Miner's George Cross to be sold at auction

A George Cross awarded to a mineworker for his gallantry in rescuing a man trapped underground at a colliery is to be sold at auction.

Charles Smith was honoured for helping to save Charles Liversedge when he was buried following a roof collapse at Askern Main Colliery, near Doncaster, on 3 January 1940.

He was first awarded a bronze Edward Medal, but was invited to exchange it for a George Cross when the medal was discontinued in 1971.

The medal is being sold by a private collector in an auction at Noonans Mayfair on 14 May, where it is expected to fetch between £8,000 and £10,000.

Oliver Pepys, auctioneer and medal specialist for Noonans, said only 319 miners recieved the original Edward Medal in bronze between 1907 and 1971.

"Smith was one of just 30 miners who had received the Edward Medal in bronze to exchange his medal for the George Cross, making it a much rarer award," he said.

Mr Smith was born in Wigan, in1908 before becoming a miner at the age of 12.

It was while he was employed at Askern Main Colliery that the roof fall took place in the Warren House Seam, trapping Charles Liversedge.

According to the London Gazette: "He was extricated some three hours later, without having suffered serious injury, through the gallantry displayed, in conditions of the greatest risk, by a rescue party."

Mr Smith was presented with his medal by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 2 July 1940.

The miner later entered the military and served in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, during World War Two.

He went on to work at Stargate Colliery, in Ryton-on-Tyne, County Durham, from 1945 to 1961 where he averted another disaster in 1953 when he spotted a frayed cable on a mine shaft lift just as the lift, full of miners, was about to be lowered.

The lift was emptied and the cable repaired.

In a letter from the Colliery's Consultative Committee, the secretary thanked him for the "manner in which averted a disastrous occurrence".

Having elected to exchange his Edward Medal for the George Cross, he was invested with it by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 18 July, 1972, and subsequently received the Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.

He died at Blaydon, County Durham, on 25 October, 1987.

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