Conspicuous Gallantry Medal awarded to George Frederick Booker. The citation from the ‘London Gazette’, 3 October 1941 reads as follows: ‘Leading Seaman George Frederick Booker P/JX135773 HMS LADYBIRD who was in charge of one of the pom-poms when his ship was attacked. A bomb struck the ship, killing all the gun’s crew but him, wrecking the gun and wounding many other men. He himself was badly wounded in both arms but he at once set about rescuing the injured from a fire which had broken out near the magazine’. HMS ‘Ladybird’, a river gunboat launched in 1916, was sunk by Italian aircraft off the coast of Libya on 12 May 1941.

The medal is made of silver and has on its obverse the head of George VI, crowned with the legend: ‘GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX: F:D:INDIAE:IMP’. On the reverse is the royal crown above a laurel wreath tied with a bow enclosing the inscription, ‘FOR CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY’. Inscribed on the edge of the medal is, ‘JX.1345773 G.F.BOOKER. L.SMN. H.M.S. LADYBIRD’. The medal is fitted on a bar with nine others (MED1096-1104).