A Liverpool Echo journalist has uncovered a surprising family secret: his great-great grandad, John Cannon, did not serve in the army during World War II but remained in Liverpool, where he earned an OBE for his heroic rescue efforts during the Blitz.
While researching the destruction caused across Liverpool during the Blitz, the journalist discovered that John Cannon, aged 50, was deemed too old to serve in the British army. Instead, he worked for Liverpool City Council on the city's sewer system by day and volunteered for the Air Raid Precautions (ARP), a civil defence organisation set up to protect civilians from Nazi bombing.
First Non-Military OBE from Liverpool
John's efforts in 1941 earned him the honour of becoming the first non-military person from Liverpool to be awarded an OBE. An old cutting from Saturday, March 1, 1941, documents the achievement: "The award of O.B.E. medals to three members of a Liverpool rescue squad is announced in the latest list of honours for gallantry published in the London Gazette. They are:- John Summerfield, aged 55, of 32 Goswell Street, John Cannon, 50, of 41 McQueen Street, and James Hughes, aged 43, of 51 Bective Street [his house was damaged on the night of the raid]. John Rowley, aged 41, of 5 Marlfield Road, leader of the squad is commended."
Summerfield and Cannon had rescued people from damaged houses in many Liverpool raids. The incident for which they and Hughes and Rowley received special recognition occurred when a heavy bomb demolished a number of houses. Cannon and Summerfield first saved a woman jammed between a gas stove and a wall in a burning house. Summerfield then helped a man named Stewart to rescue two people trapped by timber in the house next door.
Rescues Amid the Rubble
"In another house they found six people, all dead, lying on a six-years-old child, whom they took out of the wreckage alive. The third rescue, and that in which all four figured, occurred afterwards. Hearing voices from beneath a pile of wreckage, 10 or 12 feet deep. Summerfield, Cannon and Hughes went to another part of the pile of shattered wood and brickwork and began tunnelling from there. After two hours they released a trapped man and woman. They were hampered in their rescues by 50 or 60 roaming dogs."
Just under two weeks after the article detailing his achievement, John received a letter formally inviting him to attend a ceremony at Buckingham Palace to accept his OBE.
Family Sacrifice and Survival
John's son, Johnny, fought during the war and was taken captive in Poland, where he was tortured in a concentration camp before being liberated by US soldiers. During the war, his family presumed him dead after receiving a telegram from the government saying he was missing and presumed dead. At the end of the war, his mum, Annie, was told he had been found and repatriated to Alder Hey Hospital. He was later called to give evidence during the Nuremberg trials in Germany.
From 1940 to 1942, Hitler's war machine unleashed huge destruction across Liverpool, decimating notable landmarks, with the objective of grounding the city's docks to a halt. The impact included a substantial loss of life, with 2,700 fatalities recorded across Merseyside during the two-year period, leaving countless families affected for years to come.
