Lt Ronald Smith got a George Medal for disarming a parachute-mine 3 yards from St Paul's Cathedral and another next to a church 'in Cowdeshall Road, Glasgow' on 14 March 1941. I cannot find any references what-so-ever to 'Cowdeshall' through googling. Anyone got any ideas - old maps index of Glasgow? Tried some mis-spellings and looked at the list that mentions UX parachute mines in Clydebank at - List of Bombs but not finding anything. Would like to find which church it was. When Smith worked on the St Paul's mine, a fire-engine drove by and started the fuze (they ran for up to 17 seconds before detonating the mine). He could have made a run for it (difficult because the parachute was caught up so that he had to work on the mine by crawling under it). He didn't try to make an escape but continued a very fiddly job working on the fuze and stopped it in time to save St Pauls and himself. This guy really didn't get the credit he deserved. I can't even find a picture of him- real shame!
Have a look here:ibiblio - The Public's Library and Digital Archive Look for war illustrated pdfs, thet often printed pics of gallentry award winners; would have a look myself but busy with other project
I have a book about the Blitz at Clydebank and will look into it for you. I think that list only gives the bombs that fell in Clydebank and not in Glasgow. In fact the land that my house is built on had a massive crater and the bomb burst the canal banks. Keep hoping that they filled the hole in properly and I will not disappear while doing the gardening. Only came across your entry today.
I have found Cowdenhill Place/ Road and Circus which are all in Knightswood, a housing scheme in Glasgow with prewar houses. I took a drive up today and there is no church in those areas. The book I have 'River of Fire' by John MacLeod does mention a Cowdenhall Avenue in Knightswood so I shall try to find a prewar map of the area and solve this mystery. Knightswood was badly bombed during the two nights in March 13th/14th as it is only a couple of miles from Clydebank.
Hi Toki2, It appears the official records did not quote the correct street name! I have sent you a message. Cheers Chris
