Arthur Merriman

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Douglas Merriman, GC, OBE, DFC, FRSE (25 November 1892–2 November 1972) was a government scientist with the Ministry of Supply, an officer of the Royal Engineers and a recipient of the George Cross.

Biography
Merriman was born in Manchester in 1892. During the First World War he served as an officer in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He entered France as an acting captain on 3 April 1918. He was decorated with the Legion d'honneur, and relinquished his commission on 25 September 1919. In the 1930s he was a teacher in Wallsend, before becoming Secretary of the Faculty of Architects and Surveyors, in March 1938. They later awarded him an honorary fellowship, shortly before the events for which he was awarded the George Cross.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, he returned to ordnance work as a civilian government scientist, defusing German bombs around the United Kingdom, under the cover occupation of an inspector of air raid shelters. In 1940 the Luftwaffe were continually bombing London as part of The Blitz. When a bomb dropped on Regent Street on 11 September 1940, Merriman proceeded to remove most of the explosive from the bomb. When it did detonate, it caused minimal damage and for his actions he was awarded the George Cross on 3 December 1940. The George Cross is the highest award for bravery that can be awarded to civilians in the United Kingdom.

On 1 January 1941 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and given the acting rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His substantive rank was increased to Lieutenant with effect 1 January 1942, and later to Major. On 6 January 1944 he was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) (OBE) for "gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East". He was Scientific Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief Middle East.

In 1946 he became Registrar-Secretary of the Institution of Metallurgists, a post he held until 1957. On 12 December 1955 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of London. In 1967 he became Master of the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Surrey in 1969. He died in 1972.

George Cross citation
Merriman's George Cross citation appeared in the London Gazette on 3 December 1940:

On 27 June 2013 The Daily Telegraph reported that Merriman's George Cross had been put up for auction by his nephew, with an estimate of £60,000.