Full medal write up
KING’S POLICE MEDAL, G.V.R., WITH GALLANTRY RIBBON AND ORIGINAL INVESTITURE PIN TO REVERSE ‘P.C. ROBERT RATHNEY, GLASGOW CITY POLICE.’, CORPORATION OF GLASGOW MEDAL FOR BRAVERY, SILVER, ENGRAVED TO REVERSE ‘CONSTABLE ROBERT RATHNEY SOUTHERN DIV’, WITH ‘GALLANTRY’ TOP BAR’ AND REVERSE PIN FOR WEAR, HALLMARKS FOR GLASGOW DATED 1924.
K.P.M. London Gazette 1 January 1930. The original recommendation, joint with P.C. McGregor:
‘These constables rescued 8 persons at a fire in a tenement house at Glasgow on the night on the 16th February 1929. The fire commenced in a house on the first flat and eventually spread to a house on the upper flats and on the ground flat. The flames spread so rapidly that the occupants of the upper houses were afraid to make their escape down a narrow winding stair which was the only means of egress. Constables McGregor and Rathney rushed upstairs through dense smoke and flames and succeeded with the assistance of two other men who arrived while the constables were carrying inmates to the stairs, in rescuing 8 persons, all of whom suffered more or less from burns or suffocation. The two other men state that the constables displayed great bravery and a total disregard for their own lives. Both constables were badly scorched and suffered from the effects of their ordeal.’
Constable Robert Rathney, a native of Aberdeenshire, joined the City of Glasgow Police on 13 February 1923 and was posted to the ‘D’ (Southern) Division with the Register Number E-365. As stated, on the night of 16 February 1929, both constables attended a house fire where the fire had started in a first floor flat of a tenement property. The fire quickly spread to the upper floors and even to the ground floor. The fire spread so rapidly that the eight occupants of the upper floors were afraid to make their way down the narrow winding stair which was their only means of escape. Constables Rathney and McGregor rushed up through the smoke and flames and succeeded in carrying and guiding the eight occupants to safety, despite the intense heat. Both constables suffered from severe burns to their hands and face. For their bravery in rescuing the eight persons, both constables were awarded the King’s Police Medal for Gallantry and the Glasgow Corporation Medal for Bravery.
106 Kidston Street, was in the Gorbals, a district of Glasgow, across the Clyde from the city centre, that was infamous at the time for poverty, overcrowding and violence.
In 1932, Constable Rathney was appointed Detective Constable in ‘D’ (Southern) Division and retired as a Sergeant in ‘A’ (Central) Division on 14 February 1953.
Much of the above extracted from the superb Glasgow Police Museum website:
A superb and rare Light Horse double gallantry award.
Instituted in 1909, just 26 King’s Police Medal for Gallantry to the Glasgow Police between 1913 and 1948, 14 of which were the GV uncrowned head type.
Condition EF, lovely patina to both medals. Sold with copied research.
An extremely scarce Glasgow Police gallantry pair.