Major Lionel Meynell, who has died aged 96, was awarded a George Medal in 1940 for dealing with unexploded bombs at the height of the Blitz.By December 1940 several thousand bombs had fallen on English cities and failed to explode. In the early stages, members of bomb disposal units had little to guide them but trial and error, and their life expectancy was the shortest among any in the Armed Services.In October that year an unexploded bomb was reported to have fallen at Smith's Stamping Works, Coventry, where the factory was engaged in vitally important manufacturing for the Air Ministry.When the bomb was uncovered, it was found that the fuse tube had shorn and could not be reached. Meynell, in command of 69 Bomb Disposal Section RE, arrived at the site but found it impossible to remove the base plate and make the bomb safe by extracting the explosive. With the help of an NCO, he hoisted the bomb on to a lorry and, knowing that it might detonate at any moment, drove it three-quarters of a mile to a piece of waste ground. It went off 45 minutes later.On October 16, at Church Lawford, near Coventry, an oil incendiary device was reported to have fallen near an RAF aerodrome. When Meynell arrived he found that the bomb, which weighed 250 kilograms, was not an incendiary but was actually fitted with a time fuse which was ticking down. He had received no explicit instructions on the workings of that type of fuse, but in view of the need to deal with it without delay decided to remove it immediately and did so successfully.On November 6 he was burning out bombs at Binley Sand Pits when a 250 kilogram bomb detonated, killing a driver and injuring Meynell and two NCOs. His trench coat was shredded and he suffered excruciating pain in his legs and back. Despite his injuries, he moved the two unconscious men to a place of safety and, having placed the body of the driver on the truck, set off for the hospital. After travelling some 300 yards he collapsed. He was picked up by an ambulance but refused to go to hospital until the two NCOs had been taken there. Five weeks later, after being discharged, he volunteered to return to bomb disposal work.Over a period of four months Meynell carried out about 150 bomb reconnaissance operations and defused and made safe approximately the same number of bombs. These included parachute flares, mines, exploding incendiary bombs and butterfly bombs. On one occasion, a spontaneous explosion missed him by three minutes. He was awarded a George Medal.Lionel Charles Meynell was born at Wolverhampton on July 12 1914 and educated at St Chad's College. Aged 17 he joined Meynell Valves, the family company of brass founders. He was commissioned into the Territorial Army before the war and mobilised when war was declared.Meynell served with a field park company of Royal Engineers and, after training in bomb disposal at RAF Manby, Lincolnshire, took his section to Coventry. In October, a bomb fell on a large housing estate, and 2nd Lieutenant Sandy Campbell, with six of his men, took it to Whitley Common to blow it up.As it was being unloaded, it exploded. All seven men were killed instantly, and Meynell had the gruesome task of collecting the bodies. (Campbell was posthumously awarded a George Cross.)The funeral took place in Coventry Cathedral (itself subsequently badly damaged by bombing), and Meynell was in charge of a Guard of Honour for Winston Churchill when he visited the city. Churchill commented on the gaunt, haggard faces of the UXB sappers that he met.After a spell in command of 9 Bomb Disposal Company RE, Meynell was promoted major early in 1943 and took command of 16 Bomb Disposal Company RE, a unit engaged in extensive minefield clearances in south Wales and the Isle of Wight.He took over a bomb disposal operation at Newport, Monmouthshire, a task which, as he wrote afterwards, lasted for some six weeks and resulted in the evacuation of the residents over a wide area. The bomb, which was later discovered to be 1000kg, was nicknamed Hermann ? in fact, all 1000kg bombs were known as this, in tribute to Goering's physique.After the German surrender, Meynell commanded 6 Bomb Disposal Company RE. Its men were specially trained as divers to clear underwater obstacles to enable amphibious landings against Japanese-occupied territory. He took his company to India, but the dropping of the atom bombs ended the war in the Far East. Meynell was demobilised in 1946.He then rejoined the family company, retiring as chairman in 1979. He subsequently lived in Hampshire, where he enjoyed golf, gardening and studying local history.Lionel Meynell died on June 13. He married, in 1950, Patricia Liddicoat, who predeceased him; he is survived by their son and two daughters.
Put a +1 on your geekness atribute
IIRC the George Medal is the equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for valour not in the face of the enemy.
