Hi Everybody
A very interesting thread and one which does indeed include references to my relative, Walter Clifford (1862-1923). I have more detail about him, his son Arthur and the early years of Mines Rescue on my website, which has recently relocated to
www.heroes-of-mine.co.uk I can advise that the two medals worn by Walter are the Edward Medal (Mines) 1st Class and an especially minted Gold Medal given to him and some of his colleagues. Both awards date from March 1908 and relate to the Hamstead Colliery fire in which Walter and his colleagues repeatedly attempted to rescue entombed miners from a burning mine. Again there is more detail on my site about the Hamstead Colliery incident.
I am indebted to "The-AC-project" for sharing this photo and it is my intention to include it on my website when I update shortly.
Hopefully someone may view the photo and be able to put some names to the gallant rescue team members?
As regards the date of the picture clearly, from the medals, it is post 1908 and, I am guessing here, pre 1911. Other pictures of him show a 3rd medal which was awarded by the North Staffs Colliery Owners and carried 'bars' for each rescue he was involved in. This medal, which carried his first bar from 1911, is not evident in the picture.
The fact that there is another picture on my site which appears to be almost identical (please excuse the oximoron!) is evidence that early mines rescue training teams, in a given area, all attended a central location for their training 'stint' and were therefore photographed in similar carefully orchestrated poses.
