Dublin-man William “The Hero Bill” Deans, a docker from Foley Street, was the only Irish citizen to receive two bravery awards from the Irish State.
William Deans had become a docker at a very young age, following in the footsteps of his father.
His first act of bravery took place in 1939 when he was crossing Ballybough Bridge (now the Luke Kelly Bridge) and noticed a young boy drowning in the River Tolka. Without hesitation, William jumped over the wall and rescued the boy.
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On 12 November 1947, William was selected to drive a winch on the American coal boat the SS Amaso Delano, which was docked at the South Wall in Dublin. At the time, some companies sought to cut costs by using ships’ crane winches positioned at each hatch rather than using quayside cranes. For a skilled docker, driving the winch meant earning a few extra bob and avoiding the severe physical hardship of shovelling coal.
While standing on the deck of the Amaso Delano, William detected the smell of gas coming from the second hatch. The captain (John Munro), engineer and bosun descended into the hatch to investigate. It is suspected that the ship’s previous cargo was grain and that the hold had not been properly cleaned before being loaded to the brim with coal. All three men were overcome by poisonous fumes and collapsed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The rest of the crew and dockers were ordered to abandon ship and move to the safety of Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Everyone complied except William, who stayed behind and put his own life at risk.
With a handkerchief over his mouth, William climbed down the ladder into the hatch and, with some difficulty, carried each of the three crew members up the ladder to safety. Two other crewmen on the deck had leaned over to look into the hatch and were also overcome by the fumes. William later said that he went to the first man and slapped him in the face in an attempt to revive him but with no luck, so he carried them ashore as well. The three most seriously affected were taken by waiting ambulances to hospital and, after a period in hospital, made a full recovery.
William’s son Christopher later recalled that, when the captain and the other crewmen were discharged from hospital around Christmas time, they arrived at the Deans family home with a basket of presents for the family (and a little bit of cash) to thank William. Christopher remembered these as the best Christmas presents he had ever received.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
In 1947, the Irish government introduced the Deeds of Bravery Act and William became the first citizen to be awarded a bronze medal and an official certificate.
In one of life’s strange coincidences, in 1957, at roughly the same location as the earlier incident, a French sailor – suspected of being drunk – fell off the gangway of a ship into the River Liffey. William again acted without hesitation, jumping into the water and, despite considerable difficulty, successfully rescued the man. William was subsequently awarded a second bravery certificate.
William remains the sole Irish citizen to be formally honoured twice by the State for his acts of bravery. And now the Dublin Dock Workers Preservation Society is seeking further recognition of William’s bravery. Working with the Deans family, the society has produced a song, ‘Unsung Hero’, in the hope of raising public awareness and securing the erection of a commemorative plaque in his honour. You can listen to the song here.
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