I am trying, without any success, to trace any information about the above named who was awarded a Military Medal in 1945. According to the London Gazette he hailed from Crook, County Durham
1886146 Corporal William Alexander Shaw, 16th Armoured Squadron, Royal Engineers who was decorated for taking his Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) alone and ahead of the infantry into a heavily defended German town where he used his AVRE's 290mm Petard mortar to great effect destroying an enemy roadblock under heavy fire and for his “complete disregard for his own safety” when he attacked and demolished a house from which he had twice been fired on by Panzerfausts.
Recommendation for an Immediate Military Medal states, “At CLOPPENBURG on the 13th April this N.C.O. was in command of an AVRE and was the first armoured vehicle to enter the town. The streets were strongly held and had to be cleared house by house and there was heavy shell and mortar fire coming down. Cpl. SHAW advanced ahead of our infantry and destroyed a road block with Petard fire. Whilst so doing he was twice fired on from a house with a Panzerfaust, but he carried on and completed the work, and then with complete disregard for his own safety he attacked the house from which he had been fired on and demolished it. He was about to continue the advance when he was ordered to halt until the streets had been cleared. Through his road clearing, recce were able to reach the bridges and get back early reports.”
Any help would be most welcome.
Mark