Harry Errington

Who was Harry Errington?

Harry Errington GC was the only London firefighter to be awarded the George Cross during the Second World War.

He was born in Westminster to a family of Polish immigrants, previously named Ebrogott. He first trained as an engraver and later as a tailor. When war broke out he volunteered as an auxiliary fireman at a station on Shaftesbury Avenue, near the business where he worked.

A bomb destroyed a house in Rathbone Street, near Oxford Circus during the Blitz, on 17 September 1940, bringing down a three storey house on top of an air raid shelter in which Errington was sheltering. Twenty people, including six firemen, were killed. Errington recovered consciousness to find the basement shelter consumed by fire. He rescued a trapped colleague and battered his way through the debris to safety up a stone staircase. He returned to the conflagration to rescue another trapped man and, despite his badly burned hands, carried him to safety from the fire.

Errington was later active in basketball administration and served as treasurer of the Victoria and George Cross Association until 1990. His George Cross is on display in the collection of the Jewish Museum London. He was born in London on 20 August 1910 and died there on 15 December 2004.