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Charity Anne Bick GM (born 1924 or 1925, died 2002) served as a civilian dispatch rider in World War II, and became the youngest ever recipient of the George Medal, the United Kingdom's second-highest ward for civilian bravery.

Bick was educated at Lyng Primary School in Horton Street, West Bromwich.

At the age of 14, while living in Maud Road, West Bromwich she lied about her age, claiming to be 16 in order to join the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) service in that town. She volunteered at the office of a brick works near her home, delivering messages between ARP depots, by bicycle.

During a 1940 air raid on West Bromwich, while assisting her father, who was an ARP post warden, to put out an incendiary bomb on the roof of a shop, she suffered minor injuries when the roof gave way and she fell through. Nonetheless, she used a borrowed bicycle and made numerous attempts to deliver a message to the control room, one and a quarter miles away, avoiding bombs and shrapnel. She made three such journeys at the height of the raid, and more later.

In early 1941 she was informed that she had been awarded the George Medal (GM), for her bravery that night. The official citation, in The London Gazette of 14 February 1941, said:

She displayed outstanding courage and coolness in very trying circumstances

She was just 16; the youngest ever person to receive the GM. The medal was presented to her by King George VI in a ceremony on 10 September 1941. She also received the Defence Medal and War Medal at the end of the war.

She subsequently joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, retiring in 1962 from its successor, the Women's Royal Air Force as a warrant officer, and having earned the Royal Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. Her service number was 2109222.

Later in her life, Bick lived in Scotland. She died, age 77, in 2002. Her portrait, in oil, by Alfred Reginald Thompson, RA, is in the Imperial War Museum, London, as are her four medals. A blue plaque commemorating Bick was erected at Lyng Primary, by the Historical Society, on 21 February 2002. The school also has a replica set of her medals. Charity Bick Way in West Bromwich (52°30′52″N 1°59′53″W / 52.51432°N 1.99793°W / 52.51432; -1.99793) is named in her honour.

References

1. ^ Staff Reporter (April 26, 2002). "Youngest George Medal winner dies". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
2. ^ "Charity Anne Bick". Your History. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
3. ^ "George Medal GM (OMD 3826)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
4. "No. 35074". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 14 February 1941.
5. ^ "Defence Medal 1939-1945 (OMD 3827)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
6. "War Medal 1939-1945 (OMD 3828)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
7. ^ "Royal Air Force Long Service Good Conduct Medal (OMD 3829)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
8. ^ "Girl heroine honoured". Birmingham Evening Mail. 2002-02-11. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
9. "Miss Charity Bick GM West Bromwich youngest woman Civil Defence worker be... (Art.IWM ART LD 1207)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 24 February 2014.

External links

• Portrait
• Audio recording of interview with Bick (subscription required)
• Plaque #30565 on Open Plaques

Template:Persondata

• Recipients of the George Medal
• 2002 deaths
• People from West Bromwich
• Royal Air Force personnel