Swansea Ambulance Corporal Commended for Gallant Conduct

DRAGGED THIRTY YARDS

Swansea Ambulance Corporal Commended for Gallant Conduct

South Wales Daily Post

Published in the South Wales Daily Post on Monday, 10 July 1916, the report recounts a scene that drew the admiration of all present at the Central Police Station, where Mr. John Thomas Yorke, corporal of the Swansea Division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, was presented with a Certificate of Bravery for an act of conspicuous courage performed on May 8th 1915.

On that afternoon, a pair of horses harnessed to a large oil tank were startled by a passing engine on Victoria Road. Terrified, they bolted down the thoroughfare, gathering speed and threatening grave danger to anyone in their path. Without hesitation, Mr. Yorke sprang forward, seized the horses by their heads, and was dragged nearly thirty yards along the roadway before, through sheer determination and strength, he succeeded in bringing the runaway team to a standstill. No damage was done, and a potentially disastrous incident was averted.

At the presentation, Mr. Richard Martin, chairman of the Bench at Swansea Police Court, praised Yorke’s gallantry, declaring that such presence of mind and disregard for personal safety deserved the fullest public recognition. Witnesses Mr. William Law and Mr. Roger Beck, who had observed the incident, also spoke in high terms of the corporal’s bravery.

Yorke himself, modest to the last, described the deed as “a simple one,” though all present recognised it as anything but. Members of the St. John Ambulance Brigade attended the ceremony, lending dignity to the occasion and marking the honour bestowed upon one of their own.