George Groves EM

b. ? 1861 ? d. 01/11/1911 East Greenwich, London.

DATE OF EM ACTION: 01/11/1911 East Greenwich, London.

Very little is known about George Groves. He was born in 1861, and was aged 50, at the time of the incident which sadly led to the loss of both his and the workman he was trying to rescue’s lives. Groves was married at the time of the incident and the Edward Medal was presented to his widow by King George V.

 

EM CITATION:

On the 2nd of November, 1911, a workman named Berry was employed at the Standard Ammonia Company’s Works, at East Greenwich, in cleaning an Ammonia Tower, which is a cylindrical iron vessel about thirty feet high and five feet in diameter, when he was overcome by an inrush of poisonous gas, due to an unsuspected defect in the plant. He fell unconscious to the bottom of the tower, and Groves immediately went to his rescue. He was lowered into the tower, and succeeded in reaching Berry, but, before the men could be raised to the top of the tower, Groves was himself overcome, and both fell back into the poisonous atmosphere and lost their lives.

 

BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.