THE bravery of ordinary Britons in performing extraordinary acts is recognised today in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Three teachers who tried to save the children of Dunblane Primary during last year's massacre are all awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery.
It will be given posthumously in the case of Gwen Mayor, who was killed along with 16 pupils by Thomas Hamilton. Colleagues Mary Blake and Eileen Harrild are also honoured.
Mrs Mayor died instantly, but her colleagues hid with the other pupils and kept them quiet. ''In doing so, they ensured that the gunman did not do further harm to the small group of children under their care,'' said the citation.
Mrs Blake said: ''I am absolutely delighted with the award. But I must say I feel really moved and emotional for the reasons I'm getting it. I just wish it was for something else.''
Nursery nurse Lisa Potts is awarded the George Medal, the second highest civilian award for gallantry, for her heroism which saved the lives of small children attacked by Horrett Campbell, wielding a machete. She was clearing away after a Teddy Bear's picnic at a nursery school in Wolverhampton where she was in charge of some 20 children. Campbell was later jailed for life on seven counts of attempted murder.
Miss Potts, who was severely injured, said she was just doing her job.
Mr Philip Lawrence, headmaster of St George's Roman Catholic School in London, who was stabbed to death defending a pupil from an attacker, is posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. The same award also goes posthumously to firefighters Stephen Griffin and Kevin Lane, who died in a flame-engulfed house while trying to rescue children in Wales last year.
A Scottish helicopter winchman who helped 56 seamen to safety from a shipwreck also has his courage recognised.
Former Bristow employee Friedrich Manson, 34, who lives in Shetland, is awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery in the Air. In hazardous conditions, he helped 56 men to safety when their Latvian-registered ship came to grief on rocks in a winter storm in 1993.
Scotland has four new knights: Kwik-Fit founder Tom Farmer; Angus Grossart, former chairman of the board of trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland; Hawick-born round-the-world yachtsman Chay Blyth; and Professor Narendra Patel, of Dundee University, who is president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Among the Scots being made CBEs are Mr Gus Macdonald, chairman of the Scottish Media Group, which owns The Herald, and Scottish TUC general secretary Campbell Christie.
Rangers manager Walter Smith receives an OBE for services to football, and mountain rescuers Andrew Nicol of the Lochaber team and John MacLeod of the Skye team, become MBEs.
Jazz singer Cleo Laine becomes a dame, comedian Victoria Wood is awarded an OBE, and there are knighthoods for actor Donald Sinden, playwright Tom Stoppard, conductor Roger Norrington, and racing commentator Peter O'Sullevan.
The list, which contains 980 names, somewhat fewer than usual, is different in one principal respect from previous lists over the past 18 years, as there are no honours for political service. Some names were submitted by Mr Major before the election, but they were excluded by the new Prime Minister.However, some of the rejected names may appear in Mr Major's resignation honours list next month.
PAGE 2: Four knights top the list
PAGES 10 and 11: From the boardroom to the classroom
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