Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part II)

An O.B.E. pair to Chief Officer E. McKinnell, Leicester Fire Brigade, later President of the Institute of Fire Engineers

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge; Defence Medal, unnamed; together with Institute of Fire Engineers Past President’s Badge, rev. engraved, ‘Errington McKinnell, O.B.E., President I.F.E., 1947-1948’, 31 x 23mm., silver and enamel, hallmarks for London 1947, lacks pin clasp; also with N.F.S. cap badge, good very fine (4) £100-140

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Fire Brigade Medals.

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O.B.E. London Gazette 4 January 1943. ‘Errington McKinnell Esq,. Fire Force Commander, No.3 Area, National Fire Service.’

Errington McKinnell was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1904. He joined the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Fire Brigade as a Fireman Mechanic in 1923 and attained the rank of Station Officer at Newcastle in 1935. Promoted Chief Officer at Swansea in 1938, he became a Home Office Inspector in 1939. He was appointed Fire Force Commander in 1941; was awarded the O.B.E. in 1943 and was appointed Chief Officer at Leicester in 1948. A member of the Institute of Fire Engineers, he was President of the organisation during 1947-48. In addition to the above awards, he was also awarded the French Medal of Honour for Firemen. Sold with some copied research.