Leslie Harold Currie - George Medal - 1940 Blitz Bravery

[Edmund]

Four Sheffield men and two Royal Army Service Corps men were awarded the George Medal in 1941, for heroism during the Sheffield Blitz in December 1940. The George Medal had been instituted by King George V1 on 24 September 1940, equating civilian acts of bravery with those of the armed forces.
There has been little recognition of these six brave men since the award of their medals, partly because of their own modesty.  However I think that with the approach of the 80th anniverary of the Sheffield Blitz, it's time to celebrate these men. Some have them are mentioned in books, notably Margaret Drinkall's "Sheffield at War" Story of Sheffield at War - M Drinkall , Paul Licence's 'Sheffield Blitz' and the Star and Telegraph's 1948 publication Sheffield at War but even then gaps and major errors exist.  I have tried to gather whatever I could for each of these men - I think they deserve a thread each on this site - and hopefully others will be able to add further knowledge.

Leslie Harold Currie was born on 14th August 1909 in Toxteth Park, son of Robert Alex Currie , a 'gentleman', and Mary.  Leslie married his wife Lillian Arden in Birkenhead in 1939. In 1940 they were living at 109 Hemper Lane, Greenhill. Leslie was a meat inspector at the Sheffield abbatoir which was likely the reason for him to volunteer as an Animal A.R.P. Warden. These wardens were responsible for registering and providing animals with identity discs so they could be returned to their owners, rounding up wounded or frightened domestic animals, taking them to first-aid posts and ensuring that horses were secured during raids.

On 12th December 1940, at about midnight, five people were trapped in a house. Rescue workers and police officers were trying to get them out.  When Leslie saw that the house at 63 Greenhill Avenue (opposite the end of Humphrey Road), Meadowhead, had been hit by a high-explosive bomb and reduced to ruins, he went to help. The house was occupied by Robert and Annie Handley and their 3 children.

He was told that at least five people were still inside and that one man was alive underneath all the debris.  Without hesitation Currie, who had a small build, crawled into a space where two wooden beams were preventing entry by the more burly rescuers.  He was given a saw with which he managed to cut through the wooden joints, propping the debris up above him as he worked.  At around 2:15 am Currie finally reached the first victim, Alan, a young boy aged 13 years who had a broken thigh.  Before he could be rescued, Currie was forced to put him into a makeshift splint before passing him through the hole he had made in the debris. 

Without pause, he continued working away until other victims including a man, a woman and a little girl were also extricated from the remains. Digging down, Currie found Robert Handley lying on his back, trapped underneath the wreckage. His head was hanging over a gap and his eyes and mouth were full of plaster and he was only just managing to breathe.  Both his arms were trapped under a piano frame that lay over him, his wife Annie lay beneath him and under her was the little girl, Jean aged 7.  Currie managed to fasten a rope around each of the individual victims and the rescuers then pulled them to safety.  Unfortunately he could not save 10 year old Norman Handley, trapped underneath the beam, and he could see that he was already dead.  It was only after Currie had been working for many hours that he was finally persuaded to leave.  During the whole of that time, he had been exposed to the danger of the collapse of debris above him.

Mr Currie was awarded a George Medal in March 1941 for his heroism in the rescue.  

From the Yorkshire Post 8th March 1941:  
"When told of the award Mr. Currie said "This is good news.  It is not only an honour for me, but for Sheffield.  This is my second happy event within the past few weeks.  I have a baby girl Diana, only a fortnight old.  I was the only man present who could have tackled the job owing to the confined space in which there was to work.  A bigger man would not have been able to scramble through the hole in the debris."

Leslie Harold Currie died on 31st October 1997

 

[Richard Ineson]

I worked with Harold Currie in the abattoir between 1967-73, I think he must have retired in 1974 when he would have been 65, I was working elsewhere at that time. I remember him telling me that he got the job in the Sheffield Abattoir whilst he was still living in Birkenhead and used to come to Sheffield on a belt driven motor bike until he got a house in Sheffield, this was in the 1930s. Harold was a very quiet bloke and seemed well educated and cultured, he was bit of a mystery man, I always wondered why he was still working in the abattoir where he had been working since the 1930s instead of moving on, he must have enjoyed it. I heard that he'd got the George Medal during the war and when there were any official documents to sign he always wrote L.H.Currie G.M. he brought the medal into work one day at my request and showed it to me. He had a bad accident at home during the late 1960s, he was up a ladder fixing some new glass in his greenhouse and fell through the roof, cutting himself to ribbons, he was off work for some time. I also seem to remember that he was the treasurer of the Bradway Bowling Club. I called to see him a couple of times after he had retired, I think his daughter was a Missionary in Africa.

[Edmund]

63 Greenhill Avenue in 1940, incorrecly identified on Picture Sheffield as Bocking Lane:

PictureSheffield link

and now: