Gordon Bastian Gordon Love Bastian GC MBE ( 30 March 1902 – November 1987 ) was an engineering officer in the British Merchant Navy who was awarded the Albert Medal for risking his own life to save other members of the crew of SS " Empire Bowman " after it was torpedoed on 31 March 1943 . In 1971 , living recipients of the Albert Medal and Edward Medal were instructed to return their medal , and were instead issued with the George Cross , the highest United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations award for civilian gallantry ( also awarded to members of the armed forces whose actions were not " in the face of the enemy " ) . Early life and career . Bastian was born at Barry , Glamorgan in south Wales on 30 March 1902 . In 1927 , he first travelled to Canada . He joined the merchant navy and became an engineering officer . With the outbreak of the Second World War most British merchant shipping was organised into convoys , but German u - boat s and surface raiders still inflicted considerable losses during the Battle of the Atlantic . Bastian was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for his convoy service on 1 January 1942 . By 12 March 1942 , Bastian was second engineer officer on SS " Empire Bowman " , which was departing Freetown , Sierra Leone as part of Convoy SL 126 , due to arrive in Liverpool at the beginning of April . On 30 March 1942 ( coincidentally Bastian ' s 41st birthday ) , she was torpedoed by in the Atlantic Ocean some north west of Cape Finisterre . At great personal risk , Bastian rescued two stokers from the sinking ship , for which he was awarded the Albert Medal on 17 August 1943 , the citation read : In 1944 , Bastian was also awarded the Lloyd ' s War Medal for Bravery at Sea for his actions . Later life and legacy . Soon after receiving his AM , Bastian was invalided out of the merchant navy as a result of the damage caused to his lungs by the cordite smoke he inhaled during the rescue . In 1947 , he settled in Canada , living in Montreal . The high status of the Albert Medal was not generally understood by the public , and in 1971 Queen Elizabeth II instructed all living recipients to exchange their original medal for the George Cross . This had been created by her father , King George VI in 1940 , in recognition of the hazards faced by the civilian population , and by merchant seamen such as Bastian . It was intended to have a similar status for civilian acts of gallantry , or for acts performed by members of the armed forces but which were not " in the face of the enemy " , as the Victoria Cross does for acts of gallantry in combat . On its creation , holders of the Empire Gallantry Medal were immediately instructed to exchange their medal for the GC , but holders of the AM and Edward Medal were not , despite these being higher in the order of wear than the EGM . Bastian received his GC in a presentation made by the Governor General of Canada on 27 November 1973 . He presented his AM and Lloyd ' s Medal to the National Museum Wales . He died in Canada in November 1987 , survived by his wife , Mary , and a son and a daughter . Soon after the award of the AM , Bastian ' s portrait was painted by war artist Bernard Hailstone , this now forms part of the Government Art Collection . In 1990 , a new road in his home town of Barry was named " Bastian Close " in his honour .