Seven Scottish civil servants posthumously receive the Elizabeth badge

A Glasgow firefighter who died in one of the city’s worst peacetime tragedies has become one of the first recipients of a new posthumous royal honor honoring civil servants killed in the line of duty.

William Crockett was one of fourteen men who died after the Cheapside Street whiskey bond fire in March 1960.

His son, William Cruickshank, will receive the newly created Elizabeth emblem later this year at a ceremony in memory of King Charles.

The award, named after the late Queen Elizabeth II, is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, awarded to military personnel killed in combat.

On the evening of March 28, 1960, almost 500 firefighters were called to tackle the fire on Cheapside Street in the Anderston area.

At that time, the building contained approximately 4.5 million liters of whiskey and over 140,000 liters of rum.

Mr Crockett was one of the first responders on the scene. He died when an explosion caused the building’s 65-foot walls to collapse onto the street below.

Falling masonry instantly killed three firefighters on Cheapside Street and 11 firefighters and firefighters battling the flames at the rear of the building in Warroch Street.

It would spread to a nearby tobacco warehouse, an ice cream factory and the Harland and Wolff engine factory.

A total of fourteen firefighters and five members of the Glasgow Salvage Corps were killed in what was the worst disaster for the British fire service since the end of the Second World War.

After the tragedy, a large memorial service was held for the fallen.

Mr Cruickshank, 71, was just six years old when his father was murdered.

He recalled how, in the following weeks, his family were forced to leave their ‘fire brigade flat’ in Easterhouse and move to Carntyne.

He said his mother found it difficult to talk about it afterwards, but said she would be “quietly pleased” with the award.

He told it Good Morning Scotland from BBC Radio: “The actual fire could be seen from all over Glasgow. About 500 firefighters had gone out that night. You can’t imagine what it was like.

‘There were barrels of whiskey blowing all over the place and two walls ended up falling down. Glasgow was known at the time as the tinderbox city, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

“When I think about my mother, I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her. The sadness she had to bear.

“The whole of Glasgow looked at all those women when they had that huge ceremony. I don’t know how she kept it together, so it was really tough.”

Mr Cruickshank said he heard about the Elizabeth emblem through his sister, but later discovered she was not eligible to apply because she was not the first-born child.

The relatives of more than 30 former civil servants will receive the badge following a campaign by the fathers of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, who were murdered by Dale Cregan in Greater Manchester in 2012.

The silver emblem features a rosemary wreath and a Tudor crown alongside the words ‘for a life given in service’.

Mr Cruickshank said the award was as much about paying tribute to his mother as it was to his father, and said it would leave a legacy for those who have lost their lives in the line of duty in the future.

“I think my mother would have been quietly happy if she had known my father was recognized,” he said.

“I’m not so sure it’s just about him, it’s about everyone else and in the future – this was 64 years ago for Cheapside Street, but ultimately there will be others who lose their lives in the public service.

“It’s going to happen again and even if you don’t want it, it will happen and that’s why I think it will be even more important for them because it will be much fresher and more real.

“The fact that the king is actually going to award us these awards is really incredible.”

Seven of those honored with the emblem died in Scotland.

Sally Taylor will receive the award as the widow of PC George Taylor, who was killed while on patrol on November 30, 1976.

He was attacked by two men dressed in prison uniforms who had escaped from the state hospital at Carstairs in Lanarkshire.

The award will also be presented to Archibald MacLellan, son of Neil MacLellan, a nurse who was on duty at the State Hospital that evening.

He was murdered along with a patient by the two escaped men.

The family of Hamish Grant, a firefighter who died when their appliance overturned on the way to a farm fire in Aberdeenshire in April 1965, and PC Edward Barnett, who was shot in Glasgow in January 1970, are also among the recipients.

The award also goes to the family of Detective Inspector William Ross Hunt, who was killed in the line of duty in June 1983 after being stabbed while trying to arrest a suspect in Larkhall.

Meanwhile, PC Lewis Fulton, whose widow Christine has fought to ensure that those who kill first responders receive mandatory life sentenceswill receive the honor 30 years after his death from a stabbing in Glasgow’s Gorbals in 1994.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘We must never forget those who gave their lives to protect others in the line of duty.

“While families will never be able to replace their loved ones, the Elizabeth Emblem is a tribute to the sacrifice they made.”