Alexander Fraser Campbell
Encyclopedia
Second Lieutenant Alexander Fraser Campbell GC
, (2 May 1898 – 17 October 1940) of the Royal Engineers
, 9th Bomb Disposal Company was posthumously awarded the George Cross
for conspicuous gallantry in defusing a bomb which had fallen on the Triumph Engineering Works in Coventry
on the 17th of October 1940.
He found the bomb was fitted with an irremovable delayed action fuse and the decision was made to move it to a safe area. Campbell lay down beside the bomb in the truck to listen for the start of the timer mechanism to give the driver of the lorry a chance of escape. He later made the bomb safe himself. He was awarded the George Cross for this action but received it posthumously as he was killed the following day, with seven other members of his team, when a bomb he had removed from the city centre exploded.
His George Cross is on display in the Royal Engineers Museum
.
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
, (2 May 1898 – 17 October 1940) of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
, 9th Bomb Disposal Company was posthumously awarded the George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
for conspicuous gallantry in defusing a bomb which had fallen on the Triumph Engineering Works in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
on the 17th of October 1940.
He found the bomb was fitted with an irremovable delayed action fuse and the decision was made to move it to a safe area. Campbell lay down beside the bomb in the truck to listen for the start of the timer mechanism to give the driver of the lorry a chance of escape. He later made the bomb safe himself. He was awarded the George Cross for this action but received it posthumously as he was killed the following day, with seven other members of his team, when a bomb he had removed from the city centre exploded.
His George Cross is on display in the Royal Engineers Museum
Royal Engineers Museum
The Royal Engineers Museum, Library & Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham, Kent, England. It tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and British military engineering in general.-History:The Library was founded in 1812...
.