Gordon Love Bastian, (30 March 1902 – November 1987) was an engineering officer in the

British Merchant Navy The British Merchant Navy is the collective name given to British civilian ships and their associated crews, including officers and ratings. In the UK, it is simply referred to as the Merchant Navy or MN. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensi ...

who was awarded the Albert Medal for risking his own life to save other members of the crew of SS ''Empire Bowman'' after it was torpedoed on 31 March 1943. In 1971, living recipients of the Albert Medal and

Edward Medal The Edward Medal was a British civilian decoration which was instituted by royal warrant on 13 July 1907 to recognise acts of bravery of miners and quarrymen in endangering their lives to rescue their fellow workers. The medal was named in hono ...

were instructed to return their medal and were instead issued with the

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

, the highest decoration for gallantry awarded to civilians or to military personnel for actions "not in the face of the enemy" in the United Kingdom and

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Early life and career

Bastian was born at

Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Barry (; ; ) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resu ...

in south Wales on 30 March 1902. In 1927, he first travelled to Canada. He joined the merchant navy and became an engineering officer. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

most British merchant shipping was organised into

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s, but German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s and surface raiders still inflicted considerable losses during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. Bastian was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for his convoy service on 1 January 1942.Besly, p. 86 By 12 March 1942, Bastian was second engineer officer on SS ''Empire Bowman'', which was departing

Freetown, Sierra Leone Freetown () is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...

as part of Convoy SL 126, due to arrive in Liverpool at the beginning of April. On 30 March 1942 (coincidentally Bastian's 41st birthday), she was torpedoed by in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

some north west of

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; ; ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin , mean ...

. At great personal risk, Bastian rescued two stokers from the sinking ship, for which he was awarded the Albert Medal (AM) on 17 August 1943, the citation read: In 1944, Bastian was also awarded the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea for his actions.Besly, p. 74

Later life and legacy

Soon after receiving his AM, Bastian was invalided out of the Merchant Navy as a result of the damage caused to his lungs by the

cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

smoke he inhaled during the rescue. In 1947, he settled in Canada, living in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The high status of the Albert Medal was not generally understood by the public, and in 1971

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

instructed all living recipients to exchange their original medal for the

(GC). The medal had been created by her father,

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

, in 1940, in recognition of the hazards faced by the civilian population, and by merchant seamen such as Bastian. It was intended to have a similar status for civilian acts of gallantry, or for acts performed by members of the armed forces but which were not "in the face of the enemy", as the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

does for acts of gallantry in combat. On its creation, holders of the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Meda ...

(EGM) were immediately instructed to exchange their medal for the GC, but holders of the AM and

were not, despite these being higher in the order of wear than the EGM. Bastian received his GC in a presentation made by the

Governor-General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the advice of his or her Ca ...

Roland Michener Daniel Roland Michener (April 19, 1900 – August 6, 1991) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the 20th governor general of Canada from 1967 to 1974. Michener was born and educated in Alberta. In 1917 he served briefl ...

on 27 November 1973. He donated his Albert Medal to the

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in 1973. He died in Canada in November 1987, survived by his wife, Mary, and a son and a daughter. Soon after the award of the AM, Bastian's portrait was painted by war artist Bernard Hailstone; the painting now forms part of the

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...

. In 1990, a new road in his home town of Barry was named "Bastian Close" in his honour .

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastian, Gordon Love 1902 births 1987 deaths Recipients of the Albert Medal (lifesaving) British Merchant Navy officers People from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Welsh sailors Members of the Order of the British Empire British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II Canadian recipients of the George Cross