United Kingdom - Ireland
Mar. 04, 1964 - Rooftop Drama in Bloomsbury: For 85 minutes yesterday, as hundreds of people watched from below, 30 year old Thomas French stood precariously balanced at the top of a four story building 60 feet above the street in Bloomsbury, London, holding his 18 month old son Stewart in his arms, threatening to jump off. French said that he had been evicted from his home, and that his wife had left him. Firemen and helpers spread tarpaulins below, three policemen and woman police constable Margaret Cleland, 23, gathered on the roof and tried to reason with the man. Margaret talked and talked, edging forward all the time, and finally snatched the baby from the man's arms, all three of them nearly falling, then the policemen dashed forward and grabbed French. Photo shows the heroine who performed the rescue, Woman Police Constable Margaret Cleland
