issue; King’s Police Medal, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar dated ‘1st January 1931’, on gallantry riband (George J. Admason, Sergt., Calcutta Police); Indian Police Medal for Distinguished Conduct, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Mr. George John Adamson, Inspector of Police), with its card box of issue; 1914-15 Star (11841 Pte. G. Adamson, Leic. R.); British War and Victory Medals (11841 Pte. G. J. Adamson, Leic. R.); Jubilee 1935, engraved, ‘G. J. Adamson, Inspr., Cal. Police, 6.5.35’; Coronation 1937, with its card box of issue; Coronation 1953; Efficiency Medal, G.V.R., robed bust, India, with Second Award Bar (Pte. G. J. Adamson, Cal. & Presy. Bn. A.F.I.), mounted as worn, together with a set of tunic ribands, official corrections to naming on the last, contact marks and occasional edge bruising, otherwise generally very fine (10) £12,000-15,000

E.G.M. London Gazette 1 February 1937. The joint citation with Cecil Francis Kelly, Assistant River Surveyor, Port Commissioners, Calcutta, states:

‘In May last, Inspector Adamson, with Mr. Kelly as pilot, was in charge of two Port Police launches escorting a cargo of defective dynamite which was being taken for destruction up the river Hooghly in a barge in tow of a launch. The barge proved unseaworthy, and after a journey of about 15 miles up the river was in a sinking condition. Inspector Adamson and his assistants had no responsibility except for escorting the cargo, but in spite of this they tried at great personal risk to keep the barge afloat by bailing from 7 o’clock in the evening till midnight, when it was found necessary to beach the barge on the bank near a large jute mill. In spite of the dynamite exuding nitroglycerine, Inspector Adamson with two Sergeants worked indefatigably in the water and in the dark to help guide the barge ashore by hand. The beaching took five and a half hours. The barge was partially unloaded, but it was found impossible to remove the two and a half tons at the bottom owing to its dangerous condition, and the barge had to be re-floated, towed into deep water and sunk. Inspector Adamson rendered great assistance during the whole operation, and stood by in a police launch in spite of grave danger. Mr. Kelly supervised the handling of the barge throughout, and without his skilled assistance the feat could not have been accomplished. A small incident such as the striking of a boot sole nail on a stone in the river bank, the ‘working’ of the hull of the barge when she was subsequently towed off, or a slip with any of the gear used, would have resulted in practically certain death to those working, and a disaster of the first magnitude to the surrounding mills. Though it was not his duty as pilot, Mr. Kelly remained in the barge while it was towed off the beach and until it was safely sunk, superintending its handling in the current by the aid of two launches.

Both men displayed cool, deliberate and sustained gallantry for many hours under conditions of the greatest strain.’

K.P.M. London Gazette 13 December 1926.

Bar to K.P.M. London Gazette 1 January 1931.

George John Adamson was born in Bromley, Kent in March 1896, the son of a carpenter. Enlisting in the 3rd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he went to France in January 1915 and later transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. It was in the latter battalion that he saw action on the ‘First Day of the Somme’ on 1 July 1916, when it went ‘over the top’ at 7.25 a.m. The German front line was reached under heavy fire and, after fierce fighting, 200 yards of the line was taken by 7.50 a.m. The Commanding Officer later recorded that only he and one other officer were still standing two hours later and ‘we had bullet holes in our clothing’. The Battalion was compelled to withdraw at 9 a.m. with total casualties amounting to 470 officers and men.

Having then been placed on the Special Reserve in July 1919, he joined the Indian Police as a Sergeant at Calcutta in May 1920, the commencement of a remarkable career that would witness him being decorated on four occasions; so, too, awarded the Efficiency Medal and Bar for extended services in the Auxiliary Forces of India.

From his original Indian Police service record, it is apparent that Adamson was cited for gallant and distinguished acts on numerous occasions. The first such entry - the grant of a monetary reward for good services rendered during riots - is dated 24 May 1926, the same year in which he was promoted to Inspector and was awarded his K.P.M. A positive flurry of commendations and ‘special mentions’ in annual reports ensued, one such citing ‘his personal courage and for the admirable manner in which he conducted his party when confronted by an aggressive mob on 6 May 1930’; here, then, the probable background to the award of the Bar to his K.P.M.

In early 1932, he received the Governor-General’s approbation for his ‘smart capture’ of two Chinese smugglers, armed with a revolver and 48 rounds; in December 1934 he received a monetary reward for his good work during the dock workers’ strike and was described as ‘an excellent officer in every respect’; another monetary reward followed in 1938, for ‘good services rendered in connection with the repatriation of refugees from Burma’, while in late 1939 he was cited for his good work in trapping ‘an undesirable’ seeking entry to India. He was awarded the Indian Police Medal for Distinguished Conduct in July 1940.

Between these distinctions, as cited above, he was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal (E.G.M.) for his gallantry on the River Hooghly as an Inspector in Calcutta’s River Traffic Police in May 1936. He was invested with his E.G.M. by Lord Bradbourne, the Governor of Bengal, at Calcutta in November 1937 and received his ‘exchange’ George Cross (G.C.), also in Calcutta, in February 1942.

Adamson finally retired in 1950, having served latterly as an Acting Assistant Commissioner in charge of recruits. In the interim he no doubt witnessed further memorable riots, not least those enacted on the occasion of ‘Direct Action Day’ in Calcutta in August 1946 - a date also known as the ‘Great Calcutta Killings’ - for several thousand were killed in street battles between Hindus and Muslims; Gandhi paid the city a visit in the following year and brokered a peace deal.

Adamson, who married Florence (neé Cousins) at Fort William, Bengal, in June 1918, died at Farnborough, Kent in March 1976.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation and one or two photographs, including the recipient’s certificate of register of birth, his Soldier’s Pay Book (Active Service), certificate of appointment to the rank of Sergeant in the Calcutta Police, dated 18 May 1920, and his certificate award for his Coronation Medal 1937; together with extensive Indian Police service record.