Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

U.S.A., Humane Society of Massachusetts, 5th type, obv. a hut by the shore bearing the word, ‘Succour’, with men in the foreground bringing in a lifeboat and with a wrecked sailing ship in the background, rev. In raised lettering, ‘Honor the Reward of Merit, Courage and Perseverance’, and engraved, ‘To Joseph McGann for bravery in saving life, Woburn, Feb. 18, 1938’, 38mm., silver, complete with brooch bar, good very fine £180-220

‘At Woburn, Mass., three boys fell through the ice into deep water in a pond. McGann, a taxi driver, happened to be passing, and though no other help was near, he plunged in, and after a struggle saved one of the boys, while another sank to the bottom and was drowned. By this time others had arrived, and Coakley jumped in and saved the remaining boy, McGann being too exhausted to re-enter the water.’ Joseph McGann was awarded the Society’s silver medal, Francis M. Coakley was awarded a Certificate.