b. 22/09/1905 Birmingham. d. 16/10/1940 Birmingham.
DATE AND PLACE OF GC ACTION: 15-16/10/1940 Birmingham.
George Walter Inwood (1905-1940) was born on 22nd September 1905 iin Birmingham, the son of George Walter and Margaret Caroline Inwood (nee Jones). George junior had a sister Elsie and a half sister Mabel. His father was a paper dealer, and his mother was a charwoman. Little is known about George’s childhood and schooling.
George W Inwood GC
In 1932, George married Lily May Cope in 1932 in Brentwood, Essex, and they had a son George. They moved back to Birmingham soon after their marriage. On the outbreak of war, George joined the Home Guard as soon as there was a detachment in his area. He became a Section Commander in the 10th Birmingham (Public Utilities) Battalion, and was also attached to the 30th Warwickshire Battalion.
On the night of 15th-16th October 1940, after a heavy air raid on the city of Birmingham, Inwood and 6 other men, with the aid of the police, discovered a number of people trapped in a cellar in Bishop Street. Inwood was lowered into the cellar by rope and managed to bring two men out alive. The rescue was particularly difficult as not only was he working in a gas-filled space but those he was trying to save were already unconscious. Although suffering the effects of gas, he insisted on going down again, but collapsed and died.
On the 27th May 1941, the London Gazette announced the award of a posthumous GC to George Inwood. His widow, Lily, was presented with his medal at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 10th October 1941. George was buried in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission grave in Yardley Cemetery, Birmingham. He is remembered in the Book of Remembrance at the Hall of Memory in Birmingham. His GC and Defence Medal 1939-45 are held by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY.
BURIAL PLACE: YARDLEY CEMETERY, YARDLEY, BIRMINGHAM.
GRAVE 46739.
