A Glasgow firefighter who died in one of the city’s worst peacetime tragedies is one of the first recipients of a new posthumous royal award honoring public servants killed in the line of duty.

William Crockett was one of 14 men to lose their lives following the Cheapside Street whiskey shop fire in March 1960.

Her son, William Cruickshank, will receive the new Elizabeth crest from King Charles in her memory at a ceremony later this year.

This award, named in honor of the late Queen Elizabeth II, is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, awarded to military personnel who died in combat.

Nearly 500 firefighters were called to fight the Cheapside Street fire in the Anderston area on the evening of March 28, 1960.

At the time, the building contained approximately 4.5 million liters of whiskey and over 140,000 liters of rum.

Mr. Crockett was among the responders at the scene. He died when an explosion caused the 20 meter high walls to collapse onto the street below.

Falling masonry instantly killed three firefighters from Cheapside Street and 11 firefighters and rescuers who were battling flames at the rear of the building on Warroch Street.

It would spread to a nearby tobacco warehouse, an ice cream factory and the Harland and Wolff engine plant.

A total of 14 firefighters and five members of the Glasgow Salvage Corps lost their lives in what was the worst disaster to hit the British fire service since the end of the Second World War.

A large memorial ceremony was organized for the victims of the tragedy.

Mr Cruickshank, 71, was just six years old when his father was killed.

He recalled how his family were forced to move from their “fireman’s flat” in Easterhouse in the following weeks to Carntyne.

He said his mother found it difficult to talk about afterwards, but would be “quietly happy” with the award.

He said Hello Scotland from BBC Radio: “The real fire could be seen from all over Glasgow. About 500 firefighters went out that night. You can’t begin to imagine what that was like.

“There are all these whiskey barrels exploding everywhere and eventually two of the walls fell down. Glasgow was known as the powder keg town at that time, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

“When I think of my mother, I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her. The grief she had to carry.

“The whole of Glasgow was watching all these brides at this huge ceremony. I don’t really know how she held up, so it was really difficult.”

Mr Cruickshank said he heard about the Elizabeth emblem through his sister but later found out she was not eligible because she was not the first born .

The next of kin of more than 30 former civil servants will receive the emblem following a campaign led by the fathers of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, murdered by Dale Cregan in Greater Manchester in 2012.

The silver emblem features a rosemary wreath and a Tudor crown along with the words “for a life given in service”.

Mr Cruickshank said the award was as much about honoring his mother as it was his father and said he would leave a legacy for those who lost their lives in the line of duty in the future.

“I think my mother would have been quietly happy to know that my father had been recognized,” he said.

“I’m not sure it’s just him, it’s everyone else and the future – it was 64 years ago for Cheapside Street but at the end of the day there are will have others who will lose their lives in public service.

“It’s going to happen again and even if you don’t want it to, it’s going to happen and because of that, for them, I think it’s going to be even more important because it’s going to be a lot more fresh and real.

“The fact that the king is giving us these awards is truly incredible.”

Seven of those honored with the emblem lost their lives in Scotland.

Sally Taylor will receive the award as the widow of PC George Taylor, who was killed while on patrol on November 30, 1976.

He was attacked by two men dressed in prison uniforms who had escaped from Carstairs Public Hospital in Lanarkshire.

The award will also be given to Archibald MacLellan, son of Neil MacLellan, a nurse who was on duty at the state hospital that night.

He was killed, along with a patient, by the two men who managed to escape.

The family of Hamish Grant, a firefighter killed when his apparatus overturned while heading towards a farm fire in Aberdeenshire in April 1965, and PC Edward Barnett, shot dead in Glasgow in January 1970 , are also among the recipients.

The award will also go to the family of Detective Sergeant William Ross Hunt, who was killed while on duty in June 1983 after being stabbed while trying to arrest a suspect in Larkhall.

Meanwhile, PC Lewis Fulton, whose widow Christine fought for those who kill emergency workers to be sentenced to life in prisonwill receive this honor 30 years after his death following a knife attack in Glasgow’s Gorbals in 1994.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “We must never forget those who gave their lives to protect others in the line of duty.

“While families will never be able to replace their loved ones, the Elizabeth emblem honors the sacrifice they have made.”