Michael Floud Blaney,
GC (14 November 1910 – 13 December 1940), known as Max Blaney, was posthumously 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 defusing enemy bombs during
the Blitz
The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War.
Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
in 1940.
Second World War
Blaney, a member of the
Corps of Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
, dismantled several bombs on 18 September, 20 October and 13 December 1940. During the last incident he was killed, aged 30, when the bomb he was defusing exploded in
Manor Park,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
.
George Cross citation
Notice of Blaney's George Cross appeared in the ''
London Gazette
London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...
'' on 15 April 1941:
London Gazette 15 April 1941
/ref>
In December 2013 an Ulster History Circle blue plaque was unveiled in his memory in Newry.
Footnotes
Further reading
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External links
Details of Blaney's heroic act which won him the posthumous George Cross
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaney, Michael Floud
1910 births
1940 deaths
Deaths by German airstrikes during The Blitz
British recipients of the George Cross
British Army personnel killed in World War II
Royal Engineers officers
People from Newry
Bomb disposal personnel
Military personnel from Newry