David Gordon Cheverie - Cross of Valour Citation

Cross of Valour Citation

Reacting instantly after he and his patrol partner saw flames through the living-room window of a house, Cst. Cheverie forced open the door and crawled on his hands and knees into the fiercely-burning living-room to see if anyone was there. While his partner coaxed one little boy to jump from an upstairs window, Cst. Cheverie braved flames, heavy smoke and heat so intense it scorched his leather jacket and singed his hair and eyebrows to enter the house and search through the pitch-black and smoke-filled bedrooms for other victims.

Finding a little girl unconscious on the floor, he picked her up, ran downstairs and handed her to another officer who had tried to enter the building but had been driven back by the heat. He immediately ran back upstairs and found an older girl, whom he threw over his shoulder while continuing his search. Stumbling over the body of a fourth child in the darkness, he grabbed her under his other arm and, certain he had found everyone, headed for the stairs. By now the fire had completely engulfed the front hallway of the house and was advancing up the stairwell. Still carrying the two girls, Cst. Cheverie raced through the tunnel of flames and out the front door.

Within seconds, a large fireball shot out through the door behind them and moments later, the entire structure was ablaze.