G.M. London Gazette 28.3.1941. Recommendation states 'In the Enfield area of Middlesex, in the northern suburbs, a high explosive bomb practically demolished a house in Bush Hill Road, Winchmore Hill, at 11.15 p.m. on 1 December 1940, fracturing gas and water mains and trapping a woman below the debris. P.C. W. Griffiths, together with Inspector J.C. Pulham, climbed over the debris, broke down a door and removed many bricks which were holding it fast. The Constable then cut through one of the rafters with a saw and was able to crawl below the floor, clearing a passage through a pile of bricks and mortar. Owing to the confined space this had to be done by scraping it away by hand and passing it back. The woman was found to be trapped behind a spring mattress, part of which was resting on her legs while another mattress was obstructing the approach to her. The two Officers were able to drag the second mattress away with a rope and a small coal shovel was then used to remove sufficient debris to enable a Doctor to reach the woman and give her an injection. A saw and some pliers were then passed to the Constable who sawed through the mattress frame and released her legs and broke the spring away from the frame, allowing her to be released after the rescue action had taken two hours. P.C. Griffiths showed great courage throughout'.

Police Constable Willis Griffiths, G.M., joined the Metropolitan Police in November 1926 and was posted to 'Y' Division, a unit whose area of operations included parts of London, Herefordshire and Middlesex. He was invested with his G.M. at Buckingham Palace on 21.12.1941.

The attack launched on London on 1.12.1940 was a subsidiary raid to a bigger strike on Southampton, the Lufwaffe having to rely on 'DR' (Dead Reckoning) as cloud and mist obscured much of the city. Encountering medium flak of moderate accuracy, the 17 attacking aircraft dropped around 30 tons of H.E. bombs, most of the evening's damage being sustained in the outer suburbs, of which Enfield was one.