Personal info

  • Name: Henry Harwood FLINTOFF
  • D.O.B: 3rd Sep, 1930
  • D.O.A: 23rd Jun, 1944
  • D.O.D: 5th Jun, 2020
  • Award: Edward Medal translated to George Cross
  • Occupation at time of action: Schoolboy and Farm worker assistant.
  • Book: The Complete History - Volume 3
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Sources & Acknowledgements

Farndale, Yorkshire 23 June 1944

23 June 1944

Farndale is in the valley of the River Dove in the North Yorkshire Moors, north of Kirkbymoorside. The farmer to whose assistance Flintoff went was John Atkinson.

Citation

 The KING has been pleased to award the Edward Medal to Harwood Henry Flintoff in recognition of his gallantry in the following circumstances: On the 23rd June last a farmer was driving a bull which turned on him, knocked him down, and knelt on his chest. Harwood Henry Flintoff, a thirteen-year-old schoolboy who assists the farmer immediately left his work in a neighbouring field and ran to his aid. After a struggle with the savage bull, in which the farmer was injured, Henry Flintoff though unarmed caught hold of the animal and together he and the farmer managed to grasp the ring in the bull’s nose, and to hold on to it until they both became exhausted. The bull then broke loose but was caught and led to its shed by a farm labourer who came to assist with a pitch fork. By his courageous action this boy saved the farmer from more serious injury and from possible death. 

The London Gazette of 8 December 1944, Numb. 36832, p. 5639

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