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Rank : Private

Army Number : 11841 and 20133

Unit : 3rd Bn

Biography :

George Adamson enlisted as Private 11841 in The Leicestershire Regiment on 14.8.1914, and was posted to A Company of 3rd Bn, in which he was still serving on 30.12.1914. He later served as Private 20133 in 2nd Bn The Lincolnshire Regiment, entering France on 4.1.1915. He took part in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. He was the recipient of all three War medals, and was discharged to Special Reserve on 26.7.1919. He joined the Colonial Police and was appointed Sergeant in the Calcutta Police Force, India, on 18.5.1920. As a Police Sergeant he was awarded the King's Police Medal for Gallantry (K.P.M.) in 1926 (L.G. 1.1.1926), and as an Inspector a Bar to the K.P.M. in 1931 (L.G. 1.1.1931). As an Inspector in the River Traffic Police he was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal (E.G.M.) for his bravery on 6.5.1936 on the Hooghly River at Calcutta (L.G. 1.2.1937) - for the citation, see below. In 1937 he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal, and later the Coronation Medals Medals for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, the Indian Police Medal, and the Auxiliary Force Medal (India). From 1946-50 in the rank of Assistant Commissioner he was Principal of the Police Training School. After 30 years and three months in the Calcutta Police, he retired in 1950 due to ill-health. In 1972 he exchanged his EGM for the George Cross. He died in 1976, aged 80 years, and is buried at Beckenham Crematorium, Kent. His medals are held by his grandson, Sean Moore.
Details of his EGM-earning exploit are on Pages 158/159 of the book 'The Story of The George Cross' by Brigadier The Rt. Hon. Sir John Smyth Bt, VC, MC (published by Arthur Barker Limited, 1968), where Adamson is described as "surely the most highly decorated Police Officer".
The photo is of him en route to a Buckingham Palace Tea Party.

British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 for George J Adamson - Leic R Pte 11841 - Linc R Pte 20133 - Victory, British War and 1915 Star medals - disembarked France 4.1.1915 - discharged to Special Reserve 26.7.1919.

Citation for the E.G.M. (L.G. 1.2.11937): "In May last, Inspector Adamson, with Mr Kelly as pilot [Cecil Francis Kelly, Assistant River Surveyor, Port Commission, Calcutta] was in charge of two Port Police launches escorting a cargo of defective dynamite which was being taken for destruction up the River Hoogly in a barge in tow of a launch. The barge proved quite unseaworthy, and after a journey of about 15 miles up the river was in a sinking condition. Inspector Adamson and his assistants had no responsibility except for escorting the cargo, but in spite of this they tried at great personal risk to keep the barge afloat by bailing from 7 o'clock in the evening till midnight, when it was found necessary to beach the barge on the bank near a large jute mill. In spite of the dynamite exuding nitroglycerine, Inspector Adamson with two sergeants worked indefatigably in the water and in the dark to help guide the barge ashore by hand. The beaching took five and a half hours. The barge was partially unloaded, but it was found impossible to remove the 2½ tons at the bottom owing to its dangerous condition, and the barge had to be re-floated, towed into deep water and sunk. Inspector Adamson rendered great assistance during the whole operation, and stood by in a police launch in spite of grave danger. Mr Kelly supervised the handling of the barge throughout, and without his skilled assistance the feat could not have been accomplished. A small accident such as the striking of a bootsole nail on a stone in the river bank, the "working" of the hull of the barge when she was subsequently towed off, or a slip with any of the gear used, would have resulted in practically certain death to those working, and a disaster of the first magnitude to the surrounding mills. Though it was not his duty as pilot, Mr Kelly remained in the barge while it was towed off the beach and until it was safely sunk, superintending its handling in the current by the aid of two launches. Both men displayed cool, deliberate and sustained gallantry for many hours under conditions of the greatest strain." [Comment: both Adamson and Kelly were awarded the EGM.]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_George_Cross_recipients - George John Adamson - Inspector River Traffic Police, Calcutta, Bengal EGM 1 February 1937

'The George Cross (GC) is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom and other member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is second as a decoration only to the Victoria Cross (VC). The GC is the highest gallantry award for civilians, as well as for military personnel in actions which are not in the face of the enemy, or for which purely military honours would not normally be granted. The GC was officially constituted on 24.9.1940 by King George VI, during the height of the Blitz, as a way to award civilian courage. It is granted in recognition of "acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger". Initially, the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM) recognised acts of the highest bravery but was never considered equal to that of the VC. The GC succeeded the EGM, and all those living who had been awarded the medal (such as Adamson), and all posthumous awards from the outbreak of World War II, were obliged to exchange their medal for the GC. .

Date of Birth : 4.3.1896

Place of Birth : Poplar, East London

Date of Death : 14.3.1976

Place of Death : Bromley, Kent

Civil Occupation : Police Officer, Calcutta Police, India

Period of Service : 1914-19

Conflicts : WW1

Places Served : France and Flanders