Alfred Herbert Lungley, GC (1905–1989) was a British soldier of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

who distinguished himself during

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...

efforts after the Quetta earthquake of 1935. Lungley was born in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, on 20 October 1905. After joining the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

he was assigned to the

, and served in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

with the 24th Mountain Brigade which was then stationed near

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

(then India, now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

). On 31 May 1935 a serious earthquake hit the region near Quetta. This ranks as one of the deadliest earthquakes ever to hit

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

, and as the 23rd worst earthquake worldwide (by death toll) to date. The quake was centred 4.0 kilometres South West of

Ali Jaan Ali Jaan is a town in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, located at . It was near the epicentre of the 1935 Quetta earthquake Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre La ...

. Most of the reported casualties occurred in the city of Quetta. Initial

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drafts estimated a total of 20,000 people buried under the rubble, 10,000 survivors and 4,000 injured. The city was badly damaged and was immediately prepared to be sealed under military guard with medical help. Among other units, also the 24th Mountain Brigade was ordered to assist in rescue efforts. Lance-Sergeant Lungley was called to a house which had collapsed, trapping a man under the debris. He burrowed through the debris to reach and rescue the man, despite suffering a serious leg injury himself and the constant danger of the tunnel collapsing. For his extreme bravery during this operation, Lungley was awarded the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Meda ...

on 19 November 1935. In 1940 the Empire Gallantry Medal was revoked by Royal Warrant and replaced by the George Cross. All living recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal and the next-of-kin of those recipients who had died since September 1939 were obliged to exchange their award for the newly established George Cross. After the end of World War II Alfred Lungley married and moved to

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

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, where he died in 1989. His ashes are buried at Earlham Crematorium in Norwich, where he and his wife are commemorated with a small plaque in the grounds of the Garden of Remembrance.

References

Recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal 1905 births 1989 deaths Royal Artillery soldiers People from Colchester Military personnel from Colchester British Army personnel of World War II {{UK-army-bio-stub