Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: July 25, 1977
• Invested on: December 02, 1977

Sergeant Winston Churchill Hurry, M.B., C.D.
Medal of Bravery

Sgt. Winston Hurry, of the 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron of the Armed Forces, saved the life of a seaman from the merchant vessel Gabriella which had capsized in heavy seas off the coast of Newfoundland on 19 October 1976. When word was received that the crew had abandoned ship, Sgt. Hurry and his squadron set off in stormy weather by helicopter. At the scene they found some of the seamen in a rubber raft but only one alive. Hovering precariously in high winds, the helicopter lowered Sgt. Hurry to effect the rescue. At great risk he braved the forty-foot swells to board the raft with a net and placed the lone survivor in it. As the victim was helpless, the net proved ineffectual, and Sgt. Hurry resorted to a collar; after some forty-five minutes the seaman and his rescuer were hoisted into the aircraft.