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Auction: 15001 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 26

A Fine G.M. Group of Three to Mr. G.H. Platt, For Gallantry in Helping to Rescue Five Girls From the Fourth Floor of Graftons Department Store, Glasgow, During a Terrible Fire, 4.5.1949, Leading Them to Safety Along a Five Inch Wide Ledge Fifty Feet Above The Street With Flames Raging and Smoke Swirling Behind Them
a) George Medal, G.VI.R. (George Hamil Platt), minor official correction to middle name, in Royal Mint case of issue
b) Corporation of Glasgow Bravery Medal, 2nd type, silver (Hallmarks for Birmingham 1949), the reverse engraved ´George Platt. 1949´, with integral top riband bar
c) Carnegie Hero Fund Trust Medal, bronze, 90mm, edge engraved 'George H. Platt. Glasgow 4th May 1949', the reverse inscribed 'For Heroic Endeavour to Save Human Life 1949', in case of issue, extremely fine, together with the following related items:
- A presentation salver, 305mm in diameter, silver (Hallmarks for London 1940), engraved 'Presented to George Hamil Platt, G.M., by the Staff of Morrisons Associated Companies Ltd. in Grateful Recognition of his Outstanding Heroism in saving the lives of five members of the staff during the tragic fire at 43, Argyle Street, Glasgow, on Wednesday, 4th May, 1949.'
- Letter to the recipient from the Prime Minister's office informing him of the award of the George Medal, dated 28.7.1949
- Letter to the recipient from the Secretary of State for Scotland, congratulating him on the award of the George Medal, dated 30.7.1949
- Letter to the recipient informing him of the award of the Corporation of Glasgow Medal for Bravery, dated 18.11.1949
- Copy of the London Gazette listing the award of the George Medal
- Letter to the recipient from the Royal Society of St. George, dated 4.8.1949, and a copy of the Society's Monthly Message, November 1949
- Various contemporary newspapers from the period detailing the incident (lot)

G.M. London Gazette 2.8.1949 George Hamill [sic] Platt, Clerk, Morrison's Associated Companies, Ltd., Glasgow (in a joint citation with Solomon Winetrobe, Manager, Morrison's Associated Companies, Ltd., Glasgow.)
'A fire which broke out on the ground floor of a four storey building in Glasgow quickly spread to the remainder of the building. Platt and Winetrobe were working with thirty-five women on the top floor when the alarm was raised and they assisted the women to the fire escape. A number of women reached safety in this manner but others were forced back by fire and smoke from the lower floors. The two men then decided that the only possible escape was along a narrow ledge which led from the building to a nearby cinema. This ledge was about five inches wide and fifty feet above the street. Platt made his way to the cinema and Winetrobe remained halfway across the ledge holding on to a pipe.
Winetrobe encouraged a woman to step out from the window on to the ledge and supported her until she was able to reach Platt who helped her to safety. Four other women were then encouraged to cross the ledge in this way. Winetrobe remained in this position until forced back himself by dense clouds of smoke. Platt and Winetrobe, in circumstances of extreme danger, showed great courage and did not hesitate to face risks in order to save life.'

The Argyle Street Fire
'On the afternoon of the 4th May, 1949, a terrible fire suddenly broke out at Graftons, a fashion specialist store in Argyle Street, Glasgow. The building erupted in flames and smoke within minutes. The elevator shaft acted like a chimney stack and the fire roared up it, cutting off the escape routes. On the top floor, 34 girls in the invoice department had just resumed work after the tea break. Winetrobe, an ex-paratrooper, was in charge of the department, and Platt was his assistant. Both were 29 years old. They heard the warning cries of "Fire" almost at the same time as smoke poured through the elevator shaft and up the stairway. Some of the girls were helped get away down the fire escape, but that way out was quickly blocked.

The stairway was cut off and the offices were rapidly filling with smoke. Winetrobe and Platt took charge of the girls that were left and tried to calm them down. While Winetrobe lined the girls up against a wall furthest from the source of the smoke, Platt looked out of a window and decided that here lay a hope of safety. "There's a way out here", he called. It was a five-inch ledge running beneath the window to the edge of the building and led to the top of the Argyle Cinema next door. From the ledge there was a sheer drop of 40 feet to the ground. Platt opened the window and inched his way along the precarious ledge where one slip meant death. He reached the edge of the building and hauled himself onto the cinema roof to act as a receiving agent, leaning over the terrifying drop to haul the others to safety. Winetrobe followed, and standing on the narrow ledge by the window, gripping a vertical drain pipe with his right hand, he spoke quietly and confidently through the window to the girls, as smoke swirled around him.

Winetrobe helped the first girl out of the window with his left hand. Hardly daring to breathe, he passed the girl gently between his body and the wall, and then changing his hand grip on the drain pipe helped her along the ledge and handed her over to Platt. Platt then hauled her up to the cinema roof. Watched by hundreds packing the street below they got four girls along their escape route. The fifth to come out, Mrs. Sloan, was in a "very distressed condition", and this was the most crucial moment of all. Mrs. Sloan lost her foothold and slipped from the ledge between Winetrobe's legs. Miraculously he gripped her with his knees and prayed that the drain pipe would take the strain of the sudden double weight. Gingerly he eased her back to the ledge and helped her along to Platt. He waited outside the window for other girls, calling for them, but there were no replies to his shouts. Only thick, swirling, choking smoke poured through the window. There was nothing else he could do except make his own way along the ledge and join Platt on the cinema roof.
At the subsequent fire enquiry Sheriff J. Wellwood Johnston said to Winetrobe: "When you were getting those girls out you were depending on a drain pipe. If it had given way, that was you...?" The answer Winetrobe gave to the sheriff's silent interrogation was a whispered "Yes." Both he and Platt were given the highest commendation at the inquiry for their heroism.

Thirteen of the girls died in the blaze.

The Firemaster, in his report said: "In the whole of my 27 years' service I have never seen a fire of this nature develop with such tremendous speed and to have simultaneously entered and covered every floor of the building."' (Scottish Daily Express account refers).

For their great gallantry in rescuing five of their female colleagues, Platt and Winetrobe were both awarded the George Medal, which they received from H.M. The King at Buckingham, Palace, 14.3.1950, as well as the Corporation of Glasgow Medal for Bravery, which was presented to them by the Lord Provost of Glasgow, and a Carnegie Hero Fund Trust Medal. 'The Lord Provost, congratulating the two men, said: "I have studied the reports and photographs of the fire, and feel you will all agree that the action these two men took on that day is worthy of the highest praise. Not many would have done what you did under similar circumstances." Winetrobe disagreed: "It was the natural thing to do. Any man in our position would have tried to save the lives of those girls." And Platt agreed: "Our greatest reward has been to see the girls we helped save back at the office working alongside us."' (ibid).

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Sold for
£5,200