- SURNAME
Harley
- FORENAME
Ronald Victor
- UNIT
Royal Sussex Regiment attached Royal Army Ordnance Corps
- RANK
Captain
- NUMBER
243086
- AWARD
George Medal
- PLACE
England 1951
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
London Gazette 39299, 27th July 1951, Page 4109
CITATION:
George Medal : On the 21st February, 1951, No. 243086, Captain R. V. Harley, Royal Sussex Regiment, attached Royal Army Ordnance Corps, was on duty at No. 3 Central Ammunition Sub-Depot, Hampstead Norris (Bramley), supervising the receipt of ammunition. He was in the sorting shed when a round of 25 Pdr. Ammunition exploded and injured six soldiers of the Royal Pioneer Corps, one of whom died later. The blast was so violent that it blew other shell to pieces, reduced many more to a very dangerous condition, started a fire, and blanketed the area with smoke.
Captain Harley immediately ordered all men out of the building, leaving it himself only when he could see no more personnel.He re-entered the building almost immediately to find some injured men running out. Without hesitation he went right up to the scene of the explosion which was still enveloped in smoke, and saw flames. He ordered a soldier who was at his side (No. 14441727) Pte. McGarrigle, Royal Pioneer Corps, to fetch fire appliances, and himself went further into the smoke where he found a badly injured soldier staggering about. By this time another helper had arrived and Captain Harley, after seeing that the injured soldier was being evacuated, ran to the office next door to call the ambulance and fire brigade. Next he saw that all the casualties were being attended to, and ordered the most serious cases to be taken to hospital straightaway in a unit vehicle. Then he again went to the scene of the explosion to check up that the fire was out and that there were no further casualties, and finally ordered a roll call to see that all his personnel had been accounted for.
Captain Harley immediately ordered all men out of the building, leaving it himself only when he could see no more personnel.He re-entered the building almost immediately to find some injured men running out. Without hesitation he went right up to the scene of the explosion which was still enveloped in smoke, and saw flames. He ordered a soldier who was at his side (No. 14441727) Pte. McGarrigle, Royal Pioneer Corps, to fetch fire appliances, and himself went further into the smoke where he found a badly injured soldier staggering about. By this time another helper had arrived and Captain Harley, after seeing that the injured soldier was being evacuated, ran to the office next door to call the ambulance and fire brigade. Next he saw that all the casualties were being attended to, and ordered the most serious cases to be taken to hospital straightaway in a unit vehicle. Then he again went to the scene of the explosion to check up that the fire was out and that there were no further casualties, and finally ordered a roll call to see that all his personnel had been accounted for.
WEB LINKS:
• https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39299/supplement/4109NATIONAL ARCHIVES:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7621160
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