Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (Griffith Pugh. 16th Oct. 1917.) with integral top riband buckle, minor edge bruising, otherwise good very fine £100-£140

Case No. 43856:

‘At 1.30am on the 16th October, 1917, Mrs B. A. Pockock fell into a dangerous gully on Cader Idris. John F. Evans, P.S., and Griffith Pugh went to her help, and with much difficulty succeeded in saving her.’

Griffith Pugh was a farmer, whose Penrhungwyn Farm was at the foot of the mountain Cader Idris, Gwynedd. Several copied articles from local press included with the lot, show that he was often called upon to aid climbers in distress. The rescue of Captain and Mrs B. A. Pockock is recorded thus in the Liverpool Echo, 4 March 1918:

‘As a result of representations made by Mr. R. Llewellyn Own, assistant clerk to the Barmouth Council to the Trustees of the Carnegie Hero Fund, the trustees have awarded the sum of £25 to Police Sergeant J. Francis Evans, £15 to P.C. Barnard, members of the Merionethshire Police Force, £15 to Griffith Pugh, £10 to John Lewis, farmers residing on the slopes of Cader Idris range, for their heroic rescue of Captain Pockock and his wife, who had got into a perilous position close to the summit of Cader Idris, on October 16 last.

They were rescued under great difficulties, after having been kept prisoners on a narrow ledge over a dangerous precipice for two nights, during a heavy thunderstorm.

When extricated they were in an exhausted condition, necessitating medical attendance at the farmhouse, where they had to remain for several days.’

Sold with copied research.