The 5th Canadian Armour Division's advance to the Melfa River was led by the Recce Tp of the Lord Strathcona's Horse commanded by Lt Edward Perkins. Lt Perkins had eleven Honey tanks (M3 Stuart Light Tanks) in his troop. They had all been stripped of their turrets and fitted with one 50-calibre machine-gun, two Browning machine-guns, a PIAT, four Tommy guns, grenades and explosive charges. They were crewed by five soldiers and in six of the tanks, three soldiers were sappers from the 10th Fd Sqn.
Perkins had found a route around the German defences that brought his troop up to the banks of the Melfa River about one kilometre north of a known and well-defended ford. There were five derelict enemy vehicles blocking the cross, all under enemy observation and fire. These were the obstacles L/Cpl Chidley and his section removed. One sapper was killed and two were wounded before the obstacles could be cleared away.
George Chidley died 14 September 1995 in Hastings, Ontario.
At about 1300 hours on the 24th May 1944, Lance-Corporal Chidley as second-in-command of an Engineer party travelling in "Honey" tanks, reached the Melfa River with the leading tanks of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona's Horse). The whole column was being heavily shelled when they suddenly came upon five [derelect] enemy vehicles which were obstructing the proposed crossing.
Without hesitation and with remarkable coolness, this Non-Commissioned Officer dismounted and laid high explosive charges on the obstacles. During the process one of the party was killed and two others were wounded, but Lance-Corporal Chidley with supreme disregard for his own safety gave first aid to the two wounded as well as to a third who had been hit by shell fire at this time. He then rallied the remainder of his party and awaited further orders.
The leadership, confidence and courage of this Non-Commissioned Officer were of the highest order and his prompt action in the face of intense enemy shell fire to which he was exposed for a period of three consecutive hours demonstrated a devotion to duty of the highest order.