Richard Arthur Samuel Bywater, (3 November 1913 – 6 April 2005) won the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has be ...

and

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

, one of only eight people to have been awarded both medals, and the only civilian. He was born on 3 November 1913 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, and educated at Kings Norton Grammar School and

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

(BSc Chemistry, 1935; MSc Chemistry, 1936). After working for three years in manufacturing, in early 1939 Bywater joined the Royal Filling Factory at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Br ...

, Woolwich, and in 1940 he took charge of the factory's fuse section. The following year, Bywater moved to Kirkby as a

Royal Ordnance Factory Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Ministr ...

development officer. On 22 February 1944 there was an accident at the arms factory at

ROF Kirkby ROF Kirkby, ( Filling Factory No. 7) was a large World War II Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) filling munitions. The factory was based in the rural area of Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, Merseyside. The rural location was to reduce the poten ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

(now

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

). Nineteen workers, mainly women, were filling fuses when one exploded, killing one woman immediately and wounding two others, one of whom later died of her injuries. The fuse had exploded because of a defective striker and Bywater realised that the whole building, which contained 12,000 highly explosive fuses, was in danger of igniting. He led three other volunteers in the

hazardous work Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...

of clearing the wrecked factory of 12,724 fuses over the next three days, plus another 4,000 which were believed to be defective. Bywater's award of the George Cross for this work was published in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

'' on 26 September 1944. Later the same year, on 15 September 1944, there were a series of explosions at the Kirkby factory, killing 14 people. Again, Bywater organised the evacuation of the building and led the team in the dangerous operation of clearing the unexploded ammunition. Each of the 4,000 bombs had to be taken away for destruction separately, a job that took three months. In his report, the director-general of filling factories wrote: "the work was possibly the most dangerous ever attempted in an industrial factory". For this, he was awarded the George Medal, published in the ''London Gazette'' on 18 September 1945.

After the war

After the war, he became works manager of R. N. Coate and Co., the cider makers, at Nailsea, near Bristol. In 1954 he emigrated to Australia and took Australian citizenship. After helping to set up an ordnance factory in New South Wales, he joined the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. T ...

in Melbourne. In 1999 he wrote ''Some Reminiscences of a Non-combatant'', an account of his wartime experiences. He died in Australia on 6 April 2005, aged 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bywater, Richard Arthur Samuel 1913 births British recipients of the George Cross Recipients of the George Medal Civil servants in the Ministry of Supply 2005 deaths Alumni of the University of Birmingham