Queen’s Commendation for brave conduct

by peter dellius Retd.

The award of a Queen’s Commendation for brave conduct is denoted by a Silver emblem of a spray of laurel leaves. The emblem is worn directly on the coat or tunic after any medal ribbons. If there are no medals the emblem is worn in the position in which a single medal ribbon would be worn.

There have been several awards made to officers of the Merseyside Police and constituent forces.

A Notable Merseyside Queens Commendation is sadly the posthumous award made to Constable Raymond Davenport of the Operational Support Division, killed on duty whilst attempting to arrest several persons for theft of a motor vehicle on the 4th of July 1981.


London Gazette – 18th August 1964

Graham David PRIEST, Cadet, Liverpool City Police.
William John SASS, Cadet, Liverpool City Police.

Cadets Priest and Sass were on duty at the Pier Head when they were told that a woman was drowning in the river. They ran to the top of a bridge and saw the woman in the water between the river wall and a floating Landing Stage, being swept by the strong current towards a second bridge. Priest immediately discarded his police raincoat, tunic and boots, and dived into the river while Sass ran down the bridge to the Landing Stage, where he threw off his greatcoat, seized a lifebelt, and dived into the river. Both Cadets swam towards the woman. Priest reached her first and, turning her on to her back, supported her in the water. The woman commenced to struggle and Priest had a great deal of difficulty in retaining his hold until the arrival of Cadet Sass, who had released the lifebelt because of its impeding action. The Cadets and the woman were then carried by the strong flood tide towards the second bridge. A boat was rowed out towards them but they had drifted down-river past the bridge for a distance of approximately 90 yards before it reached them. The woman was then lifted into the boat and the Cadets held on to the sides while it was rowed to the steps near a third bridge. This part of the river is notorious for its treacherous and dangerous currents, and water flowing behind the Landing Stage is turbulent and heavily contaminated by slime and waste oil.

London Gazette – 2nd October 1980

Richard Andrew FAWCETT, Constable, Merseyside Police.
Thomas Paul William SINCLAIR, Constable, Merseyside Police.

For services leading to the rescue of two men who were trapped by heat, flames and smoke during a large fire in a shopping precinct on 17th December 1979.

On the evening of 17th December 1979 a fire broke out in the Market Hall of St. John’s Precinct, Liverpool. Within minutes of the fire being reported, one whole level of the Market complex was completely ablaze, trapping a security man and caretaker on a smoke filled higher level.

The first police officers on the scene attempted to rescue the two trapped men, but were beaten back by the heat and smoke. After a few minutes all contact with the trapped men was lost, and Constables Sinclair and Fawcett immediately entered the blazing complex from Elliot Street. The smoke and heat was intense and it was impossible to walk into the building, so both officers crawled along the floor to search for the trapped men. Visibility was less than three feet, but after a few minutes search the security man and caretaker were found near to the entrance of the Market Hall.

After reassuring both men the officers began to escort them from the premises but after only a few feet both men became so weak that they were unable to move. Constable Sinclair grabbed hold of the security man and his colleague the caretaker, and they started to drag them across the floor.

As the conditions became worse, the strength of both officers began to fail but they managed to hold out until they reached safety.

Both officers had crawled a distance of over 370 feet to reach the trapped men in what was described as absolutely atrocious conditions. The caretaker said of his rescuer, ” the bobby that got me out was tremendous. I reckon this saved my life because I don’t think I would have got out”. The security man also praised Constable Sinclair, saying “He acted above and beyond the call of duty. He was choking, absolutely exhausted. I can’t thank him enough”.

Both officers were also awarded the Force Merit Badge by the Police Authority.

See St. John’s Precinct fire