John Clements GC was a schoolmaster at Sherrardswood School,

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

who was awarded 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, ...

for his heroism in rescuing others from a hotel fire at the

Sappada Sappada ( or ; ;Dizionario Sappadino-Italiano:
P. ; ) is a (municipality) in the ...

Ski Resort in northeast

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 12 April 1976. Clements died in the blaze. He was born on 25 August 1953, in

Codicote Codicote ( ) is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It lies south of Hitchin, its post town, and north of Welwyn. Codicote was a small market town between the 13th and 16th centuries. The ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Notice of his posthumous award appeared in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The Gazette'', is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, i ...

'' of 7 December 1976. His story was one of those chosen for a series of posters which appeared on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. Codicote Football Club's ground was named the John Clements Memorial Ground in his honour.Who was John Clements
Codicote F.C.

References

1953 births 1976 deaths British recipients of the George Cross People from Codicote Accidental deaths in Italy Deaths from fire {{England-bio-stub