The George Medal was awarded today to Barnett Lewis of London for conspicuous bravery during an air raid.
A large high-explosive bomb had fallen on three shops under which there were two public air raid shelters containing more than 60 persons. The roofs of the shelters collapsed and water flooded them two-and-a-half feet deep. One man was trapped and in danger of drowning and four others were pinned by their legs under rolled-steel joists.
Lewis waded to the first man, who had been injured by large pieces of brickwork and timber, walked up the dangerous roof and forced the brickwork away. Then he found the timber still holding the man down, obtained a saw and freed the man just as the water reached his head.
Three of the first six awards and commendations for civilian gallantry in Hampstead have gone to Jews. Sector Warden Joseph Levy was the first Hampstead warden to receive the British Empire Medal. With a bomb having just exploded and the air so thick with dust that it was difficult to see, he entered a collapsing building and brought out several persons, including some injured. He himself was hurt and trapped.
Deputy Post Wardens Leslie Arthur Steel and E.N. Jouggenheim received military citations and were mentioned in dispatches.
Meanwhile, the generosity of the Jews was praised by the canon of the Manchester Cathedral in a letter to Nathan Laski acknowledging a £50 gift of the Manchester-Salford Jews’ Council for reconstruction of the bombed cathedral.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
