Life Saving Awards

Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (Peter John Sargeant. 24th June 1952.) complete with bronze brooch buckle in its Elkington case of issue, good very fine £200-£240 --- ‘The rescue took place on 24 June 1952 on the mud flats at the mouth of the River Colne, at Ray Creek, Point Clear, St. Osyth, Essex. Barry Trevor Stock, aged 10 years, attempted to ride his cycle across the mud flats as a short cut to the far shore starting at about 9.00p.m. About 200 yards out, the front wheel dropped into a hole of soft mud and the boy fell into the hole with the bicycle on top of him. He struggled but could not get up, so he shouted for help. It was nearly an hour before his cries were heard and by that time it was quite dark. William Norman Station-Bevan, his wife and others tried to find the boy without avail. Station-Bevan then brought his car to the cliff top and lit up the flats with his headlights. This helped Peter John Sargeant and Harold Benjamin Glynn who were having difficulty in locating Stock from the sound of his cries. They sank to their waists in a soft patch, tried a fresh cast and reached the boy. Here Sargeant borrowed Glynn’s stick, clambered into the soft hole and freed the boy whom he carried to safety. Glynn, a sick man, could not assist in this being exhausted by his efforts. For their efforts in rescuing Barry Stock, Peter Sargeant, a schoolboy aged 15 years, was awarded the R.H.S. Bronze Medal and Harold Glynn, a window cleaner, aged 27 years, was awarded the R.H.S. Certificate on Vellum’ (Case No. 62,653).