Station Officer E W R Morgan GM, KPFMG, BEM.
Edward William Robert Morgan was born at 37 Grange Road, Ramsgate, Kent on 21st March 1907. After leaving St George’s Commercial School in 1922 he joined the Merchant Navy on 21st March serving until 1932. He then served with the Royal Naval Reserve, (RNR), living at 71 Pekin St, Poplar. On 1st December 1935 he joined the London Fire Brigade as No 1597 attending the Brigade’s training school at Southwark. On completion of training on the 29th March 1933 he went on to serve at the following stations; 38 Kingsland, (30/3/33 - 28/3/35); 22 Burdett Road, (29/3/35 - 29/11/37), 23 Homerton, (30/11/37 - 12/2/38), as a Motor Driver, before returning to Burdett Road as a Senior Fireman. On 27th June 1938 he was promoted to Sub Officer, serving at 28 Whitechapel before transferring to 73 Euston on the 19th October.
With war clouds gathering, Euston, (also B District
Stn), in common with other fire stations, geared itself up for the unavoidable
conflict. On 9th September 1940 Morgan was made Acting Station Officer; his
own station officer, Joseph Tobias, being made Acting District Officer.
During the night of 16th/17th September 1940 during an air raid, a large six-storey
warehouse in Great Portland St received direct hits from incendiary bombs. When
the Brigade arrived the two upper floors were well alight, and fire was rapidly
spreading to other parts of the building. Hose lines and jets were got to work
from inside the building and from an adjacent roof. Euston’s Turntable
Ladder, (TL), was also got to work in an attempt to stem the rate of fire spread.
As the incident progressed the fire was attended, and commanded by B District
Officer Joseph Tobias. Whilst these operations were in progress, the crews were
subjected to further bombing and one of these fell on the TL, killing two Euston
firemen, Thomas Curson and Albert Evans. District Officer Tobias was mortally
injured, dying the next day. Other personnel were severely injured; water mains
were fractured and gas mains were set alight. The blast from the bomb severely
damaged surrounding property and the task of rescuing the injured and retrieving
the dead was made even more hazardous by falling masonry. It was at this stage
that Morgan assumed command. It was his calm manner, courage and leadership
in dealing with the situation that enabled the injured to be rescued and removed
to hospital, the water supply to be reinstated and the fire fought and prevented
from becoming a conflagration. An extract from the official Brigade report states:
‘Station Officer Morgan showed initiative and set an excellent example
to the men under his command in taking charge and extinguishing a fire in Great
Portland St on 16th September 1940, after renewed bombing of the fire had wrecked
a 100 ft turntable ladder and killed and injured a number of the crews and killed
the officer-in-charge of the fire.
Recommended For George Medal.’
This recommendation for the GM was down-rated to the BEM, (British Empire Medal),
which was awarded on 28 March 1941.
On 29th September 1940 Morgan was promoted substantive Station Officer. It was
not long before he and his crews were in the thick of it again; for this was
the time of the Blitz. Commencing on 7th September 1940 there followed 57 continuous
nights of bombing by German aircraft, dropping their deadly cargo on the heart
of the nation’s capital, hoping to blast and burn Britain out of the war.
However Hitler failed; he failed because of people like Edward Morgan and the
men and women of London’s fire services.
On the night of 29th/30th December 1940 at the
height of the ‘Battle of London’ Morgan and his men were attending
a large fire at 51-53 City Road. This fire was part of a larger fire that due
to radiated heat had spread to both sides of the road and was threatening to
engulf the whole street. During the course of the fire, bombs were continuing
to fall and the walls of several buildings collapsed into the roadway. It was
at this time that a dark figure was seen to half walk, half stumble along the
pavement, close to the building, stooping low beneath the heat of the flames
as they flared out of the ground floor windows. The figure turned out to be
an elderly woman wearing her gas mask. On removal of the mask she informed the
firemen, who had run to her assistance, that her husband was following her from
the cellars of the burning building, but two women who had been sheltering with
them would not follow. Morgan along with several others immediately rushed to
the said building to effect a rescue.
An extract from the official report details the actions:
‘During the intense bombardment of the City of London on the night of
29/30th December, information was received that two persons were still in the
basement of No 51 City Road. At that time the building was well alight from
ground to top floor and the basement had also become involved. Stn O Morgan,
accompanied by Sub O Hill, entered the building by the ground floor passage
but were unable to advance owing to the terrific heat. The stallboard light
and grille at the front of the shop leading to the basement were broken open
and by this means entry was effected. Although the heat and smoke in the basement
were intense the two trapped persons were finally located in a back room by
Stn O Morgan, who, with assistance from Hill, brought them to a position in
the front part of the basement from which they were hauled up to the street.
Sub Officer Hill was then helped out and finally Morgan, who was considerably
affected by the smoke and, in a very exhausted condition was assisted up to
the ground level by means of a line. During the latter part of the time the
rescue was being effected the rear part of the building collapsed. Both Morgan
and Hill showed utter disregard of personal risk and displayed conspicuous courage
and fortitude. Admitted to hospital suffering from effects of smoke and exhaustion
at about 0530hrs 30th Dec, discharged at 1630 hrs the same day, and not placed
sick.
Recommended for George Cross.
Signed – F W Jackson. Deputy Chief Officer Commanding London Fire Brigade.’
This recommendation was subsequently down-rated to the George Medal; being also
awarded to Sub O Hill on 1st August 1941.
During this period Morgan lived at Downham, although it is doubtful he spent much of his time there, (his wife and children had been evacuated to Lancashire). Indeed only just over two months were to pass before he was in action again; but this time it was not related to enemy action.
On the night of 3rd/4th March 1941 crews from
Euston were called to a fire in Ampthill Square, near Mornington Terrace. On
arrival it was reported that four persons were involved including a woman and
her child. An eyewitness statement by the local ARP Warden described what happened:
‘Having witnessed the rescue of a Mrs Winifred Upton and her baby son
Patrick from a fire in Ampthill Square on the night of Monday 3/4th March, I
am glad to be able to record the heroism of the fire officer who effected the
rescue. I was at the scene of the fire soon after the outbreak and saw the fire
escape raised. Two women were taken from the sill of the second floor right
hand window and brought down. Station Officer Morgan was then seen to go up
the escape to the third floor and reaching over to the left hand window take
the child from the mother and bring the child down to safety. All this time
the mother was screaming and acting in a very hysterical manner. Whilst Station
Officer Morgan was bringing down the child other firemen were trying to move
the ladder over from the right to the left hand window, but, owing to the uneven
road surface the ladder could only be brought to within about 5 feet of the
window. The officer then again climbed the escape to rescue the woman. By this
time volumes of smoke and flames were pouring from the ground, first and second
floor windows, through which he had to pass. Upon reaching the third floor he
attempted to reach the screaming, panic stricken woman, but found that it was
not possible to get to her from his position on the ladder. Swaying the escape
over towards the window he stepped onto the ornamental frieze beneath the window,
and, keeping hold of the ladder with one hand, stretched out the other, grasped
the woman’s hands and dragged her bodily through the window. Before he
could step back onto the swaying ladder, the woman, seeming to realise that
she was hanging in mid air, commenced to kick and struggle. I fully expected
to see the officer torn from his precarious hold and hurtle together with her
to the ground, but, somehow with what seemed to be super human strength, he
managed to get back onto the escape and swing the struggling woman to his shoulder.
The ladder was now aflame, and the flames leaping from the window, had set the
woman’s clothing alight. Station Officer Morgan held her, whilst a colleague
who had climbed up behind him put out the burning clothing. They then together
brought her down, thus bringing to a close a rescue, which in my opinion, was
the most heroic act, carried out with coolness and disregard to danger, which
it has been my privilege ever to witness, during which I understand, the gallant
officer received severe burns’
On the 7th May 1941 the Clerk of the Council
received a recommendation for an award from Frank Jackson the Deputy Chief Officer
Commanding the LFB; which concluded,
‘These successive acts of bravery show that Station Officer Morgan is
a brilliant example of a man of daring, fearless and exceptional courage’.
Morgan was subsequently awarded the Kings Police & Fire Service Medal for
Gallantry.
On the 29th May 1941 Morgan was promoted Temporary District Officer B District and, following the formation of the National Fire Service, (NFS), was posted with the rank of Column Officer, to 34 Fire Force's B1/B2, (Kensington & Brompton). So came the end of Morgan’s busy and illustrious association with Euston Fire Station.
When the war ended the NFS started to wind itself down for a peacetime service
and reversion to local authority control. On 31st March 1948 Morgan relinquished
his wartime rank, reverting to his substantive rank on 1st April and taking
up the position of Station Officer at A7 Fulham. However he was not done with
his ‘daring do’ just yet. On 12th February 1954 he was called to
Kensington High St where he removed a stick of gelignite that had been placed
in a pillar-box! Later that year he transferred to A8 Brompton where he completed
his service. He received the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal in 1955;
retiring on 1st March 1961.
He died 23rd March 1969 at the untimely age of
62, his body probably succumbing to the punishment it had received over the
years serving the people of London.
He was indeed a remarkably courageous man, who can best be summed up by an extract
from a local newspaper, the Kensington News;
‘Many no doubt have forgotten the horrors of the 1940’s aerial blitz.
For this reason the name of E W R Morgan of the London Fire Brigade may no longer
ring a bell. Now once more it does – thanks to the tribute paid to this
very brave officer in tonight’s issues of the evening papers. “Kensington
should be proud of him – as are we AFS men who served under him from 1940
on. You’ll note that he was at it again, a little matter of gelignite
in a pillar-box! None of us who served under him are surprised – only
delighted that again, he has got away with it”.