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Although the George Cross and George Medal were created with civilian gallantry in view (1940 witnessing the bombing of British cities on a scale dwarfing anything from the First World War), the warrants did not exclude military personnel, being drafted to address gallantry where the enemy was not present. The book DRAGONS CAN BE DEFEATED deals with the GM. Both awards went to many fire fighters and bomb or mine disposal personnel, but also to assorted folk (in and out of uniform) pulling people from burning aeroplanes, etc.
There are interesting GC and GM incidents which raise questions and few answers. Roderick Borden Gray, originally recommended for an Albert Medal, got a posthumous GC (and yet the enemy had been present long enough to shoot down his aircraft). Air Commodore Ross was in a party rescuing aircrew from a burning airplane that had bombs aboard. There were two men recommended for a GC but only Ross got one; the other man got a GM, two others involved received BEMs and there was at least one MiD for the incident as well. Why did Ross get a GC and the other man not ? The cynic might say "rank" but I think there were three other factors (a) the need to preserve the status of a GC, so limiting the number in this instance to one (b) "hands-on" rescue was not part of Ross' job description; he had the option of standing back and being a cheerleader; instead he was right in the middle of the action © Ross lost a hand - the only member of the rescue party seriously injured.
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