LONDON.- This November will see a wonderful piece of history come to
Spink’s auction room. On the 24th November 2016, a Yorkshire Chief Inspector’s Queen’s Gallantry Medal awarded for ‘outstanding courage and bravery’ in saving lives during the Bradford City Fire Disaster, the worst fire disaster in football history is to be sold at auction in London. Together with his Q.G.M., the British Empire Medal for Gallantry and Police Long Service Medal awarded to Chief Inspector T. Slocombe are going under the hammer with medal auctioneers, Spink & Son.
Slocombe assisted in the initial evacuation of Bradford City’s Valley Parade Ground, 11th May 1985, after the main grandstand had set alight, during which he helped trapped supporters ‘…until the heat caused his tunic to catch fire and it had to be removed.’ The blaze engulfed the stand within minutes and Slocombe had seen supporters trapped in a toilet in the stand. With a total disregard for his own safety, he and another Policeman ‘…ran towards the inferno and entered the toilet’, their actions saving the lives of three supporters.
Slocombe, born in Odsal, Bradford, he had been with the Police in West Yorkshire since the age of 17, also receiving the British Empire Medal for Gallantry following an armed siege in Castleford in 1970. Slocombe served the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police for nearly 30 years, retiring in 1993. Lot 16, estimated: £1,800 – 2,000
The medals are being sold at the request of the recipient and are accompanied by an array of original material, letters and photographs from the time, and carry an estimate of £10,000-12,000. Auctioneer Marcus Budgen commented:
“The bravery and courage shown during the Bradford City Fire Disaster by Chief Inspector Slocombe is simply outstanding. His combination of medals make these items exceptionally poignant, important and rare, with his service of nearly 30 years within Yorkshire making them particularly special. We are expecting a lot of local interest in the items, with no item of such importance being offered for such a tragic disaster being offered to date.’
