George Dorling EM

b. 03/02/1900 Ardsley, near Barnsley. d. 11/11/1947 Wombwell Colliery, near Sheffield.

DATE OF EM ACTION: 11/11/1947 Wombwell Main Colliery, near Sheffield, Yorkshire.

George Dorling EM

George was the eldest of three children born to Robert Edward and Harriet Dorling (nee Walker). His siblings were Robert Edward and Amy, though sadly Amy died as an infant. The family lived in Ardsley, near Barnsley at an address in Ash Row. On 3rd January 1924, he married Gwladys Llewellyn, a native of Leeds, and they had a son Jack and a daughter Margaret. George spent all his working life in the main pit at Wombwell, and it was there that he lost his life on 11th November 1947, aged 47 and was posthumously awarded the Edward Medal.

 

EM CITATION:

A fall of roof occurred at about 4 p.m. on the llth November, 1947, at Wombwell Main Colliery, near Sheffield, burying three men. The first rescuer on the scene was a workman, George Dorling, whose calls for assistance attracted a coal cutter team of three men. Dorling had climbed over the fall in an attempt to reach the trapped workmen and was being followed by the cutterrnen when the roof again began to move and a second fall occurred. The cuttermen were just able to withdraw in time but Dorling could not escape and was killed instantly. Shortly afterwards Walter Holroyd Lee arrived on the scene when it was clear from their cries that two of the men trapped by the original fall were still alive. Lee then took the lead in making a way through the fall and after some two hours one of the men was extricated alive. Lee was largely instrumental in saving this man’s life and exposed himself to great risks in so doing.

 

BURIAL LOCATION: ARDSLEY CEMETERY, BARNSLEY, YORKSHIRE.

SECTION V GRAVE 924.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.

Acknowledgement:

Karen Hemmingham – Images of George Dorling EM’s Grave.