Honoured at 100, the bomb hero who held a sandbag in his teeth
IT’S 83 years since ronald Brignall saved a historic city hall by putting a sandbag between his teeth and climbing up a drainpipe to douse an incendiary bomb. And now – on his 100th birthday – he has finally been honoured for his bravery back in February 1941.
He was 16 when he saved Cardiff City Hall during a German air raid. He carried a 12lb sandbag clamped between his teeth with another under his arm, while he scaled a 25ft drainpipe to douse the flames on the roof.
He was cheered as he went back up with a hose to finish the job. He had been walking home from college when he saw the incendiary land on City Hall.
His only recorded comment at the time was that his jaw ached from carrying the sandbag – most likely used to extinguish the incendiary before it fully exploded – and that he had ruined his suit.
Yesterday he said: ‘I was only a teenager, and I didn’t have any fear. I just wanted to make sure the bomb didn’t do any damage to City Hall.’
He later became an official firewatcher, helping to protect Cardiff, and in 1944, he joined the rAF and became a rear-gunner on Whitley and Halifax bombers.
The Lord mayor of Cardiff, Bablin molik, travelled to the care home in Sussex where mr Brignall now lives to present him with a certificate thanking him for his
heroism and recording the events of that day in 1941 for posterity.
mr Brignall’s son Ian said: ‘I know dad is thrilled to have this recognition. It’s a perfect present on his birthday.’ ms molik said: ‘I know this is a rather belated honour but it is no less heartfelt.’