Services by the Life-boats of the Institution,by Shore-boats and by Auxiliary Rescue-

boats during 1942

During the year life-boats were launched 443 times. Of these

launches 244 were to vessels and aeroplanes in distress through

attack by the enemy or from other causes due to the war.

The Record Month by Month

1942

N u m b e ro f

Life-boatLaunches

J a n u a r y 88

Februa ry 37

March 63

Apri l 25

M a y 22

J u n e 17

J u l y 17

August 22

September 37

October 32

November 22

December 61

- 8

3 66

T o t a l s 443

LivesRescued

b yLife-boats

Vesselswhich

Life-boatsSaved or

LivesRescued

b yHelped Shore-boatsto Save

LivesRescued

b yAuxiliary

RescueBoats

253 8 28 -

3 1 2 -

75 6 62 -

32 7 7 -

17 1 8

-

7

-18 4 - -

74 4 18 -

31 44I

1212 3

7 2 6 -

79 5 14 -

596 45 231 3

-

-

1

Thirty-eight Medals for Gallantry

PLYMOUTH, DEVON

On the 13th January, 1942, the Plymouth life-boat saved a Sunderland FlyingBoat of the Royal Australian Air Force and rescued her crew of two.

COXSWAIN WALTER D. CROWTHER was awarded the bronze medal.

CAMPBELTOWN, ARGYLLSHIRE

On the 19th January, 1942, the Campbeltown life-boat rescued forty-four of thecrew of the motor vessel Mobeka, of Antwerp.

COXSWAIN JAMES THOMSON was awarded the silver medal.SECOND COXSWAIN DUNCAN NEWLANDS was awarded the bronze

medal.BOWMAN DUNCAN BLACK was awarded the bronze medal.MOTOR MECHANIC HUBERT LISTER was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN JOSEPH McGEACHY was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN DUNCAN MCLEAN was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN NEIL SPEED was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN JAMES LANG was awarded the bronze medal.

NEWCASTLE, CO. DOWN

On the 21st January, 1942, the Newcastle life-boat rescued thirty-nine of thecrew of the S.S. Browning, of Liverpool.

COXSWAIN PATRICK MURPHY was awarded the gold medal.SECOND COXSWAIN WILLIAM MURPHY was awarded the silver medal.MOTOR MECHANIC ROBERT AGNEW was awarded the silver medal.BOWMAN WILLIAM J. LENAGHAN was awarded the bronze medal.ASSISTANT MOTOR MECHANIC THOMAS McCLELLAND was awarded

the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN PATRICK McCLELLAND was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN PATRICK ROONEY was awarded the bronze medal.

PETERHEAD, ABERDEENSHIRE

2

On the 23rd-26th January, 1942, the Peterhead life-boat rescued the crew offorty-four of the S.S. Runswick, the crew of twenty-six of the S.S. Fidra, andthirty-six of the crew of the S.S. Saltwick.

COXSWAIN JOHN B. McLEAN was awarded the gold medal.MOTOR MECHANIC DAVID F. WISEMAN was awarded the silver medal.LIFE-BOATMAN ALEXANDER W. HEPBURN, acting as second coxswain,

was awarded the bronze medal.

SERVICES 1942 3

LIFE-BOATMAN WILLIAM STRACHAN, acting as bowman, was awardedthe bronze medal.

ASSISTANT MOTOR MECHANIC WILLIAM SUMMERS was awardedthe bronze medal.

LIFE-BOATMAN ALEXANDER GOWANS was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN ALEXANDER STRACHAN was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN GEORGE CORDINER was awarded the bronze medal.

HARTLEPOOL, DURHAM

On the 26th January, 1942, the Hartlepool life-boat rescued five of the crew ofthe S.S. Hawkwood, of London.

LIEUT. WILLIAM H. BENNISON, C.G.M., R.N.V.R., coxswain of the life-boat, was awarded the gold medal.

MOTOR MECHANIC HERBERT W. JEFFERSON was awarded the silvermedal.

BOWMAN THOMAS GILCHRIST was awarded the bronze medal.ASSISTANT MOTOR MECHANIC ROBERT HORSLEY was awarded the

bronze medal.EMERGENCY MOTOR MECHANIC EDWARD WALLACE was awarded

the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN RICHARD COULSON was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN WILLIAM HORSLEY was awarded the bronze medal.LIFE-BOATMAN HERBERT PEARSON was awarded the bronze medal.

WICK, CAITHNESS-SHIRE

On the 21st September, 1942, the Wick life-boat rescued thirty-one people fromthe steam tug St. Olaves, and the motor vessel Gold Crown.

COXSWAIN NEIL STEWART, jun. was awarded the bronze medal.

PETERHEAD, ABERDEENSHIRE

On the 15th December, 1942, the Peterhead life-boat rescued the crew of twelveof the steam trawler Loch Wasdale, of Aberdeen.

CAPTAIN JAMES WINTER, harbour master, acting as coxswain, was awardedthe bronze medal.

B A L L Y C O T T O N . C O . C O R K

On the 23rd December, 1942, the Ballycotton life-boat rescued the crew ofthirty-five of the S.S. Irish Ash, of Dublin.

COXSWAIN PATRICK SLINEY was awarded the silver medal.SECOND COXSWAIN MICHAEL L. WALSH was awarded the bronze medal.MOTOR MECHANIC THOMAS SLINEY was awarded the bronze medal.ASSISTANT MOTOR MECHANIC WILLIAM SLINEY was awarded a

clasp to his bronze medal.

Accounts of Services by Life-boatsJANUARY

Launches 88. Lives rescued 253.

J A N U A R Y 5 T H . - AITH, SHETLANDS.At 5.10 P.M. the coastguard reported distresssignals a mile west of Eshaness Point, andthe motor life-boat The Rankin was launchedat 5.45 P . M . A strong northerly gale wasblowing, with a heavy sea and squalls ofsnow. The life-boat found the Norwegianmotor vessel Nansen, with her engine andsteering gear broken down, her fuel tanksempty, her anchor lost, and her crew of nineexhausted. They had been without food andwater for severa l days . Af ter some man-oeuvring the life-boat took her in tow, and at3.15 A.M. next morning brought her into Aith.- Property salvage case.

J A N U A R Y 6 T H - 7 T H . - B A R M O U T H ,MERIONETHSHIRE, AND PWLLHELI ,C A E R N A R V O N S H I R E . D u r i n g t h eevening information was received from thecoastguard that a British aeroplane had comedown in the sea about six miles south-westof Llanbedrog. A light northerly wind wasblowing , wi th a modera te sea . The Bar -mouth motor l i fe -boa t L a w r e n c e A r d e n ,Stockport was launched at 6.20 P.M. and thePwllheli motor life-boat C. and S. at 7 P .M.Aeroplanes and a naval launch also took partin the search, but nothing was found, and bothlife-boats returned to their stations a fewminutes after midnight. On the followingmorning the Pwllheli life-boat put out againat 10.5 A.M., as what was thought to be arubber dinghy had been seen some four milesw e s t o f M o c h r a s P o i n t . O n h e r w a y h efound an aeroplane, an Anson trainer. Asshe was settling, the life-boat attached abuoy and line to her. She soon disappeared,but the buoy made it possible to find andsalve her later. The life-boat then searchedfor the missing crew until a Spitfire aeroplanesignalled to her that, after being in theird inghy a l l n ight , they had been rescued .The l i fe -boa t re tu rned to her s ta t ion a t1.30 P.M. - Rewards : Barmouth, £16 5s. 6d. ;Pwllheli, £13 2s. 6d. and £5 14s.

(See Criccieth, “ Services by Shore-boats,”page 63.)

J A N U A R Y 9 T H . - WELLS, NORFOLK,A N D S K E G N E S S L I N C O L N S H I R E .Information was received at Wells from thecoastguard at about 4.48 PM. that a tug wasshowing f la res of f Scol t Head. A s t rongnortherly wind was blowing, with a roughsea and snow squalls. The tide was low andthe motor life-boat Royal Silver Jubilee 1910-1935 had to be taken across three miles ofsand before she could be launched at 6.20 P.M.She found nothing at the position given, butshe saw lights a long way off in the samedirection, and found the collier S.S. Eastwood,

of London. She was at anchor and leaking,and her master asked the life-boat to standby. He also said that another life-boat hadgone to the tug which was two miles E. by N.The l i fe -boa t s tood by un t i l ano ther tugarrived and took the steamer in tow, andthen returned to her station at 3.25 A.M. AtSkegness, at 4.30 in the afternoon, the coast-guard reported SOS signals from a steamereight miles S.E. by E. At 5.10 P.M. the motorlife-boat Anne Allen put out. She found thetug Arcadia and the S.S. Eastwood. Bothwere damaged, one as the result of a mine,and neither was able to go on her way, butboth crews refused to leave their vessels andsaid that they would stay on board until atug came. The life-boat stood by until earlymorning. She then took the Arcadia in towin an unsuccessful attempt to get her intodeeper water. After 40 minutes she gave upthe a t tempt and re turned to her s ta t ion ,arriving at 2.40 A.M . - Rewards : Wells,£23 12s. ; Skegness, £19 17s.

JANUARY 9TH. - LYTHAM - ST. ANNE’S,LANCASHIRE, AND NEW BRIGHTON,CHESHIRE. At 8.30 A.M. a message camefrom the Hoylake coastguard asking that thelife-boat should go to an aeroplane reporteddown of f Formby Poin t , and a t 8 .40 theLytham - St. Anne’s motor life-boat Dunlearywas launched. A strong N.W. breeze wasblowing, with heavy gusts, and the sea wasrough. On her way down the River Ribble,the life-boat saw H.M. Seilestier aground onthe south wall, between the thirteenth andfourteenth mile, with a crew of six. It wasthen ahout 9.15 in the morning. The tidewas falling, and the Seilestier would be in nodanger until the flood, so the life-boat wenton to the pos i t ion g iven to look for theaeroplane. Meanwhile, at 8.10 the Hoylakecoastguard had reported to the New Brightonstation that two Spitfires had crashed offFormby, and the crew of the No. 2 motorlife-boat Edmund and Mary Robinson wasassembled. As soon as more precise informa-tion had been received about the position oft h e a e r o p l a n e s t h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a t w a slaunched. It was then 8.38 in the morning.She searched from Formby Point to South-p o r t a n d m e t a n d s p o k e t h e L y t h a m -St. Anne’s life-boat off Ainsdale. Neitherlife-boat could find any trace of the aero-planes, and the New Brighton life-boat gaveup the search at 12.15 in the afternoon andreturned to her station, arriving at 2.10.The Lytham-St. Anne’s life-boat returned tothe Seilestier. It was now flood tide, but theSeilest ier was still aground. The life-boatwent alongside her and made fast, but whileshe was there the Seilestier’s dinghy brokeadrift, so the life-boat cast off and pickedher up . She then went a longs ide aga in ,passed a veering line to the Seilestier andtowed her off. As she was towing her up

10

SERVICES 1942 11

channel the veer ing l ine par ted , bu t theSeilestier now had one engine working, andwas able to continue under her own power.The life-boat returned to her station at 2in the afternoon. - Rewards : Lytham-St.Anne’s, £7 5s. and property salvage case ;New Brighton, £8 2s.

. J A N U A R Y 1 0 T H . - P O R T S T . M A R Y ,ISLE OF MAN. At 7.45 P.M. the lights wereseen of a ship ashore on Gansey Point, abouthalf a mile N.E. of Port St. Mary breakwater,and the motor life-boat Sir Heath Harrisonwas launched at 8.30 P.M. A light easterlywind was blowing and the sea was smooth,but the night was very dark, with showers ofsleet. The life-boat found that the strandedship was the S.S. Speke, of Liverpool, bound,laden, for Belfast from Liverpool. She hada crew of seven. The life-boat took them offand landed them at 9.10 P .M. At 4.30 A.M.the following morning the life-boat took theseven men back to the Speke, and they re-floated her under her own power as the tiderose, at about 5.20 A.M. She came into PortSt. Mary harbour, and the life-boat returnedto her station at 6 A.M. - Rewards, £27 17s.

J A N U A R Y 1 2 T H . - N E W B R I G H T O N ,CHESHIRE. At 5 P .M . the life-boat cos-swain received information that the fishingboat Never Mind, of Liverpool, was missing,and that signals of distress had been seen offthe Burbo Bank, and the No. 1 motor life-boatWilliam and Kate Johnston put out at5.25 P .M. A strong S.E. wind was blowing,with a moderate sea. Half-way down theRock Channel the life-boat found the fishingboat with her engine broken down and hercrew of two exhausted. The life-boat tookthe men on hoard and, with the Never Mindin tow, returned to her station, arriving at6.15 P.M. A letter of thanks and a donationw e r e r e c e i v e d f r o m t h e r e s c u e d m e n . -Rewards, £13 12s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 2 T H . - LONGHOPE, ORK-NEYS. At 9.34 P.M. the Kirkwall coastguardreported a vessel ashore on the east side ofSt roma, and the motor l i fe -boa t T h o m a sMcCunn was launched at 10.15 P.M. A S.S.E.gale was blowing, with a very rough sea, andthe night was very dark. The life-boat foundthat the vessel was the S.S. Empire Parsons.Part of' her crew had been rescued from theshore by the coastguard life-saving apparatus,and the remainder were in no immediatedanger. The life-boat stood by the steamerunt i l day l igh t and then re tu rned to herstation, arriving at 11.15 A.M. - Rewards,£32 9s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 2 T H . - B A L T I M O R E , C O .CORK. Five local fishing boats were severalmiles out, line-fishing, and as a strong breezegot up from the S.W. four of them returneda t 2 P . M . T h e w i n d i n c r e a s e d , t h e s e abecame very rough, and as the fourth boat,the Eibhlin Og, with a crew of four, had notreturned, the motor life-boat Shamrock waslaunched at 3.57 P.M. She found the fishingboat two miles from land, with her engine

broken down, but she was able to get intoharbour , escor ted by the l i fe -boa t . Theyarrived there at 5.30 P.M.. - Rewards, £12 15s.

BRONZE MEDAL SERVICEAT PLYMOUTH

JANUARY 13TH . - PLYMOUTH,D E V O N . A t e i g h t m i n u t e s p a s tthree in the morning a message camefrom the King’s Harbour Master thatdistress flares had been seen in Jenny-cliffe Bay, and at 3.38 the motor life-boat Robert and Marcella Beck left hermoorings. The wind was from south tosouth-west, with a very rough sea andheavy squalls of rain. At four o’clockthe life-boat found a Sunderland flyingboat, belonging to the Royal AustralianAir Force, with two men on board.She had been at anchor. A coastalvessel had anchored near her, haddragged her anchor in the rough seas,collided with the flying boat, andcarried her on to the rocks. She wasaground between the cliffs and thepier. It was just high water and theseas were rebounding heavily from thecliffs. The flying boat was in greatdanger. She was almost certain tobreak up in those seas, and the twomen on board to be drowned.

The life-boat reported by wirelessto the naval authorities, who sent backa message asking the l ife-boat, ifpossible, to tow the flying boat clear,and, if that, were not possible, to standby her. The life-boat found it verydifficult, to communicate with the twomen on the flying boat,, so she returnedto Mount Batten and picked up an airforce officer. The night was very dark,with the rain squalls, but the search-light was turned on from the shore,and by its light the life-boat went into the rescue. Three times she firedher line-throwing gun, but two of thelines parted, and in the rough seas thetwo men on the flying boat were unableto get hold of the third. There wasvery little room to manoeuvre in thenarrow space, but the coxswain tookthe life-boat, closer in to attempt toget a line aboard the flying boat bythrowing the heaving cane. He hadto go in several times, and the second-coxswain and one of the crew werenearly washed overboard, but in the

12 SERVICES 1942

end the two men on the flying boatsucceeded in seizing and making fastthe line, and the life-boat towed theflying boat to safety in the Cattewaterwith her crew on board. She arrivedback at her station at 7.12 in themorning.

The life-boat had been very skilfullyand courageously handled, in verydifficult circumstances, and the AirOfficer Commanding at Mount Battensent the following message to theKing’s Harbour Master : “ Very manythanks for your valuable assistancelast night. The prompt action andskill of the life-boat’s crew, with theassistance of searchlights, undoubtedlysaved a valuable aircraft from be-coming a complete wreck. Wouldgreatly appreciate it if you wouldconvey my thanks to all concerned.”To this the King’s Harbour Masterreplied : “ Very many thanks for yourmessage, which is much appreciated.This message is being passed to Ply-mouth life-boat, to whose excellentwork I consider that all credit is due.”

The Institution made the followingawards :

T o C O X S W A I N W A L T E R D .CROWTHER , the bronze medal forgallantry, with a copy of the voteinscribed on vellum ;

To the eight members of his crew,ALBERT E. SLEEMAN, second-coxswain,W. F. LILLICRAP, bowman, ARTHURWILLIAM BANHAM, motor-mechanic,REGINALD A. FOOTE, assistant motor-mechanic, FOSTER L. G. HOLMES ,s e c o n d a s s i s t a n t m e c h a n i c , a n dE . C U R T I S S , G . S T A N B U R Y a n dF. FOWLER, life-boatmen, the thanksof the Institution inscribed on vellum ;

To the coxswain and each of theeight members of the crew, a moneyreward of £1 in add i t ion to theordinary reward on the standard scaleof £2 7s. Rewards on the standardscale, £18 16s. ; additional rewards,£9 ; total rewards, £27 16s.

On July 11th H.R.H. The Duke ofKent, K.G., President of the Institu-tion, presented the medals and vellumsin the Guild Hall Square at Plymouth.Among those who were present wereAdmiral of the Fleet Sir CharlesForbes, G.C.B., D.S.O., Commander:in-Chief, Plymouth, Lady Forbes, the

Air-Vice Marshal and Officers of theR.A.F . , r epresen ta t ives f rom thesquadron of the Royal AustralianAir Force to which the flying boatbelonged, the Garrison Commandera t P lymouth , the Lady Mayoress(The Viscountess Astor) and theD e p u t y L o r d M a y o r . T h e L o r dMayor h imse l f was prevented byillness from being present.

This was the Duke of Kent’s lastse rv ice to the Ins t i tu t ion . Sevenweeks later, on August the 25th, he waskilled in an air accident on activeservice.

JANUARY 13TH. - CLACTON - ON - SEA,E S S E X . A t 1 1 . 1 4 A . M . t h e c o a s t g u a r drepor ted a sa i l ing barge aground on theGunfleet Sands, four miles S.E. of Clactonpier. A moderate S.S.W. wind was blowing,wi th a ra ther rough sea . The motor l i fe -boat Edward Z. Dresden was launched at11.45 A.M. and found the barge Glenmore, ofRochester, laden with maize. She was highand dry. The life-boat stood by, and whenthe ride rose the life-boat towed the bargein to deep wate r . I t was then 7 .43 in theevening. Two life-boatmen were put aboardthe barge to help the crew of two, and thelife-boat continued to tow until 9 P.M., whenshe and the barge anchored until daylight.The life-boat then towed the Glenmore toBrightlingsea, arriving at 12.15 P.M. and gotback to her station at 4 P .M. She had beenout for over twenty-eight hours. - Propertysalvage case.

JANUARY 16TH - 26TH. - BARRA ISLAND,HEBRIDES. At nine in the evening of the15th the Kyle coastguard telephoned that avessel was ashore two miles N.W. by W. ofBar ra Head , and the l i fe -boa t c rew wereassembled. Shortly afterwards another mes-sage came that the vessel had been able togo on her way. A gale of exceptional violencewas blowing from the south-east, and thenight was very dark, with squalls of rain andsleet. A very heavy sea was running intothe harbour at Castlebay, and it was breakingon the beach with such force that it wouldhave been impossible to launch the boardingboat to go out to the motor life-boat Lloyd’sa t her moor ings . The c rew cont inued tostand by, and at eleven o’clock a messagecame from the Leanish coastguard that avessel was ashore near Leanish Point. Thecoxswain, motor-mechanic and signalmanwent to Leanish Poin t , and were ab le tomake out the vessel. She was the steamerR. J. Cullen, of St. John’s, New Brunswick.She was hard on a platform of rock, on aneven keel, and tremendous seas were breakingover her. It would have been impossible insuch seas to get near her, and a signal wasmade to the steamer’s crew to stay on boardand no t a t t empt to use the i r boa ts . Thereply came back that they would stay, but

SERVICES 1942 1 3

that the steamer was being badly battered.It was the unanimous opinion that it wouldbe madness to attempt a rescue until theweather moderated.

Half an hour after midnight another mes-sage came that a vessel was ashore on theeast side of Mingulay, and a later messagesaid that she was breaking up. She was theS.S. Empire Homer, of Greenock. The life-boat’s crew continued to stand by, waitingfor a lull in the gale, and at four o’clockanother message came from Kyle advising thelife-boat to leave the vessel on the rocks atLeanish Point and to go to Mingulay.

Just before daylight the weather seemed toease a little and the crew went out in theboarding-boat. It took them 15 minutes torow the 150 yards to the life-boat. At ninein the morning the life-boat put to sea. Itwas still blowing a gale from the S.E., and aheavy cross sea was running. The life-boattook heavy water on board. She passed theR. J. Cullen, saw that for the present shewas all right, and went on to Mingulay, butthough she searched the whole coas t shecould see no trace of the Empire Homer. Shethen returned to the R. J. Cullen, but shefound tha t the reefs , and the heavy seasbreaking on them, prevented her from gettingneare r than ha l f a mi le away , and tha tnoth ing could be done unt i l the weathermoderated. The steamer was still well upon the rocks, and the life-boat again advisedt h e m a s t e r t o s t a y o n b o a r d . S h e t h e nreturned to her station where she arrived at3.30 in the afternoon of the 16th. The crewhad then been on duty for 18 hours. It wasstill blowing a gale, with hard squalls of rainand sleet.

The crew remained in touch with the coast-guard throughout the night, and at eighto’clock next morning, the 17th, the life-boatagain put out to search for the Empire Homer,still reported to be on Mingulay. The weatherhad now moderated, but there was a heavyswell. The life-boat again could find no traceof the steamer, and was turning away whenshe saw a rocket go up, apparently from thewest coast of Sandray Island, some five miles,as the crow flies, from Mingulay. As thelife-boat drew near she saw a crowd of men onthe shore, but no sign of any vessel. Thiswas the crew of the Empire Homer, who hadgot ashore. The steamer herself was hiddenbehind the south-eas t po in t of SandrayIsland. After going near enough to shout tothe men to wait, the life-boat put back toCas t lebay , and came ou t aga in wi th herboarding boat. With this boat she broughtof f a l l the 49 men, and landed them a tCastlebay at two in the afternoon. She hadbeen out for six hours.

Meanwhile the honorary secretary of thelife-boat station, not knowing how long thelife-boat would be away, and anxious to takeadvantage of the lull in the weather, got thefishing vessel St. Margaret to go to the helpof the R. J. Cullen. Her skipper took withhim a fisherman who was used to catchinglobsters at Leanish Point and thoroughlyknew the rocks. There was still a high seaand swell, but the St. Margaret was able togo under the quarter of the R. J. Cullen and

by means of a pilot ladder to rescue her wholecrew of 47 men.

Next morning, the 18th, the master of theEmpire Homer asked if the life-boat could goto Sandray Island again to bring ashore someof the Empire Homer’s equipment, and at10 o’clock the life-boat set out, taking withher the E m p i r e H o m e r ’ s master , mates ,engineers and wireless officers. She foundthe steamer with her bow high above thewater and her stern broken off near the afterhatchway. The officers filled one of the ship’sboats with Lewis guns, wireless gear, andnaviga t ion ins t ruments and the l i fe -boa ttowed it back, arriving at seven o’clock inthe evening . She had been out for n inehours.

At 10.45 the following night, the 19th, amessage came from Kyle that a vessel wasashore close to Barra Head, and at 11.20 thelife-boat again put out. A strong southerlywind was blowing, and the sea was moderate,but there was a heavy swell. The night waspitch dark and it was snowing heavily. Thelife-boat went right round the islands, usingher searchlight, and passed two destroyers,which also seemed to be searching, but shefound no vessel in distress, and arrived backat her station at 7.30 next morning, the 20th.She had been out for eight hours. This vessel,it was thought, must have been the Norwegiansteamer Ingrid which had gone ashore, notclose to Barra Head, but on Tiree, some 30miles to the east, in the Inner Hebrides.

At nine o’clock the following morning, the21st, a message came from the coastguard atLeanish Point that another vessel had goneashore off the point, and the life-boat putout at 10.50. A strong wind was blowing,and there was a very rough sea at Leanish.The life-boat arrived at the point at 11.40and found the Greek s teamer E u g e n i e S .Embiricos, of Andros, on the rocks close tothe R. J. Cullen. Again she found it impos-sible, on account of the reefs, and the heavyseas breaking over them, to get near thewreck. She stood by all day, hoping that theweather would modera te . I t d id no t , andshe returned to her station, arriving at six inthe evening. She had been out for seven hours.

The crew stood by at the station until 11.15that night and then put out again, taking theboarding boat with them. They waited untildaylight on the 22nd, and then went closeto the steamer, but the wind was now blowinga gale, and the coxswain felt that it wasimpossible to use the boarding boat, in thatsea, so the life-boat took it to Breivig Bay.She returned to the steamer, but could notget alongside. She then saw that the steamerwas launching a boat, so she lay where theboat could drop down to her. When she hadtaken the men off her, she towed the emptyboat to windward, so that it could drop downto the steamer again. In this way, in threetrips, 28 of the steamer’s crew were rescued.Two had swum ashore during the night, andthe mas ter and three o thers remained onboard. The life-boat returned to her station,arriving at two in the afternoon. She had beenout for nearly fifteen hours.

After the life-boat had landed the steamer’screw at the pier, and had been refuelled, she

14 SERVICES 1942

was taken to her moorings. Her own board-ing boat was still at Breivig Bay, but her crewborrowed a boat in which to come ashore.As the last man got into it, a wave struck itand it capsized. All the men were throwninto the water, but all got ashore or back intothe life-boat.

The captain of the steamer, and the threemen who had stayed aboard with him, werebrought ashore nex t day , the 23rd , by afishing boat, and on the 26th the life-boatwent to Breivig Bay to fetch her boardingboat. The sea was moderate, with a windf r o m t h e N . W . A t t h e r e q u e s t o f t h esteamer’s master the life-boat also broughtashore from the steamer 16 live sheep andsome provisions. She was out from middayuntil 3.30 in the afternoon. Thus ended thissuccession of services lasting twelve days.

One of the crew, J. MacNeil, was taken illas a result of being thrown into the sea fromthe boarding boat, and two months later hedied of pneumonia. The Institution paid theexpenses of his illness and funeral, pensionedhis widow from the day of his death, andmade her a weekly allowance for her sonuntil he should reach the age of sixteen. Thispension and allowance were the same as ifMacNeil had been a sailor, soldier or airmankilled in action.

The ordinary rewards on the standard scalewere £9 5s. to each man, and the Institutiongave an extra reward to each man of £3.

It also gave an extra reward of £1 10s. to af i sherman, who took par t in three of theservices, in addition to the ordinary rewardson the standard scale of £5 4s.

It made a reward of £3, and sent a letter ofthanks to Miss MacLeod, the sister of thehonorary secretary, who not only gave herbrother valuable help throughout the twelvedays, but for several days nursed the sicklife-boatman.

Rewards were also made to the staff of thepost office and telephone exchange for theirhelp in maintaining communications.

A letter of thanks was sent to Dr. S. Bart-lett, J.P., and his sons for the use of their carand for help in other ways.

Ordinary rewards on the standard scale,£91 15s. ; extra rewards, £30 10s. ; totalrewards, £122 5s. In addition, £47 15s. 6d.was paid in allowances, funeral and otherexpenses in connexion with the illness anddeath of J. MacNeil.

(See Barra Island, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 63.)

J A N U A R Y 1 8 T H . - L E R W I C K , S H E T -L A N D S . A t 1 2 . 3 7 i n t h e a f t e r n o o n t h ecoastguard telephoned that a German aero-plane had bombed the Out Skerries Light-house, that one of the people on the light-house had been wounded, and that the patientought to be taken immediately to hospital. Agale was blowing from the S.E., with a veryrough sea, and no other boat was available.At 1.24 in the afternoon the motor life-boatLady Jane and Martha Ryland was launched,tak ing wi th her a doc tor and two a rmyofficers from the Shetland Defence who wishedto go to Skerries to examine the damage doneby the bombing. The life-boat reached the

lighthouse just after four in the afternoonand landed the doctor and the two officers.At 5.30 in the evening they came on boardagain, bringing with them the patient, whowas a woman of over 60, and two of herrelatives. The life-boat then made for Vidlin.On the way she sent a wire less messageasking that a small boat might be ready top u t o u t t o m e e t h e r , a n d a n a m b u l a n c ewaiting on shore. The life-boat arrived atVidlin at about eight in the evening where thewoman, the doctor and the two relatives werelanded , and then re turned to her s ta t ion ,arriving shortly before midnight. It was adifficult journey without any coast lights.The woman died two days later. - Rewards.£19 19s. 6d.

SILVER MEDAL SERVICEAT CAMPBELTOWN

J A N U A R Y 1 9 T H . - C A M P B L E - T O W N , A R G Y L L S H I R E , A N DP O R T P A T R I C K , W I G T O W N -SHIRE. At seven minutes to eightin the morning a message came fromthe coastguard at Southend that aship was ashore in front of the watchhut in Carskiey Bay. Five minuteslater a second message came thatanother vessel had just stranded westof Carskiey Bay. At 8.45 the motorlife-boat Duke of Connaught, on tem-porary duty at the station, put out.She had before her a journey of 25miles. A strong south-south-east windwas blowing, with increasing force,and a rising sea. She had only justleft harbour when the rudder wasdamaged by the seas. It was tem-porarily repaired, and fighting herway against a strong tide, the life-boat arrived in Carskiey Bay abouteleven o’clock.

The first of the two vessels to comeashore was the Belgian fishing boatAnna Maria, with a crew of six. Shewas being pounded on the rocks bythe heavy seas. The coastguard life-saving apparatus fired a line to her, butthe fishing boat had heeled over, andher crew were too numbed to haul inthe breeches buoy. They jumped intothe sea, but only one of them reachedshore.

The second vessel was the m.v.Mobeka, of Antwerp, with a crew of 53.She was ashore about half a mile awayfrom the fishing boat. The life-savingapparatus had fired a line to her. Araft and a boat from the Mobeka cameashore. Both were smashed, but nine

SERVICES 1942 15

men of the crew were rescued. Soonafterwards the Campbeltown life-boatarrived.

The wind and sea were still rising,and there were showers of sleet andsnow. In the heavy breaking seas,with a damaged rudder, i t was aperilous business to attempt to goalongside, but the coxswain anchoredto windward, and dropping downtowards the ship on his cable took thelife-boat round the bows of the steamerto the leeside where he was able to getsome shelter. The ship was bumpingheavily ; the life-boat was tossingviolently in the heavy seas ; and, toadd to the dangers, the life-boat’swere landed and

taken by road to Campbeltown. Thelife-boat was left at Dunaverty and hercrew also went by road to Campbel-town.

With the damaged rudder and thefailing engine, the rescue had beencarried out in the face of the greatestdifficulties and dangers, and the cox-swain had shown great courage andinitiative, and splendid seamanship.He had been most ably supported byhis crew. The Institution made thefollowing awards :

To COXSWAIN JAMES THOMSON, thesilver medal for gallantry, with a copyof the vote inscribed on vellum. Hewas also awarded the British Empire

Medal ;To SECOND-COXSWAIN DUNCAN

NEWLANDS, DUNCAN BLACK, bowman,J. H. LISTER, reserve motor-mechanic,and JOSEPH MCGEACHY, D. McLEAN,

NEIL SPEED and J. LANG, life-boat-men , each the b ronze meda l fo rgallantry, with a copy of the voteinscribed on vellum ;

To the coxswain and each of theseven members of the crew, a moneyreward of £3 in addition to the ordinaryreward on the s tandard sca le o f£1 8s. 6d. Standard rewards, £9 19s.6d. ; additional rewards, £24 ; totalrewards, £33 19s. 6d.

MR. A. P. MACGRORY, the honorarysecretary of the station, had gone over-land to the scene of the rescue, andknowing that the life-boat would beovercrowded with the whole of theMobeka’s crew on board, arranged withthe senior naval officer for a navalvessel to meet her and take off someof the rescued men. The vessel wassent, but in the sleet and snow shecould not find the life-boat. Mr. Mac-Grory was present at Dunaverty Bayto help with the landing of the men,and had already made arrangementsfor them to be taken to Campbeltownand to be provided with food andlodging. The Institution awarded himits thanks inscribed on vellum.

The Institution also sent a letter ofthanks to the senior naval officer.

At 8.40 in the morning the PortPatrick station had been told that a ves-sel was aground in the neighbourhood ofMorrock Bay, and the reserve motorlife-boat Ethel Day Cardwell, on tem-p o r a r y d u t y a t t h e s t a t i o n , w a slaunched at 9.20. She could find nosign of any vessel and returned to herstation. She was then asked to con-tinue the search to the northwards.This she did, but found nothing.She again returned to her station,arriving there at 11.50. It was learnedlater that the vessel was the Mobeka,and that she was ashore in CarskieyBay. - Rewards, £6 15s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 9 T H . - B L Y T H , N O R T H -U M B E R L A N D . A t a b o u t 1 1 A . M . t h ecoastguard telephoned that a steamer wasashore on the rocks close to the east pier.A strong S.S.E. wind was blowing, with veryheavy seas . The motor l i fe -boa t J o s e p hAdlam was launched at 11.20 A.M. and foundthe S.S. Glendenning, of Newcastle-on-Tyne,carrying a crew of twenty-five and boundwith coals from Blyth to London. She hadbeen in collision and was badly holed. Tugshad already got hold of her, and the life-boatstood by, but her services were not required,

16 SERVICES 1942

for the tugs got the Glendenning safely intoport at midday. The life-boat returned to herstation at 12.30 P.M. - Rewards, £6 7s. 6d.

JANUARY 20TH. - GIRVAN, AYRSHIRE.At 11.43 A.M. a report was received from thepolice, through the coastguard, that a fishingboat was in need of help about two milesnorth of the harbour, and the motor life-boatLily Glen, Glasgow was launched at 12.15 P.M.A light southerly breeze was blowing, with amoderate sea and snow. The life-boat foundthe fishing boat Cheerful , of Fraserburgh.She had been fishing from Stranraer with acrew of five, had been badly holed, and wassinking. The fishermen were so numb thatthey could not help themselves, so two life-boatmen boarded the Cheerful, and the life-boat towed her into Girvan harbour, whereshe was beached. - Rewards, £6 17s. 6d.

GOLD MEDAL SERVICEAT NEWCASTLE

JANUARY 21ST. - NEWCASTLE,AND CLOUGHEY, CO. DOWN. At12.45 in the morning a message cameto Cloughey from the coastguard thata steamer was ashore half a mile offBallyquinton, and at 1.40 the life-boatHerbert John was launched. A galewas then blowing from the south-east,with a very heavy sea, sleet and rain.As the life-boat was launching anothermessage came from the coastguard towarn the coxswain that the steamerwas in a very rocky part and to saythat the coastguard life-saving appara-tus was also going to her help. Thelife-boat reached the steamer at 3.30in the morning. She was now high upon the rocks and it was impossible forthe life-boat to get near her, but forthe present her crew was safe. Thecoxswain intended to stand by, but hesaw ships to the north, apparently offtheir course and heading towards theshore. He at once went towards them,but found that several had alreadygone ashore, and two others wereabout to strike. They were evidentlypart of a convoy. The life-boat flashedher lamp. A destroyer, which was alsoheading inshore, put up star rocketsand when she saw by their light thatit was the life-boat which had signalled,she turned and headed out to sea,apparently towards the rest of theconvoy.

Seven ships had gone on the rocks,but they were too far inshore for the

life-boat to give them any help, andshe lay off until daybreak. She thenwent to each of the ships to see whichrequired help, but the tide had ebbedand, except for one, they had been lefthigh and dry and their crews appearedto be in no danger. One ship only wasin sufficient water for the life-boat toget to her. She was the Orminster, ofLondon, with 68 on board, Her cap-tain asked the coxswain to stand by, ashe thought he might be able to get offat high tide and wanted the life-boatto pilot her out. To this the coxswainagreed, but the attempt to refloat thes teamer fa i l ed . The cap ta in thenallowed some of his crew to go aboardthe life-boat, but afterwards orderedthem to return, with the exception oftwo who remained on the life-boat.There was now nothing more to bedone, and the life-boat returned toher s ta t ion , a r r iv ing a t f ive tha tafternoon.

Three-quarters of an hour after theCloughey life-boat had been called outthat morning, the coastguard rang upthe neighbouring station at Newcastle,to the south, to say that Clougheyhad been called out, but might notbe able to launch. The Newcastlecrew and launchers were assembled.That was at 1.30 in the morning.Three hours later the coastguard againrang up the station to say that fourships had gone ashore off BallyquintonPoint. It was decided to launch, andat 5.5 the motor life-boat L.P. andSt. Helen cleared the harbour. Shehad a journey of over twenty miles.A very strong gale was blowing fromthe south-south-east, with increasingforce. A very rough sea was running,and the night was very dark, withrain and sleet. Sometimes the coxswaincould see for half a mile, at othertimes less than the length of theboat.

The l i f e -boa t had to c ross theStrangford Bar, where a nine-knot, tidewas running out against the gale,making a mass of jumbled seas, break-ing in every direction. When the cox-swain got into this tideway, he wentwith it, steaming out against the gale,dodging the seas, and at every oppor-tunity edging the boat out to thenorth. He had to steam against the

SERVICES 1942 17

gale in this way for six miles, and ittook him over an hour to clear the bar.Then, with his drogue out, he madehis way back towards the land. Daywas now beginning to break.

At 10.30 he reached the scene andfound not four but seven ships ashore.Six were close inshore, but one of them,the Browning, of Liverpool, was lyingfarther out, with her stern on a reef ofrocks. Earlier in the morning theCloughey life-boat had asked her if shewanted help, but at that t ime hercaptain did not wish to be taken off.Since then the life-saving apparatushad rescued from the shore seventeenof the 56 men who were on board, butto get near enough to work theira p p a r a t u s t h e m e n h a d h a d t oscramble out on to the rocks. The tidewas rising, and by the time they hadrescued those seventeen men it hadrisen to their shoulders. I t drovethem back, and they could rescue nomore. On board the steamer were anumber of horses, bloodstock stallions.They had gone wild with fear and hadbroken loose. The captain had had togive orders for them to be shot, and inthe confusion the seaman who did itput two bullets through his ownhand.

This was the position when the New-castle life-boat arrived. The coxswainanchored to windward of the steamerand tried to drop down to her on hiscable, but the gale was now blowingits hardest, and the seas were breakingright over her. To go alongside herwas like trying to go alongside abreakwater. At one moment the life-boat was lifted by the seas as high asthe steamer’s rail, and but for thecable would have been flung on herdeck . The nex t moment she wascaught in their backwash and whirledaway. Three t imes the coxswaindropped anchor and attempted to goalongside, but after an hour he hadto give it up as impossible. He thenhailed the steamer and asked if therewas any water on the lee side where thelife-boat could float. The steamer’scaptain answered that there was.But the steamer’s bow was very closeto rocks, and the life-boat would haveto go by the narrow channel betweenthe two. The coxswain laid her for

that channel, waited for his moment,and called on his mechanic for fullspeed. At its widest the channel waslittle more than twenty feet; at itsnarrowest sixteen ; and the life-boatwas nearly nine feet broad; but hebrought her through unscathed.

He now found himself in a littlelagoon of ca lm water under thesteamer’s lee. It was easy to comealongside, and he had soon taken off29 of the steamer’s crew. That wasone more than the number which thistype of life-boat could carry in roughweather, and there were still ten menon board the steamer. The coxswainknew the risk that he would run int a k i n g t h e m . T h e y w o u l d b e a nadded three-quarters of a ton for thelife-boat to carry. They would bringher deck almost awash. In that over-loaded boat he would have manymiles to travel. At the same timehe knew that it would be impossibleto return. He accepted the risk, andtook them.

ACROSS THE ROCKS

Some of the rescued men were farspent, and they were huddled awaywherever they could be packed. Atthe coxswain’s request the captain toldall who could to lie down, and to liestill. The lagoon where the life-boatlay under the steamer’s lee was sosmall that there was no room to turnher, and it was impossible to go outstern first through the narrow channelbetween the bow and the rocks. Theonly other way was to take the life-boat right across the reef on which thesteamer’s stern lay. It was a mosthazardous thing to attempt, for be-tween the seas there was very littlewater on the reef. Had any mistakebeen made in crossing it the life-boatwould have stranded, the next wavewould have capsized her, and all onboard would have been thrown intothe sea. The coxswain chose his timewell. He was lucky enough to getthree big seas one after the other.Then he put the boat at full speed andcrossed the reef without touching it.N o o n e o n b o a r d k n e w w h a t h eintended, and when the mate of theBrowning saw what he had done,

18 SERVICES 1942

he said, had he known, he would neverhave left the wreck.

The life-boat had crossed the reefbut she was still not out of danger.Newcastle was twenty miles away andit was impossible to return thereagainst the gale with the overloadedboat. Instead the coxswain ran north-wards before the gale, through un-familiar waters, feeling his way, for hecould see little, among rocks and reefs.He had the drogue out all the time tokeep the overloaded boat steady beforethe heavy following sea, and his railwas often rolling right under.

At 2.30 in the afternoon, nine hoursafter setting out from Newcastle, hebrought the life-boat safely into theharbour of the small fishing village ofPortavogie. There the rescued menwere landed. Six were sent at once tohospital twelve miles away. The restwere taken in by the villagers. Thelife-boat could not return to her stationagainst the gale, and her crew wenthome by road. They arrived at 10.30that night, exhausted and wet to theskin. Two days later, when the galehad modera ted , they re turned toPortavogie for the life-boat.

I t was a service of the greatesthazards, in which the coxswain showedreckless daring, great coolness andsuperb seamanship. The Institutionmade the following awards :

To COXSWAIN PATRICK MURPHY, thegold medal for conspicuous gallantry,with a copy of the vote inscribed onvellum. He was also awarded theBritish Empire Medal ;

To SECOND-COXSWAIN W ILLIAMMURPHY and the motor-mechanicROBERT AGNEW, the silver medal forgallantry, with a copy of the voteinscribed on vellum ;

To WILLIAM J. LENAGHAN, bowman,THOMAS MCCLELLAND, assistant motor-mechanic, and PATRICK MCCLELLANDand PATRICK ROONEY, life-boatmen,the bronze medal for gallantry, with acopy of the vote inscribed on vellum ;

To the coxswain and each of the sixmembers of the crew a money reward of£5 in addition to the ordinary rewardon the standard scale of £1 8s. 6d.

To the signalman a reward of £1 inaddition to the ordinary reward on thestandard scale of 16s.

To the coxswain and six membersof the Cloughey crew a reward of £3in addition to the ordinary reward onthe standard scale of £3 6s., making areward to each man of £6 6s. ;

To each of the seventeen helpers areward of 10s. in addition to theordinary reward on the standard scaleof 15s. 9d. each ;

Standard rewards, £37 14s. 6d. ;additional rewards, £29 10s. ; totalrewards, £67 4s. 6d.

To each of the helpers a reward of10s. in addition to the ordinary rewardon the standard scale of 8s. ;

S tandard rewards to c rew andhelpers, £39 17s. ; additional rewardsto crew and helpers, £55 ; rewards tocrew and helpers for bringing back thelife-boat from Portavogie, £17 9s. ;total rewards, £112 6s.

JANUARY 21ST. - PORTPATRICK, WIG-TOWNSHIRE. A t 5 .40 A . M . in format ioncame from the coastguard that a vessel hadbeen reported ashore near Crammagh. Heasked that the life-boat should stand by.A S.E. gale was blowing, with snow, andthere was a heavy swell. Another message,at 7 P.M., gave the position of the vessel asnear Port Logan, and asked that the life-boatshould be launched. There had been a heavyfall of snow, and considerable difficulty wasexperienced in getting the crew together, butat 8.10 A.M. the motor life-boat Ethel DayCardwell, on temporary duty at the station,g o t a w a y . T h e l i f e - b o a t f o u n d t h a t t h estranded vessel was the S.S. Marklyn, ofNewport, Monmouthshire, bound for Barrow-in-Furness from Belfast. She had a crew ofth i r ty-n ine . They were in no immedia tedanger and were waiting for a tug. The life-boat helped by transferring officers, in theheavy swell, from a naval patrol vessel tothe steamer, and then returned to her station,arriving at 2.20 P.M. - Rewards, £8 16s.

J A N U A R Y 2 1 S T . - B A R R A I S L A N D ,HEBRIDES. The life-boat rescued twenty-e i g h t p e o p l e f r o m t h e G r e e k s t e a m e rEugenie S. Embiricos on January 22nd andlanded sheep and provis ions on January26th. For details, see January 10th, page 12.

GOLD MEDAL SERVICEAT PETERHEAD

JANUARY 23RD - 26TH. - PE'I'ER-H E A D , A B E R D E E N S H I R E . A t6.40 in the morning of the 23rd, amessage came from the coastguardthat the S.S. Runswick, of Whitby,had been in collision, and the life-boat crew were asked to stand by

SERVICES 1942 19

until more information could be got.At 7.5 another message came that thesteamer was eight miles east-north-eastof Peterhead, and the motor life-boatJulia Park Barry of Glasgow put outat 7.50. A strong wind was blow-ing from south-south-east and therewas heavy rain. At 8.40 the life-boatfound the Runswick, which had beenseverely damaged about the bows, andescorted her into Peterhead Bay. Twoother steamers, the S.S. Saltwick, ofWhitby, which had also been damaged,and the S.S. Fidra, of Glasgow, followedto seek shelter. They arrived at 12.30and anchored in the bay under thedirection of the harbour master.

The weather was getting worse, andan anxious watch was kept on thethree steamers, for if their anchorsfailed to hold they would go straighton the rocks. For twelve hours afterbringing them in the life-boat’s crewstood by, ready to go to the rescue.At 12.30 on the Saturday morningthey heard and saw signals of distress,and the life-boat put out at 12.50.The wind had risen ; the temperaturehad fallen. It was now blowing a gale,with a blinding snow-storm. As thelifeboat left the harbour for the bay,seas filled her cockpits. In the dark-ness and the snow the coxswain couldsee no farther than the length of hisboat. He felt his way across thestormy bay to where he knew thesteamer must be. Then the steamerswitched on her searchlight, and thecoxswain could see her. She was theRunswick. She was already on therocks, lying on her port side, with theseas breaking over her. The life-boatwent under her quarter, threw a ropeto the crew and hung on with greatdifficulty in the huge swell, Fourtimes the rope broke, and in the endropes had to he thrown from thesteamer to the life-boat. She made fourof them fast at the bow and one at thestern, but the coxswain had to keepthe engines running astern all the timeto relieve the tremendous strain onthe ropes, and all the time seas werebreaking over the steamer and thelife-boat. The steamer’s crew had puta pilot ladder over the side and wereon the after shelter deck. There theywatched the life-boat as she rose and

The gale was increasing, but theanchors of the other two steamers stillheld, and early on the Sunday morningthe coxswain again snatched a fewhours’ sleep. It was now the third dayof the gale, and the wind was at itsfiercest. It was blowing, with gustsat 105 miles an hour, right into thebay, and the seas had washed away100 feet of the 300-feet breakwater.

At eight o’clock that morning,Sunday the 25th, the coxswain wasonce more on watch, and at ten o’clocka second steamer, the Saltwick, wentashore. She was close in, and thecoastguard’s life-saving apparatus wentto her help. It succeeded in firinga rocket across her, but the l inesfouled and could not. be got clear. TheSaltwick’s crew were not in seriousdanger, and were told to stay on boarduntil the weather improved, but duringthe forenoon a boat, manned by navalmen, went out and brought four of themashore. Six of the Saltwick’s crew thenlaunched a raft. It tossed about be-tween the steamer and the shore for anhour, when at last it touched the beach.The six men were thrown into theheavy surf. Men from minesweepers,who were watching, went in to theirrescue, and after an exhausting strugglesucceeded in seizing all six and bring-ing them ashore, but two of them weredead. This was in front of the houseof the honorary secretary of the life-

fell on the seas, and when she swungalongside, scrambled down the pilotladder and were grabbed and draggedaboard by the waiting life-boatmen.The work was all the more difficultbecause the men were exhausted, butthe whole crew of 44 were rescued. Thelife-boat returned to harbour, guidedby the leading lights which were turnedon for her, and arrived at 3.5 thatmorning, Saturday the 24th.

The life-boat’s crew had now beenon duty for 19 hours. They went tobed, but at nine in the morning thecoxswain was on watch again, and he,the second-coxswain and the motor-mechanic remained on watch for anothereighteen hours, through the Saturdayand the greater part of the night.

GUSTS AT 105 MILES

20 SERVICES 1942

boat station, and he and his wife tookthe men - some of whom were delirious- into the house, gave them hot baths,food and clothes, and did everythingpossible for them until they could betaken to the infirmary.

Meanwhile the life-boat’s crew stoodby all day, occasionally running homefor food and warm clothes.

At four that afternoon the thirdsteamer, the Fidra, went ashore, andat seven in the evening she began tosound the SOS call on her siren. Allday the men of the L.S.A. had beentrying to clear their gear. They nowleft the Saltwick and went to help theFidra. The life-boat’s crew continuedto stand by. They had been standingby that day for sixteen hours when, atmidnight, a message came from thecoastguard that the men of the L.S.A.were collapsing with exhaustion. Theycould do no more, and suggested thatthe life-boat should go out.

The coxswain went on foot - a hardstruggle against wind and snow - to seethe Fidra from the shore, and makecertain of her position before he putto sea. In the darkness he could justsee the loom of the steamer, which hadshifted a good deal since she had firstgone ashore. A naval signalman waskeeping in touch with her, and hereceived a message from her masterthat she was breaking up, and that,unless help came at once, he and hiscrew would all be dead. The answerwas sent back that the life-boat wason her way, and at two in the morningof Monday the 26th she put out. Theharbour’s defence searchlight wasturned on to help her. The wind hadeased a little, but the weather wasstill very bad.

The life-boat reached the Fidra in aquarter of an hour and found heralmost submerged. She was lyinghead on to the seas, with her anchorsout, and had no lee to give the life-boat. The life-boat went towards theshore and turned so as to come upalongside the steamer head on to theseas. As she did so a very heavy seacame in, breaking over the steamer,and nearly took the life-boat with it,but the coxswain succeeded in holdingher off. He then got a line on boardthe steamer’s midship boat-deck, where

the whole c rew of 26 men werehuddled. The rise and fall of the seas,the coxswain said, was terrific, and aseach sea lifted the life-boat it was“ like a nightmare to keep her frombeing flung on to the steamer “. Buthe kept her clear, and each time as sheswung close, one or two or three menjumped aboard her. One man hadsprained his ankle and could not jump,but as the life-boat swung against thesteamer, life-boatmen snatched himoff her. The life-boat was alongsidefor fifty minutes and then, with thewhole crew of 26 men rescued, shereturned to harbour. I ts entrancelights were switched on to guide her,and she came in at 3.15 in the morning.The crew moored her and went homefor dry clothing, but they returned atonce to stand by again in case theSaltwick should want their help. Itwas then four in the morning.

THE THIRD RESCUE

At 8 .30 a message came f romthe senior naval officer asking thelife-boat to go out to save the Salt-wick’s crew from further exposure.She had then been on the rocks forover 22 hours and all her fires were out.It was now light, and the steamercould be seen lying on the beach, onher starboard side, with the seas break-ing right over her. The only way toapproach her was to go between herand the shore and come up on herlee side. The life-boat went round herbow. There was a ridge of rock closeto it, and this the life-boat struck. Asshe did so a great sea came in, liftedher almost out of the water, and thenflung her on the rock. As she hit itthe sea struck her again, washed thesecond-coxswain from stern to bow,and nearly carried him and severalother members of the crew overboard.The coxswain went full speed asternto clear the rock, and, with the seasstriking her at the same time, she wascarried round the steamer’s bow to theshoreward side. Here the coxswainfound deeper water. He was shelterednow from wind and sea, and was ableto come alongside and make fast.Thirty-six of the Saltwick’s crew wererescued, but, the master and three

SERVICES 1942 21

officers remained on board. As thereappeared to be more water at thesteamer’s stern than at her bow, thelife-boat came out that way. Twiceshe struck on rocks, but she got clearand came safely into harbour.

It was then eleven o’clock in themorning of Monday the 26th, just 75hours and 27 minutes since she hadfirst gone out to the Runswick on theFriday morning. During the last 27hours her crew had been able to getthree changes into dry clothes, butthey had had very little food and norest. Altogether in those seventy-fivehours they had had less than 12 hoursof rest. They had been standing byfor 54 hours, and they had been atsea 9 hours and 40 minutes. They hadbeen out in that gale and bitter coldthree times, twice in pitch darknessand blinding snow ; and they hadrescued 106 lives. Only two men ofthose three crews were lost, and theywould have been saved if they hadstayed on board their ship.

The l i f e -boa t he rse l f had beendamaged, first against the Fidra andthen, more severely, on the rocksamong which the Saltwick lay. Threeplanks of the outer skin had beenstove in on each side, and on one sidethe inner skin had also been damaged.Six feet of her fender had been de-stroyed and another four feet of thefender-facings. Two of her stanchionshad been broken right off, another fourhad been bent, and damage done tolights, guard chain, gunwale and life-l ine. Altogether the repair of thedamage cost £200.

It was a series of most arduous andexhausting services in which greatrisks were run, and high courage,splendid seamanship and great deter-mination and endurance were shown.The Institution made the followingawards :

To COXSWAIN JOHN R. MCLEAN,who went out on all four services, thegold medal for conspicuous gallantry,with a copy of the vote inscribed onvellum ;

To DAVID F. W ISEMAN , motor-mechanic, who went out on all fourservices, the silver medal for gallantry,with a copy of the vote inscribed onvellum ;

To A. HEPBURN , acting second-coxswain, W. SUMMERS, assistantmotor-mechanic, and A. GOWANS andALEXANDER STRACHAN, life-boatmen,who went out on all four services, thebronze medal for gallantry, with acopy of the vote inscribed on vellum ;

To G. CORDINER, life-boatman, whowent out on the 2nd, 3rd and 4thservices, the bronze medal for gal-lantry, with a copy of the vote in-scribed on vellum ;

To W. STRACHAN, acting-bowman,who went out on the lst, 3rd and 4thservices, the bronze medal for gal-lantry, with a copy of the vote in-scribed on vellum ;

To A. DAVIDSON, who went out onthe second service as acting-bowman,the Institution’s thanks inscribed onvellum.

The ordinary money rewards on thestandard scale for the four serviceswere 19s. for the first service, 37s. 6d.for the second service, 37s. 6d. for thethird service and 19s. for the fourthservice. In addition to these rewardsspecial rewards were made, varyingfrom 10s. in the case of a man whowent out on the first service only, to£5 to each man who went out on allfour services, making a total rewardto each man who went out on all fourservices of £10 13s.

A reward of 10s., in addition to theordinary reward on the standard scalefor the four launches of £1 7s., wasmade to each of the four helpers.

Rewards on the standard scale tocrew and helpers, £39 6s. ; additionalrewards to crew and helpers, £42 ;total rewards, £81 6s.

The owners of the Saltwick andRunswick, Messrs. Headlam and Son,made a donation of £50, and the ownersof the Fidra, the Glen Shipping Co.,gave £25.

JANUARY 23RD . - GREAT YARMOUTHA N D G O R L E S T O N , N O R F O L K . A t8.15 P .M. flag officer in charge Great Yar-mouth asked, through the coastguard, forthe services of the life-boat for R.A.F. HighSpeed Launch 124, which was aground onScroby Sands north of the Scroby Elbowbuoy. The Gorleston life-boat was preferredto the Caister boat as she was fitted withwireless. A S.S.W. gale was blowing, with arough sea, rain and snow. The motor life-b o a t L o u i s e S t e p h e n s w a s l a u n c h e d a t8.35 P .M. and found the launch on Caister

22 SERVICES 1942

Shoal. In trying to get alongside the life-boat touched ground and had to back away.She then got into position to fire her line-throwing gun, but at that moment a heavysea knocked the launch afloat, and the tidebeing now on the flow the life-boat was ableto go alongside her. She then escorted herto Great Yarmouth, sending a wireless mes-sage for the harbour lights to be switched onas they came in. The launch got safely in,and the life-boat then returned to her stationand was ready for service again at 11.40 P.M.On the following morning a message of thankswas received from the flag officer in charge.- Rewards, £14 16s. 6d.

JANUARY 24TH . - FILEY, YORKSHIRE.Four of the Filey motor fishing boats, Peggy,June and Ann, Barbara and Joan, and Joanand Mary, were out fishing. A strong wind gotup from the S.E., with a heavy swell, and at12.25 in the afternoon the motor life-boatThe Cuttle was launched to stand by the boatsas they came in. The sea was now very rough.It was breaking on board the life-boat, andthe coxswain was at times waist deep in water.One of the four fishing boats made land,unaided, between Arndale and Filey Brigg.The life-boat escorted in the other three,giving out life-belts to the crews of two ofthem. All got in safely, and the life-boatr e t u r n e d t o h e r s t a t i o n a t 3 . 3 5 P . M . -Rewards, £11 7s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 2 4 T H . - S C A R B O R O U G H ,YORKSHIRE. The motor life-boat HerbertJoy II was launched at 12.35 P.M. in a strongS.E. wind, with a rough sea, to go to thehelp of seven local fishing boats, the Alex,North Star, Thankful, Dahlia, Chrystalite,B. S. Colling, and Sceptre. She escorted themall into harbour, and returned to her stationat 3.30 P.M. - Rewards, £19 12s. 6d.

GOLD MEDAL SERVICEAT HARTLEPOOL

JANUARY 26TH. - HARTLEPOOL,D U R H A M , A N D T E E S M O U T H ,YORKSHIRE. At 6.55 in the morningword came from the coastguard that hehad seen rockets from a vessel off Sea-ton Carew. The life-boat was called outat once, but there was a slight delay,as the ferry boat in which the crewhad to cross the harbour to the life-boat station was packed with work-men. The motor life-boat The PrincessRoyal (Civil Service No. 7) got awayat 7.35. An easterly gale was blowing,with fierce squalls of snow. A veryrough sea was running, breaking farfrom the shore, and it was still verydark. Although the vessel in distresswas only three miles south of Hartle-

pool in a direct line, the life-boat hada longer journey, as she had to go sea-ward in order to keep clear of variousunlighted buoys, wrecks and coastdefences. Then, when she was off theentrance to the Tees, she stood in-shore and, at 8.30, as day wasbreaking, she found the wreck abouthalf a mile north of the Tees NorthGare Jetty, the S.S Hawkwood, ofLondon, with a crew of 23 on board.She had broken in two immediatelyabaft her bridge. The stern part, onwhich several men could be seen, wasright in shore in very shallow water offthe sandy beach. The fore part, onwhich men could also be seen, was200 yards farther out, but it too wasin very shallow water. After studyingthe wreck for some time the coxswaindecided that both ends were in watertoo shallow for the life-boat to get tothem, and, as the crew were not inimmediate danger, he decided toreturn to Hartlepool, and to attempt arescue at high water. He arrived atHartlepool at 9.50.

The life-boat set out a second timeat 11.35 and reached the wreck at12.15 in the afternoon. The gale wasstill blowing as strongly, with fiercesqualls of snow and a very rough sea.Where the stern of the steamer laythe water was still too shallow for thelife-boat to get near, but the coxswainmade for the fore part. It was beingswept by heavy seas, and the five menon board it were now so exhaustedthat they could not have held on formuch longer. The coxswain handledthe life-boat very skilfully, broughther alongside and, with his enginesworking, held her there while the fivemen, watching their opportunity,jumped aboard. Heavy seas werecontinually breaking in the life-boat,and they were so violent that at timesshe was almost standing on end.

The coxswain could see that thecoastguard life-saving apparatus wasnow attempting to fire a line from theshore to the stern part of the steamer,and as there was nothing more thatthe life-boat could do at the moment,he returned to Hartlepool, sending arequest by wireless to the naval basefor an ambulance to meet the life-boat.It was there when the life-boat reached

SERVICES 1942 23

Hartlepool at 1.30 in the afternoon,and the five men were at once takento hospital.

The gale now appeared to moderate,and the life-boat put out to sea for thethird time at 2.35 to attempt the rescueof the men on the stern part. Shereached i t at 3.15, but the heavybreaking seas and the shallow waterstill prevented her from going close.The coxswain used oil, but it would notflatten the seas. He then anchored anddropped down on the cable towards thewreck, hoping to come near enough tofire a line from the line-throwing gunand rescue the men by means of thebreeches buoy, but the life-boat stillcould not get close enough. Thoughshe was still out of range of the wreckshe touched the sandy bottom, and asea breaking over her stern floodedthe after cockpit, stunned the motor-mechanic and slightly injured anothermember of the crew.

The coxswain could see that themen on the wreck were shelteringbehind the deck house and were com-paratively safe for the present, so hedecided to return to harbour and makeanother attempt at high water thatnight. The life-boat reached Hartle-pool at 5.20. She did not have to putout for a fourth time, for at low waterthat evening the coastguard reportedthat they had at last managed to geta rocket to the wreck, and a secondmessage said that all the men on boardhad been rescued.

Throughout the three attempts thecoxswain had handled the life-boatwith great judgment, and in the actualrescue of the five men had showncourage, skil l and determination.Through a long and arduous day, andextremely bad weather, he had beenably supported by the crew, and par-ticularly the motor-mechanic. The In-stitution made the following awards :

To the coxswain , L I E U T E N A N TW I L L I A M H . B E N N I S O N , C .G.M. ,R.N.V.R., the gold medal for con-spicuous gallantry, with a copy of thevote inscribed on vellum ;

T o H . W . J E F F E R S O N , m o t o r -mechanic, the silver medal for gal-lantry, with a copy of the vote in-scribed on vellum ;

To each of the six other members

of the crew, T. GILCHRIST, bowman,R. HORSLEY, assistant motor-mechanic,E. WALLACE, emergency mechanic,and R. COULSON, W. HORSLEY andH. PEARSON, life-boatmen, the bronzemedal for gallantry, with a copy of thevote inscribed on vellum;

To SECOND-COXSWAIN J. S. STOR-ROW, who went out only on the thirdtrip, and to S. REAY, life-boatman,who went out on the first and thirdtrips, but not on the second, the thanksof the Institution inscribed on vellum ;

To the coxswain and each of themen a reward of £3 in addition to theordinary reward on the standard scaleof £1 8s. 6d., for the three trips ; tothe four helpers a reward of 5s. inaddition to the ordinary reward on thestandard scale of 6s. 9d. Rewards onthe standard scale, £14 3s. 6d. ;additional rewards, £31 ; total rewards,£45 3s. 6d.

The master of the Hawkwood, in al e t t e r o f t h a n k s t o t h e honorarysecretary of the station, said :

“ We would like you to know thatwe will always remember the fearlessand persistent determination displayedby the crew of the life-boat under thegallant command of the coxswain,Lieut. W. H. Bennison, R.N.V.R., whoshowed such indomitable courage,initiative and superb seamanship.

“ We all deeply appreciate that weowe our lives to these men, who wouldhave been fully justified (and felt thatthey had done their duty) after theirfirst attempt to approach the wreck,to have made no further effort. Butit was apparent that these men werewholly fearless and inspired by thespirit of self-sacrifice and determina-tion not to be beaten by the tremen-dous odds against them.“’

THE TEESMOUTH LAUNCH

At seven in the morning the Tees-mouth station was told by the portwar signal station that there was a shipashore on Seaton Sands and that theHartlepool life-boat was launching.At 8.55 came another message thatthe Hartlepool boat had not been seensince launching at 7.35, and that Tees-mouth should launch, as the shipseemed to be breaking up, but before

24 SERVICES 1942

the boat put out Hartlepool was rungup and it was found that the Hartlepoollife-boat had returned and that it wasimpossible to approach the ship. At11.5, as it was then known that theship had broken in two, the Tees-mouth motor life-boat J. W. Archerwas launched. Three pilots volun-teered to go with her as well as herc rew. The l i f e -boa t r eached thewreck to find that Hartlepool hadalready rescued the men from the forepart , and the Teesmouth l ife-boatreturned to her station. - Rewards,£12 15s.

J A N U A R Y 2 6 T H . - NEWBURGH, ANDA B E R D E E N , A B E R D E E N S H I R E . O nthe 25 th January a very heavy s to rm ofwind and snow broke on the coas t . Al lroads and ra i lways became b locked wi thsnow, making traffic impossible, and tele-phone wires were broken. At 4.20 in themorning of the 26th the auxiliary coastguard,unable to telephone, left his post and wentto the house of the life-boat coxswain to tellhim that he had seen flares to the north.The honorary secretary called out the crew,but as the report was rather vague he triedto ge t fur ther in format ion by te lephone .When he found that be could not do this, hesent three men to the observer post to see ifthey could get in touch with the senior navalofficer, Aberdeen. At 5 o’clock a message camefrom the senior naval officer that a ship wasashore in Cruden Bay, about seven milesaway, and that, as the coastguard life-savingrocket apparatus had gone to her help, therewas no need for the life-boat to put out. At5.45 the life-boat was secured and the crewwere dismissed.

One of the three life-boatmen sent to theobserver post was George Whyte, the assistantmotor-mechanic, and when he returned, hesaid that he had seen flares which seemed tohim to be nearer than those from the vesselreported ashore by the senior naval officer.His impression was that there was a vesselashore somewhere about Hackley Head .be tween two and three mi les away. Onhearing this the coxswain and the second-coxswain went a long the coas t , wadingthrough deep drifts of snow, and though itwas very dark when they reached HackleyHead, and the snow was still falling, theycould dimly see below them the shape of avessel which was being dashed about on therocks by the heavy seas. She was, it waslearned later, the S.S. Lesrix, of London.

The coxswain returned to Newburgh, thelife-boat crew was called out again, and at8.40 in the morning the life-boat John Ryburnwas launched. She made for Hackley Head,going close inshore. A strong S.E. gale wasblowing and a heavy sea was breaking overthe shoals right on to the beach. The life.boat, however, only shipped heavy spray,She found the vessel on the rocks at Hackley

Point, with her back broken and no sign oflife on board her. She was so far up on therocks that it was impossible to get near her.The life-boat turned back for her station. Shenow had the seas on her port beam. It wasnot possible to use the drogue as the waterwas too sha l low and the rocks too near .Instead the coxswain used a starboard oar tohelp to steady the life-boat. Several timesthe boat was thrown heavily on her side,and when she was about half-way back toher station, a mile north of the River Ythan,and between three and four hundred yardsoff the shore, a huge sea struck her and sheturned right over, throwing five of her crewin to the sea . The o ther two were caughtbeneath the boat when she turned over, andhad to force themselves under water to escape.The men were wearing their life-belts, and theseas carried them towards the beach. Theywere washed up about a quarter of an hourafter the life-boat had capsized. Fortunatelya man from Newburgh had seen the accidentand, running along the beach, was ready todrag them c lear of the sea as they werewashed in. Two of the seven men were un-conscious, George Whyte, the assistant motor-mechanic, and James Walker, one of thecrew. It is probable that they had strucksomething when they were thrown over-board. The honorary secretary of the station,a policeman and an auxiliary coastguardarrived shortly afterwards, followed by twodoctors . For an hour they a t tempted torevive the two men by artificial respiration,but without success. The other five men,a l though exhaus ted and very co ld , wereable to go to their homes without help.

The t ide was fa l l ing and the boa t waswashed up on to the soft sand of the beach,bottom up. It was found that some slightdamage had been done to the upper structure,but the hull was unhurt. Two days later thecrew were sufficiently well to take the tractorto the beach where the boat lay, get her onto her carriage and bring her back to thebeach opposite the boat shed. There she waslaunched and anchored.

On April 14th a public enquiry was helda t Aberdeen in the Sher i f f ’ s Cour t . TheInstitution was legally represented by Mr.George Alexander, the honorary secretary ofits Aberdeen branch, and it was attended bythe chief inspector of life-boats, CaptainE. S . Carver , R .D. , R .N.R. , the d i s t r i c tinspector, and members of the Newburghcrew. The coxswain, the motor-mechanicand members of the crew, who gave evidence,said that they had full confidence in the life-boat. The sheriff found that the cause of theaccident was due to a risk of the sea in verysevere weather, that no blame attached tothe coxswain or any other members of thecrew, and tha t the ev idence abundant lyshowed the i r ga l lan t ry and devot ion toduty.

George Whyte left a widow, but no family.H e h a d b e e n m a r r i e d o n l y t e n m o n t h s .James Walker was unmarried, but he hadbeen the sole support of his aunt, the widowof a former coxswain. The Institution paidall funeral expenses and pensioned the widowand the aunt, from the day of the accident,

SERVICES 1942 25

as if the two men had been sailors, soldiersor airmen killed in action.

The Institution also made the followingrewards :

To COXSWAIN ALEXANDER RABB and eachof the six members of the crew, a reward of£5 in addition to the ordinary reward on thestandard scale of £1 10s. ;

To WILLIAM GALL, the man who saw thel i fe -boat caps ize , went in to the sea anddragged the men up the beach, £5 and aletter of thanks ;

To POLICE. CONSTABLE W. GILMOUR andAU X I L I A R Y C O A S T G U A R D G . G R E Y , whohelped in the attempts to revive the two life-boatmen, a letter of thanks ;

To MR. ALEXANDER A. CRUICKSHANK, thehonorary secretary of the station, a letter ofthanks ;

To the two doctors, SURGEON LIEUTENANTCOMMANDER GERRARD, R.N.V.R., and DR.MARTIN, letters of thanks ;

To AUXILIARY COASTGUARD J. LAING, whofirst brought to the coxswain the news of thesignals of distress, a letter of thanks.

Ordinary rewards on the standard scale,£14 9s. ; extra rewards £42 . total rewards£56 9s. In addition, £47 19s. 6d. was paidin allowances, funeral and other expensesarising out of the accident.

T h e A b e r d e e n N o . 1 l i f e - b o a t E m m aConstance was also launched at two in theafternoon, to investigate, after her crew hadbeen assembled and had stood by from 1.15to 3.15 in the morning. When she was atsea a message was sent to her that there wasno one alive on board the Lesrix, and shewas asked to go and investigate anotherwreck, the S.S. Empire Pilgrim, the crew ofwhich had been taken off by the life-savingrocket apparatus, while the officers hadremained on board. The life-boat found thesteamer in a little cove made by the headlandcalled Blindman, where she was completelysheltered from the weather. The life-boatreturned to her station at 6.15 in the evening.- R e w a r d s f o r a s s e m b l y a n d l a u n c h ,£12 11s. 3d.

JANUARY 26TH . - MOELFRE, ANGLE-S E Y . A m e s s a g e f r o m t h e c o a s t g u a r dreported an aeroplane in the sea off RedWharf, and the motor life-boat G.W . waslaunched at 1.30 P.M. The sea was moderate,with a moderate easterly wind. Only somethings belonging to an R.A.F. aeroplanewere picked up, and it was thought that theaeroplane had dived into the sea, and the spotwas marked by the Navy. The l i fe -boa treturned to her station at 5 P.M. - Rewards, £8.

JANUARY 26TH - 30TH and FEBRUARY 5TH.- FRASERBURGH, ABERDEENSHIRE.During these days the Fraserburgh life-boatperformed a number of unusual servicesbecause of a very severe snow storm, whichcontinued for several days, had blocked roadsand railways, broken down telegraph andtelephone wires, and made all communicationby land impossible.

The first of these services was in the after-noon of 26th January when the motor life-boat John and Charles Kennedy took a supply

of food to the village of Pennan, ten milesalong the coast. As the village was com-pletely cut off it was not known what washappening there, but it was feared that thepeople would be short of food. The life-boatput out at 2 P .M. and returned at 5.30 P .M.Bailie John Dunbar, at whose request thelife-boat went, contributed £5 towards theexpenses. - Rewards, £10 19s. 9d.

On the same day a representative of theGrampian Electricity Company asked if thelife-boat could go to Aberdour, seven milesalong the coast, to bring from there to Fraser-burgh six of their electricians who were unableto come by road. They were needed as theelectric plant in Fraserburgh had brokendown and work was be ing he ld up a t amuni t ion fac tory . At e igh t o ’c lock nextmorning, the 27th, an official of the Ministryof Product ions urgent ly made the samerequest, and at 10 A.M . the life-boat waslaunched. She arrived back with the elec-t r i c i ans a t 2 P . M . Expenses pa id by theConsolidated Pneumatic Tool Co., who alsomade a donation of £4.

On 29th January the life-boat again tookfood to Pennan at the request of the countyauthority which said that the population werein dire need. The life-boat left at 10 A.M. andreturned at 2 P . M . - Expenses paid by theCounty Council.

On 30 th January the l i f e -boa t went toPennan for the third time. This time shewent at the request of Mr. Joseph Noble totake to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. BenjaminNoble, the news that four of the family hadbeen killed in an air-raid on a village nearFraserburgh. The life-boat left at 11 A.M .and returned at 2 P .M. Mr. Benjamin Noblegave £5 to the station to pay the rewards,and cost of fuel. - Rewards, £4 9s. 6d.

At 8.13 in the evening of the same day,30 th January , a message came f rom thecoastguard that a vessel was in distress halfa mile N.E. from Rosehearty, and her crewcould be heard shouting for help. A secondmessage said that she was ashore. The life-boat put out at 8.40. A fresh breeze wasthen blowing, with a moderate sea and heavyshowers of snow. At 9.10 the life-boat foundthe steam trawler Marlborough, of Grimsby.She was bumping heavily on the ground andh e r c r e w h a d a b a n d o n e d h e r . A m o r s emessage from the shore asked the life-boat tolook for the ship’s boat, and while she waslooking a second message came that the crewhad landed safe ly in the boa t . The l i fe -boat returned to the trawler, and put twomen on board her. They found that she wasmaking very little water and at 11 P.M. the life-boat started to tow her off. In this she wassuccessful, and she brought the trawler intoharbour at 12.30 A.M. next day. - Rewards,£15 14s. 6d.

The last of this series of services was fivedays later, on 5th February. The roads werestill impassable because of the snow, and atthe request of the Provost of Fraserburgh thelife-boat took a doctor to New Aberdour,seven miles along the coast, to attend anurgent case. The life-boat left at 4.50 P .M.and arrived back at her station at 7.50 P.M.- Rewards, £8 2s. 9d.

26 SERVICES 1942

JANUARY 29TH . - FILEY, YORKSHIRE.During the morning, while thirteen Fileyfishing cobles were at sea, a strong N.E.wind sprang up. All the regular life-boatcrew were out f i sh ing , but ex-coxswainR. C. Jenkinson volunteered to take out thelife-boat, and collected a scratch crew offishermen, and at 11.20 A.M. the motor life-boat The Cuttle was launched. She escorted13 cobles through very heavy seas, handingout life-belts to two of them, and returned toher station at 2.30 P.M. - Rewards, £11 7s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 2 9 T H . - TORBAY, DEVON.During the afternoon the motor life-boatGeorge Shee was launched for exercise in aN.N.W. ga le , wi th a rough sea . As shereturned to her moorings at about 3.30 P .M.she saw two men on board the Br ixhammotor trawler Boy Charlie waving for help.A mooring rope had fouled the propeller ofthe trawler and she was only two hundredand fifty yards from a lee shore. The life-boat towed her into Brixham inner harbour,and returned to her station at 3.50 P .M .-Rewards, £5 4s.

J A N U A R Y 2 9 T H . - S C A R B O R O U G H ,YORKSHIRE. Dur ing the morn ing n inelocal fishing vessels were out and as a strongeasterly wind had got up, with a rough sea,the motor l i fe -boat H e r b e r t J o y I I waslaunched a t 10 .30 A . M . She escor ted then ine boa ts in to harbour , the N o r t h S t a r ,Chrystalite, Sceptre, Evelyn Margaret, Thank-ful, Premier, B. S. Colling, Alex, and Courage,a n d r e t u r n e d t o h e r s t a t i o n a t 4 P . M -Rewards, £19 1s. 6d.

JANUARY 29TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.At 9.31 A.M. the naval base at Great Yar-mouth repor ted , th rough the coas tguard ,that an airman could be seen in a dinghyt o t h e N . N . E . A l i g h t w i n d w a s t h e nblowing from E.N.E., but it increased to as t rong wind , wi th a rough sea and snowsqualls. At 9.45 the No. 1. motor life-boatH. F . Ba i l ey was launched and searchedwithout success. Then at 12.13 P.M. she re-ceived a wireless message that a Spitfire wascircling over the dinghy, and that it was sevenm i l e s n o r t h o f C l e y . A t t h e s a m e t i m eanother Spitfire circled over the life-boat andguided her to the place. There the life-boatf o u n d a n d r e s c u e d t h e a i r m a n , b u t t h eweather was too rough for her to get backon the slipway at Cromer, so she made forGreat Yarmouth, arriving at 6.20 P .M . Al e t t e r o f t h a n k s w a s r e c e i v e d f r o m t h eDirec tor - Genera l o f Ai rc raf t Safe ty . -Rewards, £33 1s.

J A N U A R Y 3 1 S T . - B L Y T H , N O R T H -UMBERLAND. At abou t 12 .25 P . M . thecoas tguard te lephoned tha t a vesse l hadcapsized outside the piers. She was H.M.Minesweeper Unicity, with a crew of fifteen.A l igh t N.E. wind was b lowing , wi th amoderate swell, and it was very cold. Themotor life-boat Joseph Adlam was launchedat 12.35 P.M., and 500 yards south of BlythWest Pier found a pilot cutter and an R.A.F.speed boat already on the scene. She went

inshore and found one of the minesweeper’screw in the sea . He was very much ex-hausted and the life-boat put straight back toport with him. There she took on board anaval officer and returned at once to thescene of the accident. There she found asecond man, an officer, and with difficultygot h im on board . He was not only ex-hausted but seemed to have had a blow onthe head. She hurried back to harbour withhim, but he died later. The life-boat wentout again, but found no more survivors, andreturned to her station at 2.15 P .M. Mean-while the R.A.F. speed boat rescued fourmen and the pilot cutter one, but eight hadbeen los t . A le t te r of apprec ia t ion wasr e c e i v e d f r o m t h e n a v a l a u t h o r i t i e s . -Rewards, £6 7s. 6d.

JANUARY 30TH - 1ST FEBRUARY. SHER-INGHAM, NORFOLK. An aeroplane hadbeen reported down in the sea, and with thehelp of fifty soldiers the motor life-boatForesters Centenary was launched at 12.6 P.M.A light S.W. wind was blowing, with a slightswell. Later a fishing boat was sent out togive fresh information to the lifeboat andto help in the search. An aeroplane was alsos e n t o u t . T h e a e r o p l a n e w a s f o u n d o f fWeybourne by the fishing boat as she wasreturning at 4.15 P.M. The life-boat continuedthe search for the airmen, but found nothing,and returned at 7.40 P . M . Two days laterthe life-boat was asked to go and and see ifthe aeroplane could he salved. She put outat 12.25 P . M . , with men from WeybourneCamp on board, accompanied by a fishingboat. Nothing could bc seen at the placewhere the aeroplane had sunk, which wasmarked by a float, but using a wire sweep thelife-boat and the fishing boat found what wasthought to be the engine. Then, on the beachat Salthouses, a mile away, the life-boatmensaw the greater part of the aeroplane, withoutthe engine. It was pulled out to the life-boatw h i c h b r o u g h t i t b a c k t o S h e r i n g h a m ,arriving at 5 P.M. - Rewards : First, service,life-boat £36, shore boat, f16 19s. : secondservice, life-boat, £24 6s. 9d., shore boat,£7 2s. 6d.

The following life-boats were launched, bntno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

JANUARY 3RD . - THE LIZARD, CORN-WALL. A British Halifax bomber had beenreported down in the Channel, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £27 15s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 4 T H . - EASTBOURNE, SUS-SEX A Spitfire aeroplane had crashed intothe sea, but the life-boat was recalled as theairman had been drowned. - Rewards, £14.

J A N U A R Y 4 T H . - F R A S E R B U R G H ,ABERDEENSHIRE. A motor vesse l hadburned flares as her engine had broken down,but she was able to make Buckie under sail.- Rewards, £10 19s. 9d.

JANUARY 5TH . - HOLYHEAD, ANGLE-SEY. A s teamer had been seen f ly ing a

SERVICES 1942 27

distress signal, but this was a mistake as shedid not need help. - Rewards, £2 17s.

JANUARY 5TH . - HOLYHEAD, ANGLE-SEY. A British Beaufighter aeroplane hadbeen reported down in the sea, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £11 5s.

JANUARY 5TH. - THE HUMBER, YORK-SHIRE. A s teamer had gone ashore tendays before, one of the salvage vessels hadalso gone ashore, and the life-boat was askedto take the naval salvage officer from a tugto this vessel, but the seas were so heavythat the life-boat might have been damaged,and the coxswain would not take the risk aslives were not in danger. - Paid permanentcrew.

J A N U A R Y 6 T H . - P O R T R U S H , C O .ANTRIM. An aeroplane had been reporteddown in the sea thirteen miles N.N.E. ofRamore Head , bu t no th ing was found . -Rewards, £11 6s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 7 T H . - N E W Q U A Y , C O R N -WALL. A British aeroplane had been re-ported in the sea, but her crew of three hadbeen rescued by a fishing boat before thelife-boat arrived. - Rewards, £13 2s.

(See Newquay, “ Services by Shore-boats,”page 63.)

JANUARY 7TH. - ST. IVES, CORNWALL.At the request of the naval authorities thelife-boat went to a spot where a CoastalCommand aeroplane was repor ted to becircling over either an aeroplane or bodiesin the sea, but she found nothing. - Rewards,£10 14s. 6d.

JANUARY 7TH. - ST. IVES, CORNWALL.A motor rescue launch had gone ashore, butthe life-boat found her high on the beach andh e r c r e w h a d g o t a s h o r e . - R e w a r d s ,£15 19s. 3d.

J A N U A R Y 9 T H . - S C A R B O R O U G H ,YORKSHIRE. A British Beaufighter aero-plane had been reported flying low and wasthought to have hit the water, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £18 6s.

J A N U A R Y 9 T H . - ALDEBURGH, SUF-FOLK. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea off Dunwich, but the life-boat was recalled as a Southwold motor boathad gone to the rescue. - Rewards, £20 4s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 0 T H . - BARROW, LANCA-SHIRE. The life-boat was called out foran aeroplane, but it had crashed on land-Rewards, £5 13s.

J A N U A R Y 1 5 T H - H A R T L E P O O L ,DURHAM. Distress signals had been re-ported, thought to be from an enemy aero-plane which had come down after being hitduring an attack on shipping, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £18 2s.

JANUARY 15TH . - WICK, CAITHNESS-SHIRE. A fishing boat had been reported

in distress, with a trawler standing by, butthe life-boat arrived to find the trawler goneand no one on board the fishing boat. Itwas learned later that her crew had landedat Buckie. - Rewards, £4 17s. 6d.

JANUARY 15TH. - TEESMOUTH, YORK-SHIRE. A vessel which had been bombedwas reported to be in need of immediate help,but her crew had been rescued by a tug and apilot cutter. - Rewards, £9 13s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 5 T H . - A B E R D E E N . F o u rfishing boats had been reported to be over-due, but three of them returned unaided.No trace of the fourth, with a crew of two,could be found. - Rewards, £10 6s. 3d.

JANUARY 16TH. - HOWTH, CO. DUBLIN.The motor vessel Empire Jonquil, flying theDutch flag, had gone ashore, but her captaind e c l i n e d t h e s e r v i c e s o f t h e l i f e - b o a t . -Rewards, £7 2s.

JANUARY 18TH. - HELVICK HEAD, CO.WATERFORD, AND BALLYCOTTON, CO.CORK. Flares had been reported, but thelife-boats found nothing, although a Lowestoftdrifter said that she had seen an aeroplanedropping flares. - Rewards : Helvick Head,£15 18s. ; Ballycotton, £13 11s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 8 T H . - BARROW, LANCA-SHIRE. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £7 11s.

J A N U A R Y 1 9 T H . - P O R T A S K A I G ,ARGYLLSHIRE. An SOS had been inter-cepted from a vessel ashore on Islay, but herc r e w h a d l a n d e d i n t h e s h i p ’ s b o a t . -Rewards, £21 9s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 1 9 T H . - T O B E R M O R Y ,ARGYLLSHIRE. A vesse l had been re -ported ashore on Tiree Island, but the life-boat’s help was not needed and the call wascancelled. Her crew were three short, andthese places were filled by three naval men.- Rewards, £15 9s.

JANUARY 20TH . - DONAGHADEE, CO.DOWN. A raft with two men on board hadbeen reported missing after a motor vesselhad been sunk in collision, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £6 17s.

J A N U A R Y 2 0 T H . - P O R T S T . M A R Y ,ISLE OF MAN. A steam trawler had goneashore, but the crew had got ashore on a raft.- Rewards, £24.

J A N U A R Y 2 l S T . - F I L E Y , A N D S C A R -B O R O U G H , Y O R K S H I R E . A B r i t i s haeroplane had been reported down in thesea , bu t no th ing was found except a b igf loa t ing mine which was repor ted by theScarborough life-boat. - Rewards : Filey,£11 12s.; Scarborough, £19 17s.

J A N U A R Y 2 1 S T . - P O R T A S K A I G ,A R G Y L L S H I R E . A s h i p h a d b e e n r e -p o r t e d i n d i s t r e s s t o t h e s o u t h - e a s t o f

28 SERVICES 1942

A r d m o r e P o i n t , I s l a y , b u t n o t h i n g w a sfound , and la te r i t was lea rned tha t thevessel was not in immediate danger and didnot need the help of the life-boat. - Rewards,£17 18s.

JANUARY 21ST. - PORT ERIN, ISLE OFMAN. An unknown vesse l had been re-ported ashore, but the life-boat was recalledby the coas tguard as the pos i t ion of thevessel had been wrongly given. - Rewards,£13 5s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 2 1 S T . - P O R T R U S H , C O .ANTRIM. A vesse l had been repor ted indistress off Torr Head, but nothing was found.- Rewards, £22 6s.

JANUARY 22ND . - TROON, AYRSHIRE.A steamer had been reported ashore, but asecond message asked tha t the l i fe -boatshould be recalled as she was not needed.-Rewards, £11 14s.

J A N U A R Y 2 5 T H . - ALDEBURGH, SUF-FOLK. A Br i t i sh Spi t f i re ae rop lane hadbeen reported down in the sea, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £19 11s. 6d.

J A N U A R Y 2 6 T H . - T O B E R M O R Y ,A R G Y L L S H I R E . A s t e a m e r h a d b e e nrepor ted ashore on Ti ree , bu t the windwas at hurricane force and compelled thelife-boat to heave to, and later she returnedto Tobermory, as the weather was gettingworse. The life-boat made a second attempt,but the weather was worse, rescue was impos-sible, and the life-boat was recalled. Thecrew of the steamer were all rescued from theshore by the coastguard life-saving rocketapparatus at Tiree. - Rewards, £20 9s.

JANUARY 26TH.. - SOUTHEND - ON - SEA,E S S E X . A s t e a m e r h a d b e e n r e p o r t e dashore, but before the life-boat could reachher a signal was received that the steamerhad refloated. When the life-boat returnedshe was one mass of ice. - Rewards, £7 1s.

JANUARY 26TH . - COVERACK, CORN-WALL. A British aeroplane was reportedto have crashed off The Manacles, and thelife-boat got away in three minutes, but shefound nothing. - Rewards, £11 14s. 3d.

JANUARY 29TH . - CADGWITH, CORN-WALL. The nava l au thor i t i e s asked thelife-boat to investigate a vessel reported tobe to the S.S.E., but she found nothing.-Rewards, £28 8s. 6d.

FEBRUARY

Launches 37. Lives rescued 3.

FEBRUARY 2ND. - CROMER, NORFOLK.At 9.37 A.M . the Cromer coastguard tele-phoned that a vessel, about one and a halfmiles north of Cromer, had reported that shehad a man on board dangerously ill . Thecoastguard also telephoned a doctor, and hewent with the No. 1 motor life-boat H. F.

Bailey which was launched at 9.55 A.M. Amodera te S .E . wind was b lowing , wi th amoderate ground swell. The life-boat foundthe m.v. Sedulity, of London. She had beenattacked by a German Heinkel aeroplane,which had attacked her with machine-guns,cannon and bombs , and her an t i -a i rc ra f tgunner had been wounded. The l i fe -boa tbrought h im ashore , and re turned to herstation at 11.20 A.M. - Rewards, £12 7s. 6d.

FEBRUARY 5TH. - DUNMORE EAST, CO.WATERFORD. At 11 .20 on the n igh t o ft h e 4 t h F e b r u a r y , t h e c o a s t w a t c h e r a tBrownstown Head repor ted tha t a s teamtrawler was aground on a sandbank on theeast side of Tramore Bay, and was showingflares. The weather had been foggy but wasthen clear, and it was very cold, with a strongN.E. breeze and a slight ground sea. Themotor life-boat Annie Blanche Smith waslaunched at 12.30 in the morning, and foundthe steam trawler Gozo, of Milford, with acrew of eight. She was returning to Milfordfrom fishing. It was nearly low water, andthe life-boat was unable to get alongside theGozo, but with the help of the trawler’s boatshe ran out a kedge, and then anchored towait for high water, which would be at ninein the morning. As the trawler did not comeoff at high water the life-boat took her captainon board, and returned to her station formore help. She arrived there at 11.15. Theservices of a herring drifter were obtained andat five in the afternoon the life-boat wentout again with her. They put men aboardthe Gozo to help her crew in lightening herstern, which was on the sandbank, by movingcoal forward, and in the end they refloatedher. It was then found that she had a roperound her propeller, and the drifter had totow her to Dunmore. The life-boat reachedher station again at 12.40 in the morning ofthe 6 th February , jus t twenty- four hourss ince she had f i r s t gone out . - Proper tysalvage case.

F E B R U A R Y 5 T H . - F R A S E R B U R G H ,ABERDEENSHIRE. The l i f e -boa t took adoctor to Aberdour. This service was thelast of several unusual services carried outby the life-boat over a period of several days.For details, see January 26th.

FE B R U A R Y 9 T H . - LOWESTOFT, SUF-FOLK. At 8.45 A.M. the naval base reporteda vessel in difficulties off the harbour entrance.The weather was foggy, with a light northerlywind , and the sea was ca lm. At 9 A . M .the motor life-boat Michael Stephens waslaunched. The coxswain was ill with gastricinfluenza, but he took command. The life-boat found H.M. Drifter Golden News, witha crew of fifteen, stranded on the edge of theNewcome Sands, and rolling heavily in aground swell. At the request of her master,the life-boat stood by until a tug refloatedthe drifter. With the life-boat in attendanceshe reached port at 10.30 A.M. - Rewards, £7.

FEBRUARY 10TH. - DOUGLAS, ISLE OFMAN. At 3.30 P .M. a fisherman returned toport and reported to the harbour master that

SERVICES 1942 29

the motor fishing boat Peveril, of Douglas,with a crew of three, was still at sea. Ashalf a gale of wind was blowing from the N.E.,with a rough sea, he was very doubtful if shecould make harbour without help. As thefishing boat had not returned by 6 P.M. themotor life-boat Manchester and Salford waslaunched, and found the Peveril about fourmiles S.E. by S. of Douglas Head. She wasable to make progress and, escorted by thelife-boat, she reached harbour at 6.30 P .M.-Rewards, £11 13s. 3d.

FEBRUARY 10TH. - RUNSWICK, YORK-SHIRE. Four Staithes fishing boats werecaught by a northerly gale, with a very roughsea, while out fishing, and the motor life-boatRober t Pa t t on - The A lways Ready waslaunched at 1.10 P .M. She escorted the fourboa ts in to S ta i thes and re turned to herstation at 3 P.M. - Rewards, £9 11s.

FEBRUARY 10TH. - DONAGHADEE, CO.DOWN. At about 11.20 A.M . informationcame from the look-out that a motor fishingboat had broken down at The Rig, off theCopeland Islands, four miles from Donagha-dee. A westerly wind was blowing, with ac h o p p y s e a . T h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a t C i v i lService No. 5 was launched at 11.40 A.M.and found the motor fishing boat Laura, ofDonaghadee , wi th a c rew of th ree . TheLaura succeeded in restarting her engine andthe l i fe -boa t escor ted her in to harbour ,arriving at 12.35 P.M. - Rewards, £4 19s.

FE B R U A R Y 1 3 T H . - THURSO, CAITH-NESS-SHIRE. At 2.50 A.M. the Wick coast-guard reported by telephone that signals ofdistress had been seen in Scrabster Bay, andat 3.30 A.M. the motor life-boat H.C.J. waslaunched. A strong N.N.E. gale was blowing,with a very heavy sea and snow. The life-boat found the steam trawler Sanseri t , ofAberdeen, with a crew of eleven, half-waybetween Scrabs te r and Thurso . She haddragged her anchor and driven ashore inshallow water. The sea was so heavy thatthe life-boat could not get alongside, and thesnow so thick that her crew could not see, soshe stood by until daylight. By that timethe trawler was much closer inshore, and withgreat difficulty eight of the crew were rescuedfrom the shore by the Scrabster coastguardl i f e - s a v i n g a p p a r a t u s . T h e o t h e r t h r e emembers of the crew had been washed over-board and drowned. The life-boat returnedto her station at 12.30 P.M. - Rewards, £23 4s.

F E B R U A R Y 1 7 T H . - P O R T A S K A I G ,ARGYLLSHIRE. On the 16 th Februa rya request was received by telephone from adoctor and the minister on the Island ofColonsay for the help of the life-boat to bringa sick woman to Islay, whence she could betaken by air ambulance to the mainland.A strong easterly wind was blowing, with arough sea, and no other boat could make thepassage . The motor l i fe -boa t C h a r l o t t eElizabeth was launched at 5.35 A.M., broughtthe woman from Colonsay, and returned toher station at 10 A.M. - Rewards, £9 3s.

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 T H . - C L O U G H E Y , C O .DOWN. At 4.55 A.M . the Tara coastguardte lephoned tha t a s teamer was ashore inKnockinelder Bay, and the motor life-boatHerbert John was launched at 6 A.M. Alight south-easterly wind was blowing, witha s m o o t h s e a . T h e l i f e - b o a t f o u n d t h eS.S. Sard, of Glasgow, with a crew of thirteen.They were in no immediate danger, and thelife-boat brought the captain ashore to tele-phone to his owners about a tug. This done,the life-boat put him on board the steamera g a i n , a n d r e t u r n e d t o h e r s t a t i o n a t12.25 P .M. The steamer was towed off by atug at high tide. - Rewards, £16 3s. 3d.

FEBRUARY 22ND . - LOWESTOFT, SUF-FOLK. At 11.20 A.M. the coastguard askedfor the life-boat’s services for a vessel off theEas t Cross Sand Buoy, s ix mi les eas t o fCais te r , and the motor l i fe -boa t Michae lStephens was launched at 11.35 A.M. A lightnortherly wind was blowing, with a groundswell. The life-boat found two ship’s boatsfive miles N.E. of Caister. They containedtwenty-five survivors from the S.S. EnseignMarie Saint-Germain, of Newport, Mon-mouthshire, which had been mined whilebound in convoy for the Tyne. The life-boattook them on board and landed them a tYarmou th a t 3 P . M . Here she lea rned , a t4.30 P.M., that another boat, with more sur-vivors, had gone back to their ship, and thatshe was in tow. The life-boat put out, spokethe ship, and finding that the remainder ofher crew were safe aboard her, returned toher station at 6.45 P.M. - Rewards, £9 0s. 3d.

FEBRUARY 22ND. - GREAT YARMOUTHA N D G O R L E S T O N , N O R F O L K . A t4 A.M. Great Yarmouth coastguard reportedthat the Caister life-boat had been called outby rockets north of Winterton, but that theCaister life-boat could not get away owingto a defective carriage track, and at 4.50 A.M.the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston motorlife-boat Louise Stephens was launched. Alight N.E. wind was blowing, with a moderateswell and snow. Off Caister the life-boat ranin to a heavy snowstorm and had to s topuntil it had passed. Going north she founda ship on Winterton Beach, but the waterwas too shallow for the life-boat to get along-side her. Her captain said that she was theS.S. Yewkyle, of Glasgow, and that he neededa tug. The life-boat sent a wireless messageashore for a tug and stood by. At 10.30 A.M.the tug Diversion arrived, but her ropes weretoo short. Another wireless call was sent,ask ing for longer ropes , and a t 2 P . M . atrawler arrived, but the tide was now falling,it was impossible to get ropes to the steamerand the tug had to move off into deeper water.The life-boat then asked the steamer’s cap-tain if he intended to stay aboard her, andas he did the life-boat returned to her station,arriving at 4 P.M. - Rewards, £17 1s. 6d.

FEBRUARY 27TH . - MARGATE, KENT.At 3.40 P.M. an aeroplane crashed in the seaabout two miles N.E. of the life-boat station,and life-boatmen standing by at the boat-house saw par t o f i t above water . Seven

30 SERVICES 1942

minutes later the motor life-boat The LordSouthborough (Civi l Service No. 1) waslaunched. A light E. wind was blowing andthe sea was smooth . The l i fe -boat foundthree airmen clinging to two rubber dinghies,rescued them and gave them brandy. Shethen searched for a missing sergeant gunner,but could not find him, and returned to herstation at 4.35 P.M. Two air-sea rescue boatsalso searched, but the missing man was notfound. - Rewards, £7 12s.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

FEBRUARY 2ND. - MOELFRE, ANGLE-SEY. An aeroplane was reported to havecrashed into the sea, but nothing was found.- Rewards, £12.

F E B R U A R Y 3 R D . - N E W B R I G H T O N ,CHESHIRE. A barge was reported to havesunk in the Mersey, and her crew of two werereported adrift on a raft, but nothing could befound. - Rewards, £7 3s.

FEBRUARY 4TH . - ABERDEEN. A vesselhad been heard sounding her s i ren con-tinuously, but she could not be found in thedarkness, and at daylight she got into portunaided. - Rewards, £13 11s. 6d.

FEBRUARY 5TH. - KILMORE, CO. WEX-FORD. A t rawler had been a t t acked byGerman aeroplanes, with bombs and machine-guns, but the life-boat found nothing, andthe Coningbeg Lightship reported that thetrawler had gone on her way. - Rewards,£34 5s. 6d.

FE B R U A R Y 6 T H . - ARRANMORE, CO.DONEGAL. Coas twatchers had repor tedan explosion and a ship on fire, but nothingwas found, and later it was learned that anaeroplane had c rashed and caught f i re . -Rewards, £23 4s. 6d.

F E B R U A R Y 8 T H . - W H I T B Y , Y O R K -SHIRE. A red light had been reported andthe life-boat was launched and stood by inreadiness, but she was not required to goout as a convoy was passing and its escortvessels were asked to investigate the red light.- Rewards £4 10s.

F E B R U A R Y 1 0 T H . - C L O U G H E Y , C O .DOWN. A Spitfire aeroplane had come downin the sea , bu t the l i fe -boa t could f indnothing. - Rewards, £10 9s. 6d.

FE B R U A R Y 1 0 T H . - ST . IVES, CORN-WALL. A s teamer had been damaged inan air raid, but all the injured were takenashore by a speed boa t and the s teamerherself was taken in tow by a tug. - Rewards,£21 18s. 6d.

FEBRUARY 12TH. - ALDEBURGH, SUF-FOLK. A Wellington bomber aeroplane hadbeen reported in the sea some miles east ofS o u t h w o l d , b u t n o t h i n g w a s f o u n d . -Rewards, £45 14s.

FEBRUARY 15TH. - WELLS, NORFOLK.An aeroplane had been reported in the seaof f Brancas te r , bu t no th ing was found. -Rewards, £25 10s.

F E B R U A R Y 1 5 T H . - W A L T O N A N DF R I N T O N , E S S E X . A n a e r o p l a n e h a dbeen reported down in the sea, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £28 16s.

FEBRUARY 13TH . - BARROW, LANCA-SHIRE. A Br i t i sh Anson aeroplane hadbeen repor ted overdue , bu t no th ing wasfound. - Rewards, £16 16s. 6d.

F E B R U A R Y 1 4 T H . - L Y T H A M - S T .ANNE’S, LANCASHIRE. A naval pinnacewas adrift and on fire at night with no oneon board, but nothing was found. - Expensespaid by the Admiralty.

FE B R U A R Y 1 4 T H . - BUCKIE, BANFF-S H I R E , A N D C R O M A R T Y . A B r i t i s haeroplane had got into difficulties and hercrew had baled out, but nothing was seen.-Rewards : Buck ie , £11 8s . ; Cromar ty ,£4 15s.

FEBRUARY 18TH . - MARYPORT, CUM-B E R L A N D . A B r i t i s h H u d s o n b o m b e raeroplane had crashed, but nothing except alarge patch of oil was found. - Rewards,£7 19s.

F E B R U A R Y 1 8 T H . - C L O U G H E Y , C O .DOWN. A British aeroplane had come downin the sea, but it was found by an R.A.F.rescue launch. - Rewards, £21 13s. 6d.

F E B R U A R Y 2 2 N D . - G I R V A N A Y R -SHIRE. A keeper at Turnberry Lighthousehad repor ted a smal l ob jec t on f i re , bu tnothing was found. - Rewards, £13 11s. 6d.

FEBRUARY 24TH. - SHERINGHAM, NOR-FOLK. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but no trace of it was found.The life-boat saw a paravane and reported itto the coastguard. - Rewards, £19 12s.

F E B R U A R Y 2 7 T H . - G O U R D O N , K I N -C A R D I N E S H I R E . A n R . A . F . a e r o p l a n ehad been repor ted down in the sea , bu tnothing was found. - Rewards, £23 2s. 9d.

FEBRUARY 27TH . - WICK, CAITHNESS-SHIRE. Whi te Very l igh ts had been re -ported, but nothing was found. - Rewards,£15.

F E B R U A R Y 2 8 T H . - C R O M E R , A N DS H E R I N G H A M , N O R F O L K . A B r i t i s haeroplane coming towards land was heardto strike the water. Aeroplanes and launches,as well as the life-boats, made a long searchbut all that was found was one body, by alaunch, and a parachute, by the Sheringhamlife-boat. - Rewards : Cromer, £39 8s. 6d. ;Sheringham, £39 16s.

SERVICES 1942 31

MARCH

Launches 63. Lives rescued 75.

MARCH 3RD . - THE HUMBER, YORK-SHIRE. At about 5 P .M . an army officerand two non-commissioned officers launchedan old boat, intending to punt in shallowwater. They had not allowed for the strongebbing t ide and a f resh S .E . wind and ,having no oars, were soon drifting away. Thelife-boat’s boarding boat put out at 5.45 P.M.She found that the boat was leaking badly andthat the men were baling all the time to pre-vent her from sinking. She towed her to thebeach, and returned to her station at 6.45P.M. - Paid permanent crew.

M A R C H 3 R D . - N E W B R I G H T O N ,C H E S H I R E . A t 6 . 2 5 P . M . t h e H o y l a k ecoastguard reported a motor boat in diffi-culties on Burbo Bank, and the No. 2 motorlife-boat Edmund and Mary Robinson left hermoorings at 6.45 P.M. A moderate S.E. windwas blowing, with a moderate sea and rain.The life-boat found the R.A.F. rescue launchN o . 1 6 4 aground ha l f a mi le W.N.W. ofC.10 Red Buoy. She had a crew of seven onboard, and she had lost her propellers. Thelife-boat put men on board to help her getoff and then towed her to a Mersey Docksand Harbour Board vessel lying in the mainc h a n n e l . T h e l i f e - b o a t r e t u r n e d t o h e rstation at 11 P.M.. - Rewards, £15 10s.

M A R C H 6 T H . - H A R T L E P O O L , D U R -HAM. At 8.20 A.M. the coastguard reporteda message from the S.S. High Wear that shewas coming in with her engine-room flooded,that she was making water, and that a pilotshould be ready. A few minutes later themotor life-boat The Princess Royal (CivilService No. 7) put out in a fresh S.E. wind,wi th a very rough sea and snow. At therequest of the naval authorities a pilot wentwith her. She found the steamer in Tees Bay.She was laden and drawing eighteen feet,which made it impossible to bring her intoHartlepool. With the life-boat guiding herthe High Wear went into the River Tees,and the life-boat returned to her station at11 A.M. - Rewards, £6 17s. 6d.

MARCH 7TH . - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.At 4.45 A.M.. the coastguard reported signalsfrom a vessel to the N.E. by E., and the motorlife-boat K.B.M. was launched at 6.30 A.M.A light southerly wind was blowing, with aground swell. The life-boat saw a search-light shining on to the land, and going in-shore she found that it was on board H.M.Trawler Sheldon, which was aground on tbelandward side of Craigenroan Rock, with noone on board. Shouting was heard from theshore, and the life-boat learnt that the crewwere safe. She then went to the trawler,turned off her searchlight and dynamo, andreturned to harbour at 7.45 A.M. Half anhour later an officer of the trawler asked ifshe could put out again to bring ashore papersand clothing. As no other boat was available,the life-boat went out and returned again at9.35 A.M. - Rewards, £10 6s. 3d.

MA R C H 8 T H . - GOURDON, KINCAR-D I N E S H I R E . T h e G o u r d o n c o a s t g u a r dr e p o r t e d a s m a l l b o a t a d r i f t o f f J o h n s -haven, and at 11.10 A.M.. the motor life-boatMargaret Dawson was launched. A lightsoutherly wind was blowing, but there wasa heavy ground swell. The life-boat foundthe boat, but it was empty and she towed itt o Gourdon , a r r iv ing a t 12 .30 P . M . Theowners of the boat, which came from Mont-rose , made a g i f t to the Ins t i tu t ion andanother to the life-boat crew. - Rewards,£16 16s.

MA R C H 1 2 T H . - BALLYCOTTON, CO.CORK. At 8.45 A.M. a local man out in asmall boat saw what he took to be anothersmall boat drifting about a mile and a halfN.E. o f the Bal lyco t ton l igh t . He cameashore and reported it to the life-boat cox-s w a i n . A m o d e r a t e s o u t h e r l y w i n d w a sblowing and the sea was slight, but therewas th ick fog . The motor l i fe -boa t M a r yStanford was launched at 9.15 A.M. and founda ship’s raft, which appeared to have beendamaged by shrapnel or bomb sp l in te rs .She towed it in, returning to her station at10 A.M. - Rewards, £7 4s. 6d.

MARCH 12TH. - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.At 10.40 P.M. the coastguard reported a vesselburning flares one and a half miles N.W. byW. , and the motor l i fe -boa t K.B.M. waslaunched at 11.30. A strong southerly windwas blowing, with a choppy sea and snowshowers. About five miles N.W. of Buckiet h e l i f e - b o a t f o u n d t h e s t e a m d r i f t e r sMorning Rays, of Fraserburgh, and Amity,of Buck ie . The M o r n i n g R a y s had beentowing the Ami ty , which had no one onboard, but the rope had fouled her propeller,and the two trawlers were drifting helplessly.At the request of the skipper of the MorningRays the life-boat found the steam trawlerCopieux, and she took both drifters in towwhile the life-boat stood by. Then the towrope be tween the two dr i f te rs broke andcame clear of the Morning Rays’ propeller,and the life-boat returned to her station,arriving at 2 A.M. - Rewards, £15 9s.

MARCH 13TH - 14TH. - BLYTH, NORTH-U M B E R L A N D . A t 7 . 2 0 P . M . t h e B l y t hcoastguard telephoned that the S.S. Brian,of Sunder land , which had jus t l e f t por t ,laden with coal, had driven ashore to thewest of the West Pier. A moderate E.S.E.gale was blowing, with heavy seas, and itwas very cold. At 7.45 the motor life-boatJoseph Adlam put out, got alongside thesteamer, and rescued nine of the crew in spiteof the heavy seas. The remaining ten hadgot away a little earlier in the ship’s boat,and had landed on the beach. As the life-boat was leaving the Brian the coastguardlife-saving apparatus, which was attemptingto reach the steamer from the shore, fired aline which fell across steamer and life-boat.The slack of the line got foul of the life-boat’spropeller, her engine stopped, and she driftedon to the beach. After a very anxious timethe assistant motor-mechanic got the enginestarted again sufficiently to enable the boat

32 SERVICES 1942

to get off the beach without help. The linewas cut clear of the life-boat, and with theengines running cautiously she got back about10.30 P .M. and landed the men at the navalbase. She was then hauled up on the slipwayand twenty more feet of rocket line were cutaway from the propeller. On the followingday it was found that the rudder had beentwisted and cracked, but this did not preventher from being launched again at 10.30 thatmorning, the 14th March, when the navalauthorities asked if she could go out to passtow ropes from the S.S. Brian to a salvage tug.She took six riggers with her and put themon board the steamer. The ropes were passed,but they broke and the steamer remainedaground. The tide had turned, operationsh a d t o b e s u s p e n d e d , a n d t h e l i f e - b o a treturned at 4.15 P .M . , bringing ashore thesteamer’s crew of fifteen and the six riggers.In recognition of the way in which all onboard carried out their work when the pro-peller was fouled, and got the life-boat out ofa tight corner in the darkness, an increase inthe usua l money awards on the s tandardscale was made to each member of the crew.S t a n d a r d r e w a r d s t o c r e w a n d h e l p e r s ,£18 4s. 6d. ; additional rewards to the crew,£6 15s. ; total rewards, £24 19s. 6d.

MARCH 15TH. - PETERHEAD, ABER-DEENSHIRE. At 9.30 A.M . the coastguardreported a vessel ashore on outer ScotstounHead, and the motor life-boat John Russell,o n t e m p o r a r y d u t y a t t h e s t a t i o n , w a slaunched at 9.55 A.M . A strong S.E. windwas blowing, with a heavy sea, and there wasfog. The life-boat found the steam trawlerDanearn, of Aberdeen, with a crew of tena n d a c a t c h o f f i s h o n b o a r d . S h e h a dwashed over the outer reef and was near thebeach. The coastguard life-saving appara-tus had f i red a l ine to the t rawler , andthe life-boat stood by until all the crew hadbeen rescued from the shore, returning to herstation at 3.10 P.M. - Rewards, £6 14s. 6d.

MARCH 15TH . - GIRVAN, AYRSHIRE,AND CAMPBELTOWN, ARGYLLSHIRE.

MARCH 15TH. - ABERDEEN. At 6.25 inthe evening information came from the flagofficer in charge at Aberdeen, through thecoastguard, that H.M. Corvette Hyderbad hadgone aground on the north breakwater inNavigation Channel and the No. 1 motorlife-boat Emma Constance was launched at6.40. A moderate southerly wind was blow-ing, with a heavy ground swell. The life-boat stood by the corvette, while the steamtug Bruno, with a crew of ten, came out totry and tow her off, but she too went aground,on the west side of the old south breakwater.It was then 8.40. Leaving the Hyderbad thelife-boat got a line from the Bruno, whichwas rolling and pounding heavily in the surf,and started to tow her off. At 9.15 the tugrefloated. She came off quickly and struckthe life-boat, damaging her port quarter.The tug had lost her rudder and the life-boattowed her to her berth. Meanwhile, at 9.20,the Hyderbad herself had refloated and re-turned to her berth. The life-boat got backto her station at eleven o’clock. - Rewards,£13 11s. 6d.

MARCH 15TH. - CROMER, AND SHERING-H A M , N O R F O L K . O n t h e n i g h t o f t h e14th March and in the morning of the 15th,a convoy was attacked by enemy E-boats.T h e E - b o a t s i n t u r n w e r e a t t a c k e d b ydestroyers and by H.M.S. Vortigern, whichsank three of them and damaged two more,but H.M. Vortigern was hit by two torpedoesand sank. At 7.38 A.M. on the 15th Marchthe Cromer coastguard passed a messagefrom the flag officer in charge at Great Yar-mouth to the Cromer life-boat station thattwo vessels had sunk ten miles N.E. by N.from Cromer. A light S.W. wind was blow-ing and the sea was smooth. The CromerNo. 1 motor l i fe -boa t H. F . Ba i l ey waslaunched at 7.57 A.M., and by 9.43 A.M. hadreached the position. A number of otherrescue boats were there. The life-boat founda lot of wreckage, and picked up elevenbodies . She cont inued the search unt i l1.25 P.M. but found no one alive, and returnedto her station at 3 P.M.

At 3.50 P .M. the coastguard telephoned toGirvan that a ship was ashore on Ailsa CraigA moderate southerly wind was blowing, witha moderate sea. The life-boat Lily Glen -Glasgow was launched at 4.20 P.M., but shefound no th ing and re tu rned a t 8 .20 P . MNews of the launching of the Girvan life-boatreached the Campbeltown station from thePortpatrick coastguard at 5.15 P .M . , butanother message said that radio bearings putthe ship near the Mull of Kintyre, and theCampbeltown motor life-boat City of Glasgowwas launched at 5.45 P .M. At 7.30 P .M. shefound the S.S. Tanafjord, of Oslo, on BoilerReef to the S.W. of Sanda Island. She wasfast on the rocks. A wireless message toldthe life-boat that a tug was coming and shewent to find her, escorted her to the steamerand ran ropes between the two during thenight. A second tug had been summonedbut at 10.52 the following morning the firsttug got the steamer off, and the life-boatreturned to her station, arriving at 1.15 P.MShe had been 18 1/2 hours at sea. - Rewards

Girvan £17 0s. 3d. ; Campbeltown,£19 15s;. 6d.

The Sheringham station had received acall at 7.40 A.M. , and the motor life-boatForesters Centenary was away at 8.2 A.MShe found one body and a barrage balloon.She returned to her station at 4.15. Bothlife-boats transferred the bodies to a motorboat which took them to Lowestoft, and bothreturned to their stations smothered in crudeoil. Rewards : Cromer, £13 6s. 6d. ; Shering-ham, £19 12s.

MARCH 17TH. - REDCAR, YORKSHIRE.At about 9.50 A.M the coastguard reportedthat an R.A.F. Lockheed Hudson aeroplanewas down in the sea about two miles northof Redcar look-out, and the motor life-boatLouisa Polden was launched at 10.37 A.M.A moderate southerly wind was blowing andthe sea was smooth. All she found was adead body. An R.A.F . speed boa t and amotor boat also went out and found several

SERVICES 1942 33

bodies. The life-boat returned to her stationat 12.45 P.M. - Rewards, £10 9s. 6d.

(See Teesmouth, “ Services by shore-boats,”page 64.)

M A R C H 1 7 T H . - C A M P B E L T O W N ,ARGYLLSHIRE. At 1.51 in the afternooninformation came from the naval authoritiesthat H.M. Rescue Tug Adept, with a crew ofthirty, was aground on Paterson’s Rock, eastof Sanda I s land , and the motor l i fe -boa tCity of Glasgow was launched at 2.16. Theweather was calm, but there was a bank offog, and the tide race was raising a very roughsea at Paterson’s Rock. The tug had struckthe rock at high water and was right on topof it. Another tug had been sent for, andthe life-boat stood by, waiting for her, butas the tide ebbed the Adept seemed in dangerof slipping off at any moment, so the life-boatrescued her crew and then put them on boardthe tug Zwarte Zee which had now arrived.The tug and the life-boat then tried, withoutsuccess, to tow off the Adept. The fog nowbecame dense, and the tug and the life-boatboth anchored. They remained there throughthe night, intending to make another attemptin daylight. By morning the weather hadcleared, but as the life-boat then learned thata salvage ship was on her way she returnedto her station, towing a boat from the Adeptwith some gear in it. She reached her stationagain at 11.10 in the morning of the 18th,having been out for 21 hours. This was hersecond long service, with only a day betweenthem. - Rewards, £26 8s. 6d.

the Ebro was ashore 1 1/2 miles off RattrayHead, and with this more precise informationshe put out again at 6.15. This time shefound the wreck. She also found the Peter-head life-boat, which had arrived some timebefore, but in the darkness, made worse byhail showers, had not been able to see thewreck . The E b r o was ly ing on the sandsbroads ide on to the sea , and par t ly sub-merged. The sea was so heavy that the life-boa ts were unable to ge t near her . Theystood by for some time, and at 8.15 the Peter-head life-boat set out again for her station,leaving the work of rescue to the Fraserburghlife-boat. She arrived back at Peterhead atten in the morning.

MA R C H 1 8 T H . - FRASERBURGH, A N DPETERHEAD, ABERDEENSHIRE. Jus tbefore nine o’clock in the evening the coast-guard at Kinnaird Head reported that a whiterocket had been seen off Rattray Head, andat 9.20 the Fraserburgh motor life-boat Johnand Charles Kennedy was launched. Thewind was light, but a heavy sea was runningand the night was pitch dark. Not a thingcould be seen. The life-boat went to theposition given, and searched for eight hours,but she could find no trace of a vessel indistress, and after that first rocket no flareor light was seen. Just before one o’clocknext morning, during this unsuccessful searchby the life-boat, a wireless message wasreceived on shore from the vessel in distress.She was the steamer Ebro, of London, witha crew of thirty, and the message said shewas breaking up and was anxious to knowwhere the life-boat was. The resident navalofficer, on receiving this message, tried to getin touch wi th the l i fe -boat by wire less .Failing to do this he sent a message to thePeterhead station and the Peterhead motorlife-boat John Russell was launched at 1.50.At 3.49, while the Peterhead life-boat was onher way to Rattray Head, a wireless mes-sage came from the Fraserburgh boat thatshe was wai t ing un t i l day l igh t . Shor t lybefore dayl ight her coxswain dec ided toreturn to harbour, and when he got near tothe shore he signalled by lamp for the lightsto be put on. At 5.50 the life-boat enteredharbour, having then been out for 8 1/2 hours.She now learned from the coastguard that

At 8.45 the Fraserburgh life-boat againreturned to her station to refuel. The sea wasbreaking so heavily over the Ebro that i tseemed impossible to approach her, but thecoxswain hoped that with the change of tidecondi t ions would improve . The l i fe -boatreached harbour at 9.45, and in forty minuteshad refuelled and was on her way out for thethird time. This time, at the request of thecoxswain and the motor-mechanic, CaptainAndrew Stephen, joint honorary secretary ofthe s ta t ion and the harbour mas te r , wentwith her. Meanwhile, about 9.20, eighteenof the Ebro’s crew of thirty men had gotaway in one of the ship’s boats from herlee side, and although the boat was constantlyflooded as she went through the surf, theycame ashore safely. There were still twelvemen on board. When the life-boat reachedthe wreck for the third time at 11.30 shefound that the seas were now washing rightover her. It was clear that the only hope ofrescuing the twelve men was to take thelife-boat between the Ebro and the shore.This mean t g radua l ly work ing the boa ttowards the beach through the heavy surf,and at the same time keeping her head on tothe breaking seas. For over two hours thelife-boat was manoeuvring to come alongside,and twice she had to put out to sea againwhen she saw exceptionally heavy breakerscoming in . At las t she got in to pos i t ionnorth of the wreck and signalled to her, “ Weare go ing to make a dash a longs ide . Beready “ . Every th ing was secured on thelife-boat’s deck and the crew were orderedto take she l te r . Then , a t fu l l speed , thelife-boat went under the lee of the Ebro.H e r e s h e f o u n d m u c h w r e c k a g e . H e a v ylogs, washed overboard from the wreck, werebumping alongside and threatening to crushthe life-boat. There was the added difficultythat the Ebro’s davit tackles were hangingover the s ide , and a l l the t ime the seasbreaking over the Ebro were falling into thelife-boat. In spite of this the life-boat passedlines from her bow and stern to the vesseland held alongside while the twelve membersof the crew, who had taken shelter in thebridge deck house, watching their oppor-tunity, made a dash for the life-boat. Somejumped into her, and others slipped downropes and the pilot ladder. All twelve wererescued.

The life-boat had damaged both her stemand her rudder, but she was under control,and watching carefully to avoid the heavier

34 SERVICES 1942

breakers, the coxswain brought her out againinto the open sea. The life-boat got backagain to Fraserburgh at three in the after-noon. I t was then near ly e ighteen hourssince she had first put out. The captain ofthe Ebro was full of gratitude and spoke ofthe splendid way in which the life-boat hadbeen handled.

It had been a long and very trying service,and the Institution made a reward of £3 tothe coxswain and each member of the crewin addition to the ordinary reward on thestandard scale of £2 16s. 6d. Rewards to theFraserburgh c rew and launchers on thestandard scale, £22 15s. ; additional rewardsto the Fraserburgh crew, £27 ; total rewardsto the Fraserburgh c rew and launchers ,£49 15s. Rewards to Peterhead, £l9 13s.

MARCH 20TH. - FRASERBURGH, ABER-DEENSHIRE. The motor l i f e -boa t J o h nand Charles Kennedy, which had been mooredin the harbour a f te r the se rv ice the daybefore, put out at 3 P .M . and took a pilotout to a vessel, as the weather was too roughfor the pilot boat to go out. She returnedat 3.35. - Rewards, £2 17s.

MA R C H 2 l S T . - GIRVAN. AYRSHIRE.At 9.45 P.M. the police reported that a vesselwas ashore about one mile south of Turn-berry Lighthouse and was showing flares.The weather was calm but there was a densefog. At 10.10 A.M. the motor life-boat LilyGlen - Glasgow was ready to go out, but thetide was low and she had to wait an hourbefore going. About one mile south of Turn-berry Lighthouse she found the sailing shipEllie Park, of Dublin, aground inside theBrest Rocks. The ship had a crew of threeand was on her way from Belfast to Ardros-san with scrap iron. Her crew were in noimmediate danger and the master asked thelife-boat to stand by in order to help the shipg e t o f f w h e n t h e t i d e h a d r i s e n . A b o u t4 A.M. the life-boat towed her off and tookher through the channel into the safety ofthe open sea. She returned to her station at4.50 A.M. - Rewards, £15 9s.

MARCH 25TH. - WHITBY, YORKSHIRE.At 10.55 in the morning the coastguard tele-phoned that an aeroplane had come down inthe sea one mile off Sandsend and that hercrew had taken to their rubber dinghy. Allthe fishing boats were at sea, and the life-boat’s coxswain, second-coxswain and crewwere out with them, but the motor-mechanicand the winchman quickly got together acrew. Ex-coxswain Thomas W. Welham, 71years old, who had retired from the life-boatover six years before, took command, withT. Peart, aged 60, as acting second-coxswain,and the other six members of the crew werethe motor-mechanic himself and five boys,sixteen years old. At 11.5, ten minutes afterthe call had been received, the motor life-boa t M a r y A n n H e p w o r t h was launched .There were patches of fog, but the life-boatsoon found a coloured patch in the water.Shor t ly a f te rwards she found the rubberdinghy itself, with four airmen on board,about half a mile off Sandsend. The aero-

plane had sunk. One of the airmen had hurthis leg, and all four had cuts, mostly aboutthe head. The life-boat brought them in atonce , a r r iv ing a t 11 .50 . The s t a t ion wasthanked by the Director General of AircraftSafety, by the pilot of the aeroplane and byhis aerodrome. - Rewards, £7 6s. 6d.

MA R C H 2 5 T H - 26 T H . - BARMOUTH,MERIONETHSHIRE, AND PWLLHELI ,CAERNARVONSHIRE. SOS f lashes hadbeen seen by the coastguard about six mileseast of Cilan Head on the evening of March25th, and at 9.45 the Pwllheli motor life-boatMinistre Anseele, on temporary duty at thestation, put out and searched for a long time,but found nothing. The wind was slight andthe sea smooth. She then approached theAbersoch coastguard station and signalledfor further information. She was told thatnews had just been received that an aeroplanehad come down in the sea off Mochras Point,and she went at once to her help. Meanwhileat 2.10 next morning the Barmouth motorlife-boat Lawrence Ardern, Stockport had beenlaunched in answer to a message from thec o a s t g u a r d t h a t a S t i r l i n g b o m b e r h a dcrashed in the sea. She reached the aero-p l a n e a t 3 . 4 5 , a n d s h o r t l y a f t e r w a r d sthe Pwl lhe l i l i fe -boa t a l so a r r ived . Theyfound the aeroplane’s ha tches open andthe crew gone. The life-boats cruised aboutuntil daylight, and as they could see a rubberdinghy on shore , they presumed tha t theairmen had landed safely, and returned totheir stations, the Pwllheli life-boat arrivingat nine o’clock and the Barmouth life-boatat 9.30. On the way back the Barmouth life-boat saw a mine floating near St. Patrick’sCauseway and reported it to the coastguard.At four o’clock in the afternoon the life-boatwas again launched, with the mine disposalofficer on board. The mine was found againand sunk, and the life-boat returned to herstation at ten o’clock that night. Rewards :Barmouth, £25 17s. for the first launch ; thecost of the second launch was paid by theAdmiralty ; Pwllheli, £14 13s. 3d.

MARCH 27TH. - EYEMOUTH, BERWICK-SHIRE. At 9.10 A.M . the coastguard tele-phoned that a trawler was showing signalsfor medical aid. A light southerly wind wasblowing with a rough sea. The motor life-boat Frank and William Oates was launchedat 9.20 A.M . and found the steam trawlerEarl of Buchan about a mile east of Eyemouth.A member of ,he crew was suffering fromacute rupture. The life-boat brought himashore at 9.50 A.M., and the trawler went onher way. - Rewards, £11 3s. 6d.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven:

MARCH 2ND . - KIRKCUDBRIGHT. TheR.A.F. reported that an aeroplane was downin the sea and that it was too rough for theirspeed boat, but the life-boat found nothing.- Rewards, £18 18s.

SERVICES 1942 35

MARCH 2ND. - RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN.An aeroplane had been reported missing, andit was thought that she might have comedown at sea, but she had crashed on thebeach. - Rewards, £12 9s.

MARCH 2ND. - PLYMOUTH, DEVON. ABritish Sunderland flying boat was reportedto have been forced down, but the life-boatwas recalled by wireless as another aeroplanehad gone to her help. - Rewards, £6 13s.

MARCH 3RD. - BLYTH, NORTHUMBER-L A N D . A n u n k n o w n s t e a m e r h a d b e e nreported heading for rocks east of the har-bour, but she seemed to get clear and thenw a s l o s t i n t h e d a r k n e s s . - R e w a r d s ,£14 9s. 6d.

M A R C H 5 T H . - H A R T L E P O O L , D U R -HAM. Two laden steamers, the NorwegianS.S. Royal and the British S.S. Yewdale, werelying off Hartlepool in a very rough sea, witha strong easterly wind blowing, and heavy snowstorms, and the naval authorities wantedthe steamers in harbour. The life-boat wentout to pilot them in, but could not find them.Later they were ab le to en ter the Tees . -Rewards, £18 14s.

MA R C H 6 T H . - SUNDERLAND, DUR-HAM. A motor vessel had gone ashore atWhitburn Point, but she was too far inshorefor the life-boat to be able to get near her.-Rewards, £7 11s.

M A R C H 7 T H . - C A M P B E L T O W N ,ARGYLLSHIRE. A vwsse l had been re -p o r t e d a s h o r e , b u t n o t h i n g w a s f o u n d ,although a Dutch coasting vessel was seenunder way. - Rewards, £6 13s.

MARCH 10TH . - PLYMOUTH, DEVON.A damaged aeroplane was expected to comedown in the sea and the life-boat went outto stand by, but she was recalled by wirelessas the aeroplane had landed e l sewhere . -Rewards, £9 19s. 6d.

M A R C H 1 1 T H . - A R B R O A T H , A N DB R O U G H T Y F E R R Y , A N G U S . A nR.N.A.S. aeroplane had been reported downin the sea, but nothing was found excepttwo wheels, one by the Arbroath life-boatand one by an R.A.F. launch. - Rewards :Arbroath, £16 18s. 3d. ; Broughty Ferry,£11 13s.

MARCH 11TH. - ALDEBURGH, SUF-FOLK. Airmen had been repor ted downin the sea, but a high-speed launch was outsearching and the coastguard recalled thelife-boat by wireless as she was not needed.- Rewards, £39 18s.

MA R C H 1 2 T H . - ARBROATH, MONT-ROSE, ANGUS, AND ABERDEEN. Onthe afternoon of the 12th information wasreceived at Arbroath and Montrose that anunknown vessel was in distress about twentymiles eastward of Arbroath.. A later messagereported survivors in boats, but Arbroathand Montrose No. 1 motor life-boats found

nothing. On the following morning a ship’sboat was reported south-east of Collieston,and the Aberdeen No. 1 motor life-boat puto u t , b u t f o u n d n o t h i n g . - R e w a r d s :Arbroath, £19 16s. 6d. ; Montrose, £20 7s. 9d.;Aberdeen, £6 17s. 6d.

MA R C H 1 3 T H . - SELSEY, SUSSEX. ABritish aeroplane had been reported down inthe sea, but only a patch of oil was found.-Rewards, £17 12s. 6d.

MARCH 13TH . - THURSO, AND WICK,CAITHNESS-SHIRE. A British aeroplanewas expected to come down, probably a tsea, but it reached land before crashing.-Rewards : Thurso, £21 9s. ; Wick, £8 13s.

MARCH 13TH. - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.A British bombing aeroplane had crashed,but nothing was found, and the coastguardreported that the crew baled out and all weresafe. - Rewards, £15 9s.

MA R C H 1 4 T H . - FENIT, CO. KERRY.A fishing boat had been reported in diffi-culties off Smerwick Harbour, but the life-boat found her abandoned. Her crew hadgot ashore. - Rewards, £20 9s.

MA R C H 1 4 T H . - WICK, CAITHNESS-SHIRE. The ex-Norwegian fishing vesselH.13A.F., with a naval crew on board,appeared to be out of control, and her crewwere waving a white sheet, but she was gotunder control again and went on her way.-Rewards, £6 13s.

MARCH 15TH. - RHYL, FLINTSHIRE.A British Hurricane aeroplane had crashedand was found on East Hoyle Sandbank, butthere was no trace of her crew. - Rewards,£21 17s.

MA R C H 1 5 T H . - TENBY, PEMBROKE-SHIRE. The Belgian fishing vessel Grace ofG o d was in d is t ress , but her c rew wererescued by a naval vessel. - Rewards, £19 1s.

MARCH 16TH. - SCARBOROUGH, YORK-SHIRE. A Br i t i sh Sp i t f i re ae rop lane hadbeen reported down in the sea, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £19 4s.

M A R C H 1 7 T H . - S T . D A V I D ’ S , P E M -B R O K E S H I R E . A n a e r o p l a n e h a d b e e nreported down in the sea, but nothing couldbe found. - Rewards, £11 3s. 6d.

MARCH 20TH. - ST. IVES, CORNWALL.A British aeroplane had crashed and sankimmedia te ly . Trawlers nearby p icked uptwo landing wheels and an airman’s cap, butthe l i fe -boa t and a rescue launch foundnothing. - Rewards, £26 10s. 3d.

MA R C H 24TH. - ST . DAVID’S , PEM-BROKESHIRE. A s teamer had been re -ported in distress north of the South BishopLighthouse, but no vessel in need of help wasfound. - Rewards, £6 12s.

MA R C H 2 4 T H . - BALLYCOTTON, CO.CORK. The military reported an attack ten

36 SERVICES 1942

miles south of Flat Head, but when the life-boat reached the position, three and a halfhours later, she found nothing. After she hadreturned explosions and gunfire were heardfur ther away and i t was assumed tha t aconvoy had been attacked but had movedon before the life-boat arrived. - Rewards,£13 3s. 3d.

MARCH 25TH . - PEEL, ISLE OF MAN.A dinghy with a man on board had beenreported drifting towards Peel, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £22 16s. 6d.

MA R C H 2 7 T H . - TORBAY, DEVON. Avessel coming in reported that she had founda small fishing boat and a dinghy with noone on board, and the life-boat made a widesearch for her c rew, but found noth ing . -Rewards, £4 5s.

MARCH 27TH. - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.A vessel had been reported on fire, but nothingcould be found, and it was learned later thereh a d b e e n a s m a l l m o o r l a n d f i r e o n t h eSutherland coast across the Moray Firth.-Rewards, £15 9s.

MARCH 27TH. - DOUGLAS, AND RAM-SEY, ISLE OF MAN. An aerop lane wasreported to have come down in the sea, butnothing was found. - Rewards : Douglas,£15 7s. 6d. ; Ramsey, £24 7s.

MA R C H 2 7 T H . - WICK, CAITHNESS-SHIRE. A fishing boat’s engine had brokendown, but it was repaired and the help ofthe life-boat was not needed. - Rewards,£9 19s. 6d.

MARCH 29TH . - LLANDUDNO, CAER-N A R V O N S H I R E , A N D R H Y L , F L I N T -S H I R E . A i r m e n w e r e r e p o r t e d t o h a v ebaled out over the sea, but the life-boatsfound noth ing . - Rewards : L landudno,£21 13s. 6d. ; Rhyl, £27 9s. 6d.

M A R C H 3 1 S T . - W I C K , C A I T H N E S S -S H I R E . A B r i t i s h a e r o p l a n e h a d b e e nreported down in the sea, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £6 13s.

MARCH 31ST . - TROON, AYRSHIRE. Avessel had been reported ashore, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £13 11s. 6d.

APRIL

Launches 25. Lives rescued 32.

A P R I L 2 N D . - C L A C T O N - O N - S E A ,E S S E X . A t 1 1 . 1 2 A . M . t h e m i l i t a r yauthor i t i es repor ted , th rough the coas t -guard, that a soldier was adrift in a smallr o w i n g b o a t , w i t h o u t o a r s , a b o u t f o u rh u n d r e d y a r d s o f f B u t l i n ’ s C a m p . Amoderately strong N.W. wind was blowing,with a moderate swell. The motor life-boatT h e B r o t h e r s , on temporary du ty a t thestation, was launched at 11.43 A.M., foundthe boat and the soldier, and brought themback, arriving at her station at 12.37 P .M .The officers of the unit to which the soldierb e l o n g e d s e n t t h e i r t h a n k s . - R e w a r d s ,£3 19s. 6d.

APRIL 7TH . - SOUTHEND - ON - SEA,ESSEX. At 6 .25 P . M . the nava l con t ro lasked for the help of the life-boat with anational fire service float which was in diffi-culties at the loading pier. A S.W. gale wasblowing, with a very rough sea. The motor life-boat J. B. Proudfoot* was launched at 6.45P.M., and found the float, not only damagingherself, but likely to do a lot of damage to thepier . She had seven men on board . Thelife-boat anchored, got a rope to the floatand towed her clear of the pier with the helpof the float’s own power. The life-boat stoodby until the fire float was safely moored andthen re tu rned to her s ta t ion , a r r iv ing a t9 P.M. - Rewards, £7 1s.

A P R I L 8 T H . - K I L M O R E , C O . W E X -FORD. At 8 .20 P . M . a t e lephone reques twas received for the services of the life-boatto take off a sick man from the ConingbegLightsh ip . The message had been t rans-mitted to Rosslare by the S.S. Rockabill, whichhad got it from the lightship. The motorlife-boat Ann Isabella Pyemont was launchedat 8.45 P.M. A strong S.S.W. gale was blow-ing, with a heavy sea, and the life-boat hadgreat difficulty in taking off the man. Hehad to be lowered into her in his hammock.On her way back the life-boat signalled for adoctor to meet her, and arrived at 12.5 A.M.The man was found to have a duodenal ulcer,and it is probable that he would have died ifhe had not been brought ashore. - Rewards,£21 13s.

AP R I L 1 1 T H . - CROMER, NORFOLK.At 3.35 A.M. information was received fromthe R.A.F. at Coltishall that an aeroplanehad c rashed about four mi les N.N.W. ofC r o m e r , a n d t h e N o . 1 m o t o r l i f e - b o a tH. F. Bailey was launched at 3.58 A.M. Alight westerly wind was blowing and the seawas smooth. The life-boat found six Polishairmen in a dinghy, three of them wounded.A trawler arrived at the same time. Lineswere thrown, and the first line caught by theairmen was from the trawler, and they weretaken aboard her. She transferred them tothe life-boat, which landed them at Cromerat 5 .14 A.M. The Director General of Air-c r a f t S a f e t y s e n t a l e t t e r o f t h a n k s . -Rewards, £17 10s. 6d.

A P R I L 1 7 T H . - R A M S G A T E , K E N T .During the afternoon the naval base reporteda fishing boat in difficulties off ForenessPoint, and the motor life-boat Agnes Cross,o n t e m p o r a r y d u t y a t t h e s t a t i o n , w a slaunched at 3.50 P.M. A light N.E. wind wasblowing, with a moderate sea. The life-boatfound the motor fishing boat New Skylark,of Ramsgate, at anchor, flying a distresssignal. She was leaking badly, her pump wasnot working, and her crew of two were baling.A life-boatman was put on board to helpthem. The life-boat then took the fishingboat in tow and made for Margate, where

* This boat was on duty at the station, inplace of the Greater London, from December,1941, to February, 1945.

SERVICES 1942 37

she arrived at 5 P .M . She got back to hers t a t ion a t 6 P . M . A le t te r o f thanks wasreceived from the rescued men. - Rewards,£5 3s.

APRIL 19TH . - RAMSGATE, KENT. At3.30 P .M. the naval base reported a fishingboat, off the North Foreland, in need of atow into harbour. She was the Boy Eric,of Lowestoft, on voyage, with a crew of two,to Ramsgate for repairs. A light S.W. windwas blowing and the sea was smooth, but asthe naval authorities wished the boat to begot in quickly and no other suitable boat wasavailable, the motor life-boat Agnes Cross,o n t e m p o r a r y d u t y a t t h e s t a t i o n , w a slaunched at 4.50 P.M., and returned with theBoy Eric in tow at 6.40 P . M . - Rewards,£2 13s.

APRIL 24TH. - PENLEE, CORNWALL. At6.30 A.M. the coastguard reported a fishing boatin distress S.W. of Penzer Point, and the motorlife-boat W. and S. was launched at 6.50 A.M.An E.S.E. gale was blowing, with a rough sea.The life-boat found the boat about threehundred yards from the shore and took herin tow. As she passed Penzer Point the coast-guard signalled to her that another boat wasin difficulties off Treen. After towing thefirst boat to safety, the life-boat returned tothe help of the second boat, but on the waysaw a third boat in a very dangerous positionnear the Runnel Stone Rocks. She went toher at once, found that her engine had brokendown, and took her in tow. She then pickedup the second boat and towed them both intoN e w l y n H a r b o u r , w h e r e s h e a r r i v e d a t1 P .M . The three rescues had taken overs ix hours . The f i sh ing boa ts , which a l lbelonged to Newlyn, were the Margaret ,Boy Don and Alsace Lorraine, and they werem a n n e d b y F r e n c h r e f u g e e s , t w e l v e i nnumber. An increase in the usual moneyaward on the standard scale was granted toeach member of the crew and to each helper.- S tandard rewards to c rew and he lpers ,£8 1s. 6d. ; additional rewards to crew andhelpers, £4 7s. ; total rewards, £12 8s. 6d.

APRIL 27TH. - SOUTHEND - ON - SEA, ES-SEX. At 11.45 in the morning the coastguardat Warden Point, Isle of Sheppey, reportedt h a t a b a r g e w a s d r i f t i n g t o w a r d s t h etargets of the Royal Air Force off Leysdown,and at 11.55 the motor life-boat J. B. Proud-foot, on temporary duty at the station, waslaunched. A strong wind from the E.N.E.was blowing, rising to the force of a gale attimes, and a big sea was running. The life-boat started out with her motors, but shehad to go through channels which had notbeen swept of mines, and there she cut off herengines, for fear of acoustic mines, and wenton under sail. The barge was the Emma, ofRochester, in ballast, with only one man onboard, and the life-boat reached her whenshe was already within 200 yards of thetargets. Her sprit was broken and her sailswere in ribands. The coxswain put somemembers of h is own crew on board theEmma, took her in tow, got her out into theswept channels and then brought her to a

safe anchorage at Southend at 4.30 in theafternoon. - Property salvage case.

APRIL 29TH. - SALCOMBE, DEVON. At12.25 in the afternoon the coastguard atHope Cove repor ted tha t e igh t men in a16-feet boat had stranded on Book Rocknear Thurlestone. An E.S.E. gale was blow-ing, with a rough sea, and the men, who wereemployed on the wreck of the Louis Shiedwhich had stranded in December, 1939, couldnot reach shore under oars . The rock i sabout a mile from the shore, and is awash atha l f - t ide . I t was low water . As no o thersuitable boat was available the motor life-boa t S a m u e l a n d M a r i e P a r k h o u s e waslaunched a t 12 .45 . She reached the rocka t 1 .45 , rescued the men and , wi th the i rboat in tow, took them to Hope Cove. Shereturned to her station at 4.20 in the after-noon. An increase in the usual money awardson the s tandard sca le was g iven to eachmember of the crew. - Standard rewards tocrew, £5 ; additional rewards to crew, £2 5s. ;total rewards, £7 5s.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

A P R I L 1 S T . - P E T E R H E A D , A B E R -D E E N S H I R E . A B r i t i s h b o m b i n g a e r o -plane had crashed into the sea, but anotherboat picked up two survivors and a deadbody. - Rewards, £8 16s. 6d.

(See Peterhead, “ Services by Shore-boats,”page 64.)

AP R I L 7 T H . - FRASERBURGH, ABER-DEENSHIRE. An aeroplane had been re-ported down in the sea and later a red rocketwas seen, but on receiving a wireless signalthat none of our aeroplanes was missing thelife-boat returned. - Rewards, £9 13s.

APRIL 8TH. - LLANDUDNO, CAERNAR-VONSHIRE. An aeroplane had come downin the sea, but the airmen were picked up bya motor boat from Colwyn Bay. - Rewards,£9 4s.

(See Colwyn Bay, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 65.)

APRIL 10TH . - LYTHAM - ST. ANNES,LANCASHIRE. A Spi t f i re ae rop lane hadbeen reported down off Lytham, but nothingwas found. - Rewards, £8 1s. 6d.

APRIL 11TH. - BARROW, LANCASHIRE.The naval authorities had reported a Spitfireaeroplane down in the sea off Seascale, butn o t h i n g c o u l d b e f o u n d . - R e w a r d s ,£11 12s. 6d.

APRIL 12TH. - NEWQUAY, CORNWALL.The pilot of a British Spitfire aeroplane wasreported to have baled out off Perranporth,but he had been drowned and the life-boatfound nothing. - Rewards, £17 5s.

APRIL 13TH. - BARROW, LANCASHIRE.A British aeroplane had been reported downin the sea, but her crew were picked up by a

38 SERVICES 1942

trawler about twenty miles N.W. of More-cambe Bay lightship and the life-boat wasrecalled by wireless. - Rewards, £6 12s.

AP R I L 1 4 T H . - CROMARTY. A Br i t i shaeroplane had been reported down in the sea,but it was learned later that the crew hadreached the shore unaided. - Rewards, £5.

APRIL 15TH . - HOYLAKE, CHESHIRE.It had been reported that an R.A.F. pilotwas in a rubber dinghy in the Dee Estuary,but nothing was found. - Rewards, £18 18s.

APRIL 17TH. - LERWICK, SHETLANDS.Red flares had been reported south of Foula,bu t no th ing could be found. - Rewards ,£11 5s.

APRIL 20TH . - FRASERBURGH, ABER-D E E N S H I R E . A H u d s o n a e r o p l a n e w a srepor ted to have c rashed in the sea , bu tnothing was found. - Rewards, £10 18s.

A P R I L 2 3 R D . - B O U L M E R , N O R T H -U M B E R L A N D . A s m a l l b o a t h a d b e e nreported by an aeroplane to be in distress,b u t i t w a s f o u n d t o b e a f a l s e a l a r m . -Rewards £5 9s

APRIL 24TH. - COURTMACSHERRY, CO.CORK. An object had been reported in thesea off Seven Heads, but nothing was found.Later it was learned that it was part of abarrage balloon. - Rewards, £11 15s. 6d.

APRIL 26TH . - BARMOUTH, MERION-ETHSHIRE. The motor vesse l B a r e n d s z ,of Rotterdam, was flying a four-flag signal,but it was found to be her name in code andshe had only come in close for shelter in aneasterly gale. Two days later smoke signalswere seen from the same vessel, but by thetime the life-boat reached her the gale hadmoderated and she did not then need help.-Rewards, £11 16s. and £11 15s.

AP R I L 30TH. - HOLYHEAD, ANGLE-SEY. A British aeroplane had been reporteddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £3 18s. 6d.

MAY

Launches 22. Lives rescued 17.

MA Y 4 T H . . - FRASERBURGH, ABER-D E E N S H I R E . E a r l y i n t h e m o r n i n g ,information was received from the coast-guard that signals had been seen seven toeight miles N.N.W. of Kinnaird Head, andat 3.20 A.M . the motor life-boat John andCharles Kennedy was launched. The weatherwas overcast, with light airs and a moderateswell. The life-boat found the S.S. DunveganHead, of Leith, with a crew of fourteen.H e r e n g i n e h a d b r o k e n d o w n , s h e w a sdrifting with the tide, and was a good targetfor enemy aeroplanes. At the request of hercaptain the life-boat towed her into Fraser-burgh Bay. There she anchored to wait forthe tide, and the life-boat returned to her

s t a t ion . At 1 .30 P . M . , when the t ide hadturned , the l i fe -boa t went ou t aga in andbrought her into harbour, returning to herstation at 3.30 P.M. - Property salvage case.

M A Y 9 T H . - D U N M O R E E A S T , C O .WATERFORD. The S.S. Tartar, of Sligo,had stopped off Dunmore for examination.She had not dropped anchor, but drifted tothe S.W. round the headland. She was keptunder observation, and was seen to anchorand then to fly a distress signal. At 7.20 P.M.the motor life-boat Annie Blanche Smith waslaunched. A fresh easterly wind was blow-ing, with a slight sea. The life-boat foundthe s teamer about one hundred yards of fshore and in danger of going aground if thewind sh i f ted to the south . The l i fe -boatstood by, and some of her crew boarded theTar ta r . The s teamer was be ing broughtfrom Dublin to Waterford by the head ofthe Dubl in Naviga t ion School and sevenstudents from the school, but owing to badcoal the steam pressure had dropped. Theanchor had been let go, but it jammed, andthe steamer had drifted into danger beforeit could be cleared. By feeding the furnaceswith wood from the superstructure and fit-tings the crew of the life-boat raised steamand the steamer came into Dunmore Harbourunder her own power, escorted by the life-boat. The life-boat returned to her stationat 9.30 P.M. - Rewards, £8 13s.

MAY 11TH . - SCARBOROUGH, YORK-SHIRE. Cobles were ou t f i sh ing , and a t11.45 in the morning, as a strong easterlywind was blowing, with a rough sea, thelife-boat coxswain decided that it was notsafe for them to come in unescorted, andlaunched the motor life-boat Herbert Joy II.She found the cobles about a mile and a halfN.E. of Scarborough Castle. They were theEvelyn and Margaret and the Courage. Thelife-boatmen gave lifebelts to the crew of theEvelyn and Margaret, escorted her in, wentout again and escorted in the Courage. Shereturned to her station at 1.45 in the after-noon. - Rewards, £9 8s.

MAY 12TH. - CULLERCOATS, NORTH-U M B E R L A N D . A t 3 . 1 0 A . M . t h e T y n e -mouth coastguard reported that a vessel wasin distress off Souter Point, and the motorl i fe -boat Wes tmor land was launched a t3.30 A.M. A fresh N.N.E. wind was blowing,with a moderate sea. The life-boat searchedfor some time before she learned that thevessel, H.M.T. Ben Ardna, had sunk after acollision, and that H.M.T. Simerson hadpicked up the crew. The life-boat was askedby the master of this vessel to stand by untila message had been sent ashore, and then toescort her to the Tyne. This the life-boat did,and returned to her station at 7.22 A.M .-Rewards, £22 15s.

M A Y 1 3 T H . - S T . A B B S , B E R W I C K -SHIRE. The body of an airman had beenseen floating in the sea and at 4.25 in theafternoon the motor life-boat Annie Ronaldand Isabella Forrest was launched. A moderateE.N.E. wind was blowing, with a rough sea.

SERVICES 1942 39

The life-boat found the body of a sergeantof the Royal Canadian Air Force, and broughtit back, arriving at 5.15 P . M . - Rewards,£5 14s. 6d.

MA Y 1 7 T H . - FERRYSIDE, CARMAR-THENSHIRE. At 8.30 A.M . the coxswainrece ived informat ion f rom the Pembreycoastguard that a vessel was in difficultieson the Cefn Sidan Sands, and at 9.25 A.M.the motor life-boat William Maynard waslaunched . A s t rong souther ly wind wasblowing, with a rough sea. The life-boatfound the motor vessel Narwal, formerly ofDelfzijl, Holland, ashore near Pembrey aero-drome, with a crew of nine aboard. She wasin ballast and bound from Hayle for PortTalbot. The life-boat stood by until it wasclear that the crew were in no danger, andthen re tu rned to her s ta t ion , a r r iv ing a tnoon. In case the position of the vessel shouldbecome dangerous on the nest tide the life-boat crew stood by from 6 P .M. to 9 P .M.,but their services were not needed as thevesse l re f loa ted and went on her way. -Rewards, £10 10s. 6d.

M A Y 2 5 T H . - C R O M E R , N O R F O L K .While the auxiliary yacht Betty was on herway f rom Lynn to Gor les ton her enginebroke down. A s t rong S .S .W. wind wasblowing, and as she was unable to beat roundt o C r o m e r u n d e r s a i l s h e a n c h o r e d o f fSheringham. Her crew of three got ashore,and the owner te lephoned to Cromer a t5.10 P.M. asking for a tow. At 5.45 the No. 1motor life-boat H. F. Bailey was launchedand towed the Betty to Gorleston, arriving atmidnight. She left again at 5.30 A.M. nextmorning and arrived at Cromer at 9.30 A.M.- Property salvage case ; rewards, £2 6s.

MAY 25TH. - GOURDON, KINCARDINE-S H I R E . A t 1 . 1 5 i n t h e a f t e r n o o n t h eharbour mas te r repor ted tha t the motorfishing boat Silver Cloud, of Gourdon, return-ing from the fishing ground, had been hitby a big sea and her engine had failed. Asoutherly gale was blowing, with a rough seaand heavy rain, and the Silver Cloud, whichhad a crew of three, started drifting towardsthe shore to the south-east of the coastguardstation, but, before she went ashore, heranchor held. At 1.30 the motor life-boatMargaret Dawson was launched, rescued thethree men and arrived back at her stationa t 2 .20 . La te r in the day a f i sh ing boa twent out and brought in the Silver Cloud.-Rewards, £10 9s. 6d.

MAY 30TH. - BERWICK - ON - TWEED,NORTHUMBERLAND. At noon the coast-guard reported that the naval authorities hadasked for help for the motor fishing yawlG o l d e n W e s t , o f W i c k , w h i c h w a s o nAdmiralty service, with a crew of three, andhad gone ashore on Spittal Point. A lightwesterly wind was blowing, with only a slightsea, and as the tide was then four hours’flood it was decided not to send out the life-boat until high tide, two hours later. At 2 P.M.the reserve motor life-boat Elizabeth Newton,o n t e m p o r a r y d u t y a t t h e s t a t i o n , w a s

launched. Some of the regular crew werenot available, but a crew of five, includingthe honorary secretary, Captain D. L. Low-d e n , t o o k h e r o u t . S h e f o u n d t h a t t h eGolden West’s engine had broken down, andp a s s e d a r o p e o n b o a r d . S h e h a d s o o nrefloated the yawl and took her up riverinto dock, and then returned to her station,arriving at 3 P.M. - Rewards, £2 10s.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

MAY 2ND. - WICKLOW. Flares had beenseen , but noth ing was found. - Rewards ,£13 7s. 6d.

MAY 3RD. - BLACKPOOL, AND FLEET-WOOD, LANCASHIRE. A Br i t i sh ae ro-p lane had been repor ted down in the seasix miles west of Blackpool. The Blackpoollife-boat could not launch at once as thetractor was engaged in an attempt to salveanother aeroplane at St. Anne’s, so the Fleet-wood life-boat was launched instead, andlater the Blackpool boat also put out, butthe pilot of the aeroplane, a Spitfire, had beenrescued by a steamer. - Rewards, Blackpool,£5 3s. 6d. ; Fleetwood, £4 8s. 6d.

MAY 5TH . - PORTHDINLLAEN, CAER-N A R V O N S H I R E . S i g n a l s a t s e a l e v e lf lash ing SOS had been repor ted , bu t thelife-boat was recalled by wireless as she wasnot needed. - Rewards, £7 13s. 6d.

M A Y 6 T H . - B L A C K P O O L , L A N C A -SHIRE. A Br i t i sh ae rop lane had c rashedin the sea, but the pilot was rescued by atrawler. - Rewards, £5 3s. 6d.

M A Y 8 T H . - B U C K I E , B A N F F S H I R E .Two men had reported to the life-boat cox-swain that they had seen an aeroplane crashi n t o t h e s e a , b u t n o t h i n g w a s f o u n d . -Rewards, £4 10s. 6d.

MAY 12TH. - DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN.A small yacht which had left the Cumberlandcoast for the Isle of Man was overdue, butgot into Douglas without help. - Rewards,£9 1s.

MAY 17TH . - CROMER, NORFOLK. Anaeroplane had come down in the sea, and aminesweeper which had seen the crash foundwreckage , bu t no surv ivors were found. -Rewards, £16 5s. 6d.

(See Sheringham, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 65.)

MAY 18TH. - WALTON AND FRINTON,ESSEX. A British Spitfire aeroplane hadcrashed into the sea, but the pilot was pickedup by a trawler. - Rewards, £8 16s.

MAY 26TH . - TORBAY, DEVON. A boyhad fallen over the cliff at Berry Head andwas too badly injured to be hauled up, butbefore the life-boat could reach the scene apassing tug had been signalled, had put in toshore and had taken the boy on board . -Rewards, £5 18s.

40 SERVICES 1942

MAY 27TH. - BALTIMORE, CO. CORK.An aeroplane was reported to have crashed,but no th ing could be found. - Rewards ,£5 12s.

MAY 27TH . - GIRVAN, AYRSHIRE. Anaeroplane had been reported down in thesea, but nothing could be found. - Rewards,£9 1s.

MAY 27TH. - PORTHDINLLAEN, CAER-NARVONSHIRE. A small pulling boat wasin d i f f icu l t ies , bu t the two men aboardm a n a g e d t o g e t t o l a n d w i t h o u t h e l p . -Rewards, £6 8s.

JUNE

Launches 17. Lives rescued NilJUNE 3RD. - BERWICK - ON - TWEED,

NORTHUMBERLAND. At 11 .20 A . M . i twas repor ted by te lephone tha t a smal lfishing boat was in distress to the south ofB e r w i c k p i e r , a n d t h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a tElizabeth Newton, on temporary duty at thes t a t i o n , w a s l a u n c h e d a t 1 1 . 3 0 A . M . Astrong westerly wind was blowing, with amoderate sea. The life-boat found the motorfishing boat Ruby, of Berwick-on-Tweed,wi th her engine broken down. She had acrew of three. The life-boat towed her intoharbour , and re tu rned to he r s t a t ion a t12.20 P.M. - Rewards, £1 17s. 6d.

JUNE . 10TH . - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.At 11.30 P.M. the coastguard telephoned thatthey had been watching a vessel since 6 P.M.She was under sail, but making little head-way, and appeared to be flying a two-flagsignal. The wind was slight, from the N.N.E.,but the sea was rough. The motor life-boatK.B.M. was launched at 11.55 P.M., and foundthe seine net fishing vessel Quest, of Cullen,with a crew of four, three miles N. fromBuckie. She had left Wick at 10 A.M., buther engine had broken down. The life-boattowed her into harbour, arriving at 12.45 A.M.- Rewards, £9 1s.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

J U N E 2 N D . - ARBROATH, ANGUS. Asmall fishing boat had drifted ashore, buther crew got off her without help. - Rewards,£10 7s.

JUNE 3RD. - CLACTON - ON - SEA, ESSEX.An aeroplane had been reported down, butthe life-boat could find nothing and later wasrecalled by wireless. - Rewards, £11 5s.

JUNE 4TH . - WALTON AND FRINTON,ESSEX. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea and the life-boat and hermotor board ing boa t searched , bu t theyfound nothing, and later were recalled bywireless. - Rewards, £8 16s.

JUNE 6TH . - ALDEBURGH, SUFFOLK.Signals of distress had been reported 10 milesaway, but the life-boat was recalled, as ades t royer had p icked up the c rew of anaeroplane. - Rewards, £18 10s.

J U N E 1 0 T H . - P O R T H D I N L L A E N ,CAERNARVONSHIRE. An Anson aero-plane had crashed into the sea, but the crewwere drowned before the l i fe -boat and am o t o r l a u n c h c o u l d r e a c h t h e s p o t . -Rewards, £7 13s. 6d.

J U N E 1 2 T H . - DUNMORE EAST, CO.W A T E R F O R D . A n a e r o p l a n e h a d b e e nseen falling into the sea, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £4 7s. 6d.

JUNE 14TH. - HOLYHEAD, ANGLESEY.Two men had been reported in difficultieson some rocks, but no one was found thereand probably seals had been mistaken formen. - Rewards, £3 2s. 6d.

J U N E 1 7 T H . - C A M P B E L T O W N ,ARGYLLSHIRE. A trawler ashore on theMull of Kintyre had been reported by coast-guards on the Irish coast, but it was foundthat, she was a trawler which had been ashores i n c e J a n u a r y , a n d o w i n g t o t h e e x t r a -ordinarily clear air she was seen that dayfrom the I r i sh coas t for the f i r s t t ime. -Rewards, £3 2s. 6d.

JUNE . 17TH . - ABERYSTWYTH, CAR-DIGANSHIRE. An aux i l i a ry smack hadbeen reported in distress, but she was towedinto Aberdovey by a motor boat. - Rewards,£16 l6s.

JUNE 20TH . - CROMER, NORFOLK. ASpitfire aeroplane had crashed, but no airmanwas found, and the life-boat’s efforts to towi n t h e a e r o p l a n e w e r e u n s u c c e s s f u l . -Rewards, £11 8s. 6d.

(See Sheringham, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 67.)

JUNE 20TH. - ARKLOW, CO. WICKLOW.Flares had been reported, probably from anaeroplane , bu t no th ing could be found . -Rewards, £14 0s. 6d.

J U N E 2 l S T . - K I L M O R E , C O . W E X -FORD. A steamer, damaged by striking arock or wreckage, had been beached, butshe did not need the help of the life-boat.-Rewards, £31 12s. 6d.

JUNE 26TH . - CROMER, NORFOLK. AWellington bombing aeroplane had crashedinto the sea, but her crew were picked up bya patrol boat. - Rewards, £12 7s. 6d.

JUNE 29TH. - CLOUGHEY, CO. DOWN.A Spitfire aeroplane had been seen to divei n t o t h e s e a , b u t n o t h i n g w a s f o u n d . -Rewards, £6 17s. 6d.

JULY

Launches 17. Lives rescued 7.

J U L Y 1 3 T H . - C O U R T M A C S H E R R YHARBOUR, CO. CORK. At 5.30 A.M . thecoastwatchers reported that a small boat wasin distress about five miles S.E. of Oyster-h a v e n , a n d t h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a t C i t y o fBradford 1, on temporary duty at the station,was launched at 5.50 A.M. A moderate westerlywind was blowing and the sea was smooth, but

SERVICES 1942 41

there was fog. After a long search the life-boatfound the motor launch Shirken, of Oyster-haven. Only one man was on board and hewas exhausted. Two other men had been onboard the launch, but they had put off in herdinghy to get help and been unable to return.The life-boat took the man off, towed thelaunch to Oysterhaven, and returned to herstation, arriving at 1.35 P . M . - Rewards,£7 2s.

J ULY 1 4 T H . - WELLS, NORFOLK. At5.39 A.M. a message was received from thecoastguard that an aeroplane had crashedinto the sea three miles away. She was aLancaster bomber. At 5.52 came anothermessage asking the life-boat to launch, andthe motor life-boat Royal Silver Jubilee, 1910-1935 was afloat at 6.15. Dr. E. W. Hicks,the honorary secretary of the station, wentwith her. A freshening wind was blowingfrom the north, with a moderate sea. Thelife-boat found the aeroplane standing onher nose, with her tail and part of her portw i n g b l o w n a w a y . O n e a i r m a n , a l m o s tpulseless, but still conscious and moaningwith pain, was clinging to the underside ofthe port wing. He was lifted into the life-boat. There was no sign of any other memberof the crew, so the coxswain hoisted himselfon to the edge of the wing and walked alongit to the fuselage. Its top had been blownaway and he climbed inside to search for therest of the crew, who might still be aboard,injured and helpless. At any moment theaeroplane might have turned over, or sunk,and the coxswain would have been trappedinside her. He searched but found no one,and the life-boat put back to Wells, whereshe arrived at 7.30. The injured man waslanded and taken to hospital, but later bedied . The l i fe -boa t then re turned to theaeroplane and made a further search. Shefound nothing except a rubber dinghy, abouta mile away. At 8.40 the aeroplane sank.An Air-Sea Rescue launch, with the help ofaeroplanes, began a wider search, and thelife-boat returned to her station, where shearrived at 9.15. Some of the bodies of theother six men of the bomber, all of whomlost their lives, were recovered later.

In recognition of his gallantry in going onboard the aeroplane, the Institution awardedits thanks inscribed on vellum to COXSWAINT H E O D O R T . L . N E I L S E N . - R e w a r d s ,£8 10s. 3d.

JULY 18TH . - WHITBY, YORKSIIIRE.During the morning the fishing fleet hadreturned, as the weather was getting rough,with the exception of one coble, Freda, andat 12.50 in the afternoon, by which time thewind was blowing strongly from the N.N.E.,with a very rough sea, the motor life-boatM a r y A n n H e p w o r t h was launched . Shefound the Freda three miles E.N.E. of Whitby,with her crew of three pumping and balingto keep her afloat. The life-boat kept onthe weather side of the coble to protect herfrom the seas, and thus escorted the coblegot safely into harbour at 2 o’clock in theafternoon. - Rewards, £4 19s. 6d.

JULY 20TH . - FILEY, YORKSHIRE. Inthe early morning the motor fishing boatJoan and Mary had gone out with a crew ofthree. As by evening she had not returnedand no news had been received of anotherboat which had gone out to look for her, themotor life-boat The Cuttle was launched at7.32 P.M. A light westerly wind was blowing,with a slight swell. The life-boat found theJoan and Mary, which had had trouble withher engine, and towed her in, arriving at10 P.M. - Rewards, £14 15s.

JULY 21ST . - FILEY, YORKSHIRE. At7.10 P.M. the life-boat coxswain was told bythe coastguard that the small outboard motorfishing boat Ivy, with a crew of two, wasmaking signals of distress. A fresh W.S.W.wind was b lowing, wi th a modera te sea .The motor life-boat The Cuttle was launchedat 7.40 P .M . and found the Ivy two milesN.E. of F i ley Br igg . Her c rew were ex-haus ted . A l i fe -boa tman jumped in to thesmall boat and helped them into the life-boat. She took the Ivy in tow and returnedto Filey, arriving at 8.45 P . M . - Rewards,£13 5s.

JULY 30TH . - CROMER, NORFOLK. At6.1 P .M. the flag officer in charge at GreatYarmouth telephoned, through the Cromercoastguard, asking that the life-boat shouldbe sent to help a Walrus aeroplane whichhad come down in the sea about six milesN.E. of Cromer, and the No. 1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey was launched at 6.10 P.M.The sea was smooth and a light S.E. windwas blowing. The life-boat reached the aero-plane in half an hour, passed a rope to theaeroplane, which had a crew of four, andtowed her to the life-boat slipway. Beforeshe arrived the life-boat had had a wirelessmessage saying that the aeroplane was to bekept a f loa t to awai t an exper t . When hearrived the life-boat put him on board her.She then cut away some drogue ropes whichwere foul under water, and took off three ofthe airmen. The pilot and expert then gotthe aeroplane into the air again and the life-boat was rehoused at 8.18 P .M . The threeairmen returned, by lorry, to their station.-Rewards, £10 9s. 6d.

J U L Y 3 0 T H . - S H E R I N G H A M , N O R -FOLK. At 1.47 A.M . a local resident tele-phoned that an aeroplane had come downin flames off Cley, and the motor life-boatForesters Centenary was launched at 3.42 A.M.The sea was smooth and a light W.S.W. windwas b lowing . The l i fe -boa t found tha t i twas a German ae rop lane and the a i rmanhad been picked up by a small boat. On herway back the life-boat picked up the bodyof a British airman, which had been in thesea for some time. - Rewards, £26 0s. 6d.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

J U L Y 1 S T . - B U C K I E , B A N F F S H I R E ,A N D F R A S E R B U R G H , A B E R D E E N -SHIRE. An aeroplane had been repor ted

42 SERVICES 1942

down in the sea, but the Buckie life-boatreached the position to find that an R.A.F.rescue launch had picked up the body ofan airman. The Fraserburgh life-boat wasrecalled. - Rewards : Buckie, £4 10s. 6d. ;Fraserburgh, £8 15s.

J ULY 3 R D . - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.An aeroplane had crashed into the sea, buther crew of seven, who had taken to theirdinghy, were picked up by a fishing boat.-Rewards, £5 10s. 6d.

J U L Y 1 1 T H . - A R R A N M O R E , C O .DONEGAL. A ship’s boat was drifting, butno one was on board. - Rewards, £5 9s. 6d.

JULY 19TH. - CLOUGHEY, CO. DOWN.An aeroplane had been repor ted down inthe sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards,£9 10s. 6d.

J U L Y 2 1 S T . - D O N A G H A D E E , C O .DOWN. A canoe with two boys was missingfrom Groomsport and the life-boat searchedwith the he lp of searchl ights f rom shoreba t te r ies , bu t found noth ing . - Rewards ,£8 18s. 6d.

J ULY 2 3 R D . - MARYPORT, CUMBER-LAND. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £15 3s.

J ULY 2 5 T H . - BARMOUTH, MERION-ETHSHIRE. A British aeroplane had beenreported down in the sea, but the life-boatfound nothing. - Rewards, £5 14s. 6d.

J U L Y 2 6 T H . - W E L L S , N O R F O L K . ABritish aeroplane had been reported downin the sea, but only a patch of oil was found.- Rewards, £20 18s. 9d.

J ULY 2 7 T H . - MOELFRE, ANGLESEY.A minesweeper had gone ashore on the rocksin Moelfre Bay, but her crew were rescuedby the coastguard life-saving apparatus.-Rewards, £5 16s. 6d.

AUGUST

Launches 22. Lives rescued 18.AUGUST 5 T H . - CLOVELLY, DEVON.

At 4.15 A.M. the naval officer in commandat Appledore sa id tha t the l i fe -boa t waswanted four miles W.N.W. from HartlandPoint, and the motor life-boat City of Not-tingham was launched at 4.50 A.M. A freshnortherly wind was blowing, with a moderatesea. On the way the life-boat saw flares and,reaching the position two hours after launch-i n g , f o u n d a r u b b e r d i n g h y w i t h t h r e eGerman a i rmen aboard . Two o thers hadlost their lives when the aeroplane crashed.On her way back her engine failed and sheset sail , but at 11 A.M . an R.A.F. rescueboat came up and towed the life-boat in,arriving at 11.50 A.M. - Rewards, £25 6s. 6d.

AUGUST 8TH . - PORT ST. MARY, ISLEOF MAN. At about 3.40 A.M . the Scarlet

Po in t , Cas t le town, coas tguard repor ted avesse l aground a quar te r o f a mi le f romCastletown breakwater. A strong southerlywind of almost gale force was blowing, witha heavy swell. At 4.15 A.M. the coastguardasked for the life-boat, and at 5.5 A.M. themotor l i fe -boat S i r H e a t h H a r r i s o n waslaunched. She found the S.S. Gorsefield, ofLiverpool, with a crew of eleven, bound lightfrom Dublin to Silloth. She had been carriedoff her course by a strong ebb tide, and hadgrounded on a submerged rock. The life-boat stood by until the Gorsefield got off onthe flowing tide, and returned to her stationat 7.10 A.M. - Rewards, £11 17s. 6d.

AUGUST 10TH. - DUN LAOGHAIRE, CO.D U B L I N . S h o r t l y a f t e r 3 P . M . a s m a l lyacht about three miles east of the harbourwas seen trying to beat into harbour againsta westerly gale and a rough sea. She waskept in view by the life-boat coxswain, andwhen he saw that she was not making head-way, but was being blown out to sea, hecalled out the crew, and at 4.10 P.M. the motorl i fe -boat D u n l e a r y I I was launched . Shefound the yacht Brunette of Dun Laoghaire,with two men and three children aboard.She had lost her rudder and damaged hermainsail, and she was then about two milesnorth-east of the Muglins Rock. The life-boat towed her in, arriving at 5.45 P .M .-Rewards, £4 13s. 6d.

A U G U S T 1 1 T H . - P O R T A S K A I G ,A R G Y L L S H I R E . A t t h e r e q u e s t o f t h edoctor on the Island of Colonsay the motorlife-boat Charlotte Elizabeth was launched at11.45 A.M . in a strong westerly wind, andbrought from Colonsay to Islay an expectantmother who was dangerously ill. The life-boat returned to her station at 7 P .M . Herhelp saved the life of the patient, who waskept in hospital until her baby was born.A relative of the patient made a gift of moneyto the life-boat crew. - Rewards, £4 17s. 6d.

AUGUST 11TH. - FLEETWOOD, LANCA-SHIRE. At 11 P . M . the nava l of f icer incommand asked for the life-boat to go outto a vessel aground on Pilling Sands. Shewas the trawler River Ythan, of Fleetwood,loaded wi th f i sh and car ry ing a c rew oftwelve. She had been attacked by Germanaeroplanes off the Faroe Islands. The motorlife-boat Ann Letitia Russell was launched at11.20 P . M . A moderate W.N.W. wind wasblowing, with a rough sea. The life-boatfound that the trawler had refloated, putone of her own men on board as pilot andescorted her into port, arriving at 12.50 A.M.- Rewards, £12 10s.

AUGUST 11TH. - CLOGHER HEAD, CO.LOUTH. At 12 .20 in the a f t e rnoon theClogher coas twatch ing s ta t ion repor ted ,through the Civic Guard, that the sailingboat Lalzi, of Port Oriel, was in difficultyto the S.E. of Port Oriel. On board her werethe Rev. Father MacCooey, the owner of theb o a t a n d t h e h o n o r a r y s e c r e t a r y o f t h eClogher Head l i fe -boa t s ta t ion , and twoother men. The motor life-boat Mary AnnBlunt was launched at 12.45. A westerly

SERVICES 1942 43

gale was blowing with a heavy sea. Whenthe life-boat came up with the boat she foundthat her mast had been carried away in asquall, that the men were trying to row herin, but were unable to make any headwayagainst a strong ebb tide, and that the boatwas drifting out to sea. The life-boat tooktwo of the men on board, the other remainedin the Lalzi . The life-boat then took theLalzi in tow, brought her safely into PortOriel, and returned to her station at 4.15 P.M.- Rewards, £5 15s.

AUGUST 15TH. - STROMNESS, ORK-NEYS. At 4.15 P .M. coastwatchers reportedby te lephone tha t the motor f i sh ing boatExcelsior, of Stromness, with a crew of three,was overdue, and had last been seen threemiles off. The weather was thick, with veryheavy ra in , and a s t rong S .E . wind wasblowing, with a rough sea. The motor life-boat J.J.K.S.W. was launched at 4.30 P .M.,and found the Excelsior off Yesnaby. Herengine had failed. The life-boat towed herin, arriving at 6.45 P.M. - Rewards, £4 4s.

A U G U S T 1 5 T H . - F R A S E R B U R G H ,ABERDEENSHIRE. At 6.37 A.M . a mes-sage was received from the coastguard atKinnaird Head that a small motor boat wasashore three-quar te rs of a mi le south ofI n z i e H e a d , a n d t h a t a n o t h e r b o a t w a sstanding by and attempting to tow her off.The boats were kept under observation, andat 12.5 P .M . the motor life-boat John andCharles Kennedy was launched. The weatherwas fine, but foggy. The life-boat foundthat the boats were the Aksel and Arthur,both of the Norwegian navy. The boat whichhad been stranded was now afloat and beingtowed by the o ther , bu t she was leak ingbadly and had a good deal of water in herengine-room and hold. The life-boat helpedto tow her into harbour. There a fire enginepumped her dry, and she was put in drydock. The life-boat returned to her stationat 1.30 P.M. - Property salvage case.

AUGUST 19TH . - HASTINGS, SUSSEX.At 11.30 in the morning a message came fromthe Fairlight coastguard that what he thoughtwas a rubber dinghy had been dropped froman aeroplane flying from west to east, andthat he was trying to get into touch withpa t ro l boa t s . Ha l f an hour l a te r ano thermessage came asking that the life-boat shouldput out, and at 12.22 in the afternoon themotor life-boat Cyril and Lilian Bishop waslaunched. There was a shortage of launchersand 25 soldiers from one of the shore batteriesh e l p e d . T h e h o n o r a r y s e c r e t a r y o f t h estation, Commander W. Highfield, O.B.E.,R.N. , was on board . A S .W. breeze wasblowing, with a slight swell. The life-boatwent to the position which had been givenher, 1 1/4 miles to the S.S.W. from Hastings,and when she had travelled just over a milep i c k e d u p a p e t r o l t a n k . T h e l i f e - b o a tthen made a sweep round, saw anotherobject to the westward, found that it was aparavane, picked it up and returned to herstation, arriving at 1.15 in the afternoon.-Rewards, £13 13s.

AUGUST 20TH . - HOLYHEAD, ANGLE-SEY. At 3.27 P .M. the coastguard reportedthat a British aeroplane had crashed, andthe Belgian motor life-boat Ministre Anseele,from the reserve fleet, on temporary duty atthe station, was launched at 3.40 P .M . Astrong S.W. wind was blowing, with a roughsea. The life-boat found the wreckage of ana e r o p l a n e o f f t h e S o u t h S t a c k , a n d t h ebodies of two a i rmen. She took them onboard, and arrived back at her station at6.15 P.M. - Rewards, £2 10s.

AUGUST 3 l S T . - KILMORE, CO. WEX-FORD. At 10 P .M . lamp signals were seenfrom a position two miles E.S.E. of SmallSaltee Island, and the motor life-boat AnnIsabella Pyemont was launched at 11.15 P.M.A moderate S.W. breeze was blowing, with arather rough sea. The life-boat found thatthe boat in d is t ress was the f i sh ing boatGuillemot, of Kilmore Quay, with the life-boat coxswain and two other men on board.A lobster pot line had fouled her propellerand the men could not get it clear, althoughone of them had been over the side twice inattempting to remove it. The Guillemot hadno oars or sails and the life-boat towed her in,arriving at 11.35 P.M. - Rewards, £18 1s.

AUGUST 31ST. - ROSSLARE HARBOUR,CO. WEXFORD. At about midn igh t thelife-boat watchman saw a red flare, and onmaking enquiries of incoming boats he foundthat the motor fishing boat Onward, of Ross-la re Harbour , which had been f i sh ing a tTuskar, had been disabled by the failure ofh e r e n g i n e . T h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a t M a b l eMarion Thompson was launched at 12.15 A.M.,with the honorary secretary, Mr. W. J. B.Moncas, on board. A moderate S.W. windwas blowing, with a slight sea. The life-boatfound the Onward near Wexford Bar buoy.She had repaired her engine and was comingin . The l i fe -boat escor ted her , and theyarrived at 1.15 A.M. - Rewards, partly paidpermanent crew, £4 7s.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

AUGUST 5TH . - ROSSLARE HARBOUR,C O . W E X F O R D . A s c h o o n e r h a d g o n eaground, but her crew got her off and shewas able to go on her way. - Partly paidpermanent crew. Rewards, £2 5s. 6d.

AUGUST 6TH . - CLACTON - ON - SEA,ESSEX. A British aeroplane had come downin the sea, but only patches of oil were found.- Rewards, £7 17s. 6d.

AUGUST 7TH. - CLOUGHEY, AND NEW-CASTLE, CO. DOWN. An upturned boathad been reported fifteen miles south-eastof Tara, but nothing was found. - Rewards :Cloughey, £14 14s. ; Newcastle, £22 11s.

AUGUST 7TH . - THE HUMBER, YORK-SHIRE. At 5 .20 in the morn ing the l i fe -boat watchman saw a large bombing aero-plane come down on fire near the gate vessel.

44 SERVICES 1942

The sea was ablaze with burning petrol. Thecoxswain rang up the Royal Naval ShoreSignal Station and was told that two steelboats had been ordered out to search for theaeroplane’s crew. Permission to launch thelife-boat was refused until after the flameshad begun to die down, as she was a woodenvessel. At 5.40 the life-boat put out, butfound nothing except wreckage. The wholecrew of the bomber, believed to be nine, hadlost their lives, and four bodies were re-covered by one of the patrol vessels. Thecoxswain of the station later had a talk withthe naval officer in charge, and the navalof f icer agreed for the fu ture to leave i tentirely to the coxswain to decide whetheror not it was advisable to launch the life-boat. - Paid permanent crew.

A U G U S T 9 T H . - P O R T H D I N L L A E N ,CAERNARVONSHIRE. An R.A.F. Ansontrainer aeroplane had come down off Llan-dwrog, but the life-boat could find nothing.-Rewards, £10 4s. 6d.

A U G U S T 1 2 T H . - A L D E B U R G H , S U F -FOLK. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £19 12s. 6d.

A U G U S T 1 5 T H . - W E L L S , N O R F O L K .An aeroplane had reported what appearedto be an upturned dinghy, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £12 3s.

A U G U S T 2 0 T H . - P O R T H D I N L L A E N ,CAERNARVONSHIRE. An aeroplane hadbeen reported down in the sea over thirtymiles away, but the life-boat was recalled byw i r e l e s s b e f o r e r e a c h i n g t h e p o s i t i o n . -Rewards, £11 8s.

A U G U S T 3 0 T H . - P O R T H D I N L L A E N ,CAERNARVONSHIRE. A motor boat hadbroken down, but it was learned later thather crew had landed in their small boat, andt h e l i f e - b o a t w a s r e c a l l e d b y w i r e l e s s -Rewards, £5 17s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER

Launches 37. Lives rescued 14.SEPTEMBER 1ST. - DUNMORE EAST, CO.

WATERFORD. During the morning newswas received by wireless from the S.S. IrishWillow that she had on board forty-sevensurvivors from the S.S. Empire Breeze, whichhad been torpedoed in mid-Atlantic on the22nd August, and that she proposed to landthem a t Dunmore Eas t . At 1 .30 P . M . themotor life-boat Annie Blanche Smith waslaunched, with doctors and ambulance menon board. A light S.W. wind was blowingand the sea was smooth. In two trips thelife-boat landed the forty-seven men, andafter being given food they left for Dublin.The l i fe -boa t re tu rned to her s ta t ion a t3.45 P .M. The owners of the Empire Breezem a d e a d o n a t i o n t o t h e I n s t i t u t i o n . -Rewards, £4 7s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 2ND. - HASTINGS, SUSSEX.At 9 .58 in the morn ing the coas t -guard

reported that a parachute had been seen todrop twelve miles to the S.W., and at 10.23the motor life-boat Cyril and Lilian Bishopwas launched. Commander W. Highfield,O.B.E . , R .N. , honorary secre ta ry of thestation, went with her. A moderate S.W.wind was blowing, with a slight sea. Anaeroplane was also searching, and the life-boat went to a spot where she had droppeda smoke bomb. She found nothing there orat the position first given by the coastguard,bu t on her way back to the s ta t ion shepicked up a German parachute and the petroltank of a British aeroplane. A motor boathad also put out, manned by two men, butshe found nothing. The life-boat returnedto her s ta t ion a t 2 .5 in the a f te rnoon . -Rewards, £15 4s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 2ND . - DUN LAOGHAIRE,CO. DUBLIN. At 6.15 P . M . the assistantmechanic reported that a rowing boat hadbeen in difficulties about two miles off theeast pier at 5.30 P.M., and although she wasnow getting closer she would not make theharbour against the S.W. wind and ebbingt i d e . A t 7 . 1 0 P . M . t h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a tDunleary II was launched and towed therowing boat into harbour at 8 P.M. - Rewards,£9 13s.

SEPTEMBER 3RD. - PETERHEAD, ABER-DEENSHIRE. At abou t 6 A . M . the nava lbarge 390 was leaving harbour when shes t randed across the l i fe -boat s l ipway. Astrong southerly wind was blowing and thes e a w a s r o u g h . A s t h e p o s i t i o n o f t h ebarge made it impossible to launch the motorlife-boat Julia Park Barry of Glasgow, thelife-boatmen used the life-boat’s life-savingapparatus from the shore, and by this meansrescued the barge’s crew of seventeen. -Rewards, £3 15s.

SEPTEMBER 3RD . - NEWHAVEN, SUS-SEX. At 3 P.M. the naval authorities askedfor the life-boat to be launched as liftingcraft No. 17 had broken loose from mooringsat the mouth of the harbour, where she wasbeing used on salvage work. The sea wasrough, with a strong S.W. wind. The motorl i fe -boat Cec i l and L i l i an Ph i lpo t t waslaunched at 3.15 P.M. and got a rope from thelifting craft to a tug, which towed her intoharbour, with the life-boat standing by. Thelife-boat returned to her station at 5 P . M .-Rewards, £5 19s.

S E P T E M B E R 5 T H . - Y O U G H A L , C O .CORK. The honorary sec re ta ry heard ashout for help from a man swimming a longway from the shore in heavy breakers, andthe motor life-boat Laurana Sarah Bluntwas launched at 1.27 P.M. When she reachedthe swimmer, one of the life-boatmen, GeorgeKay, dived overboard and held the man upunt i l bo th were taken in to the l i fe -boa t .Ar t i f ic ia l resp i ra t ion was appl ied to therescued man until he was landed and handedover to the care of a doctor, but he died later.A letter of appreciation and an additionalmonetary reward were sent by the Institutionto George Kay. - Rewards, £6 7s.

SERVICES 1942 45

SE P T E M B E R 6 T H . - BERWICK - ON -TWEED, NORTHUMBERLAND. At 11.41in the morning the coastguard telephonedthat a small pulling boat was in difficulties2 1/2 miles S.E. from Berwick Pier, and themotor life-boat J. and W. was launched at11 .45 . A s t rong squa l ly wind f rom theW.N.W. was blowing, with a moderate sea.The life-boat found that the boat belongedto No. 310 coastal battery, at Spittal. Shehad six men on board, and had been layingtargets for gunnery practice. The life-boattook the six men on board, and with theirsmall boat in tow, returned to Berwick, wheres h e a r r i v e d a t o n e i n t h e a f t e r n o o n . -Rewards, £4 4s.

S E P T E M B E R 1 0 T H . - G I R V A N , A Y R -S H I R E , A N D P O R T P A T R I C K , W I G -TOWNSHIRE. At 1 .10 in the a f t e rnoonthe coastguard reported to the Girvan life-boat station that a naval pinnace was flyinga distress signal off Ballantrae. The cox-swain and second-coxswain were out fishing,and another member of the crew took charge.There was some delay in launching the life-boat as the motor-mechanic was engagedfive miles away, and at 2.5 the Port Patricks t a t i o n w a s a s k e d t o l a u n c h . T h e P o r tPatrick motor life-boat Jeanie Speirs gotaway at 2.20 P.M. and the Girvan motor life-boat Lily Glen - Glasgow at 2 .45 P .M . Amoderate S.W. wind was blowing, with amoderate sea. The Girvan life-boat foundthe pinnace four miles N. by E. of Ballantraeat 4.30 in the afternoon. She had three menon board, and her engine had broken down.The life-boat took her in tow and reachedGirvan again at 6.45 P .M . Meanwhile thePort Patrick life-boat had been recalled bywireless and reached her station at 4 P .M.-Rewards : Girvan, £9 1s. ; Port Patrick,£3 15s.

SE P T E M B E R 1 2 T H . - SENNEN COVE,CORNWALL. At 10.3 P.M. the coastguardreported that an aeroplane had crashed aboutfour miles N.W. of Cape Cornwall, and themotor life-boat The Newbons was launched at10.45 P .M. The sea was calm, with a lightE.N.E. wind. All the life-boat found wasburning oil and pieces of the aeroplane, andshe returned to Sennen Cove at 12.45 A.M.-Rewards, £13 4s.

SEPTEMBER 14TH. - MOELFRE, ANGLE-SEY. During the afternoon a man and awoman in a rowing boat from Benllech wererarried out to sea by the tide and a strongS.W. wind, and the motor life-boat G.W. waslaunched at 3.30 P .M . She picked up theboat about three miles N.E. of Moelfre Islandand towed her in, arriving at 4.40 P .M. Ale t te r of thanks was rece ived f rom therescued. - Rewards, £4 13s.

SEPTEMBER 14TH. - RAMSEY, ISLE OFMAN. During the afternoon the local motorfishing boat Caribou was reported to beoverdue, and at 4.30 P.M. the motor life-boatL a d y H a r r i s o n w a s l a u n c h e d . A f r e s hsqua l ly S .W. wind was b lowing , wi th amoderate sea. The life-boat found the Caribou

s ix mi les N.E. of Ramsey. She had hadt r o u b l e w i t h h e r e n g i n e . T h e l i f e - b o a tescorted her home, arriving at 7.15 P .M .-Rewards, £12 8s.

S E P T E M B E R 1 5 T H . - R H Y L , F L I N T -SHIRE. During the afternoon it was learnedfrom the coastguard that the local fishingsmack Golden Arrow, which had gone outthe previous evening with a crew of two,h a d n o t b e e n s e e n s i n c e , a n d a f t e r u n -successful enquiries had been made the motorlife-boat The Gordon Warren was launcheda t 7 . 1 0 P . M . A s t rong W.N.W. wind wasblowing, with a rough sea. The life-boatfound the Golden Arrow five miles W.N.W.of Rhyl. She had lost her propeller, and hersails had been carried away. The life-boatr e s c u e d t h e t w o m e n o n b o a r d h e r a n dreturned to her station, arriving at 8.25 P.M.- Rewards, £10 19s.

SE P T E M B E R 1 5 T H . - BUCKIE, BANFF-SHIRE. At 8 .53 a t n igh t the coas tguardreported that the R.A.F. high speed launch170 was ashore on the rocks under Buckiecoastguard station. A strong squally W.N.W.wind was blowing, with a heavy sea. Thetide was one hour from low water, and thenight was dark but clear. The motor life-boat K.B.M. was launched at 9.30 P .M. andreached the launch ten minutes later. Thelife-boatmen could see her by the light ofthe coastguard’s Aldis lamp from the shore,with the seas breaking over her stern and hercrew crowded into the bow. The coastguardlife-saving apparatus was on the shore, andwas attempting to take off the crew. It hadgot a line aboard the launch, so the life-boatheld off. The apparatus rescued one manby hauling him through the heavy seas andover sharp rocks, at great risk to himself,and the rest of the crew then called for thelife-boat to come to their help. The launchwas now well up on the rocks, and poundingheavily as each sea came over her. The life-boat made for her stern, but wind, sea andtide carried her away. She made a secondattempt to go alongside, but, as she wasgetting near the launch, a heavy sea struckher and lifted her towards the rocks. As itreceded she crashed heavily on them andone of her crew was thrown overboard bythe shock. The coxswain went full speedas te rn and p icked h im up . The man waslittle the worse, but a line which the life-saving apparatus had fired got round thelife-boat’s propeller and the engine stopped.It was started again and the line was snapped.The coxswain then took the l i fe -boa t towindward of the launch, and this time heanchored and dropped down towards her onhis cable. The life-boat again struck heavilyon the rocks, and the coxswain took her outinto deeper water. He transferred the cableto the stern, and again dropped down on it,this time bow first, and came near enough tothe launch to throw his grappling iron to her.The life-boat was now right over the rocksand as each wave receded she crashed onthem, but, in spite of the risk of smashingher up, the coxswain gradually worked herclose to the launch, and the nine waiting men

46 SERVICES 1942

jumped aboard. Then, hauling on his cableand working his engine, the coxswain broughtthe life-boat off the rocks again. The cox-swain was standing in water, and he knewthat her bottom was holed, but she was stillseaworthy, and came safely back to harbourwith the rescued men at 10.38. It was thenf o u n d t h a t h e r b o t t o m h a d b e e n b a d l ysmashed. The whole boat was flooded exceptfor the engine-room and petrol compartments,and she was kept afloat only by her air cases.

It was a service carried out with greatskill and courage, and the Institution awardedits thanks on vellum to COXSWAIN FRANCISMAIR. It also awarded £1 to the coxswainand each member of the crew, in addition tothe ordinary award on the standard scale of£1 5s. - Rewards on the standard scale,

£10 6s. ; additional rewards to crew, £8 ;total rewards, £18 6s.

SE P T E M B E R 1 9 T H . - CLOUGHEY, CO.DOWN. At 6.40 in the evening the Taracoastguard reported a steamer on the LongRock, at South Rock, and the motor life-boat Herbert John was launched at 7.8 P.M.The coxswain was asked to find out if thesteamer wanted a tug, and if there was anyposs ib i l i ty of re f loa t ing her . An E.S .E.breeze was blowing, with a moderately roughsea and a heavy swell. At 7.35 the life-boatfound the steamer Moelfre Rose, of Liver-pool, an 800-ton collier, bound in ballast fromDublin to the Clyde. She then returned toher station, and her coxswain reported thatthe collier was in a precarious position. Herafter part was on the rocks, but her bowswere off it for about 15 feet, and he thoughtthere was a risk that she might break herback when the tide left her. He asked thathelpers should stand by during the night, incase the collier’s crew wanted to be taken off,and then returned to stand by her until nextt i d e . A t h i g h w a t e r i n t h e m o r n i n g t h emaster of the Moelfre Rose, advised by thelife-boat coxswain, was able to get her offthe rock. Although she was damaged andmaking water he decided to go on his way.The collier was surrounded by rocks, but thelife-boat piloted her out of danger, and afterescorting her for some miles, returned to herstation, arriving at 8.30 in the morning.-Rewards, £24 3s.

BRONZE MEDAL SERVICEAT WICK

SEPTEMBER 21ST. - WICK, CAITH-N E S S - S H I R E . A t 2 . 2 5 i n t h emorning a message came from thecoastguard that a vessel was ashoreon the rocks inside Duncansby Headand in need of immediate help, andat five minutes past three the motorl i fe -boa t C i t y o f E d i n b u r g h waslaunched. It was dead low water.A north-easterly gale was blowing,with a very high sea and a dangerouscross swell. There was torrential rain

which came down without ceasing,and in the darkness and rain the cox-swain could see nothing. He had noclear information about the positionof the wreck. All that he knew wasthat she was on the rocks insideDuncansby Head, fifteen miles away,and he made for the Head, steering bycompass. When, by the estimatedspeed of his boat, he thought that hemust be off the Head, he sent out awireless message asking that the light-house’s light might be turned on. Theanswer came back that the light hadbeen on since one in the morning, andthat the wreck was on the Ness atDuncansby. The lifeboat’s crew couldsee nothing of the light until at last,at 5.45, a faint glimmer appearedthrough the rain, and they realisedthat all the time they had been rightalongside the lighthouse. With thatglimmer to guide her the life-boat madefor the Ness and reached it as the firststreak of daylight appeared. It wasjust after six in the morning. Thelife-boatmen could then just make outtwo vessels ashore, a motor barge rightup on the Ness, and a tug astern of her.As the life-boat drew closer they couldsee a large group of men on the barge.The sea was very heavy, and the cox-swain was uncertain of the depth ofthe water, or the condition of the seabottom, but, without hesitation, hetook the life-boat straight in to thebarge. Handling her very boldly andskilfully he brought her alongside.Ropes were thrown ; the life-boat wasmade fast ; and the 27 men waitingon the barge jumped on board her.Four men had already got ashore on araft, but there were still another fouron the tug. Again by bold seaman-ship, the coxswain came alongside thetug, and the four men jumped intothe life-boat. The 31 rescued menwere all very cold and exhausted, butthe life-boatmen revived them withrum, and the life-boat made for Wick,where she arrived just after nine in themorning. She had then been out forsix hours.

It was a brave and skilful rescue,and the Institution awarded its bronzemedal for gallantry, with a copy of thevote inscribed on vellum, to COX-SWAIN NEIL STEWART, Junior ; its

SERVICES 1942 47

t h a n k s o n v e l l u m t o t h e m o t o rmechanic, WILLIAM J. MOWATT, anda reward of £1, in addition to theordinary reward on the standard scaleof £1 17s. 6d., to each man. TheInstitution also sent a lcttcr of thanksto Mr. John S. Duncan, the honorarysecretary of the station. Standardrewards, £11 14s. ; additional rewardsto crew, £7 ; total rewards, £18 14s.

S E P T E M B E R 2 3 R D . - A P P L E D O R E ,DEVON. The French life-boat Jean Charcot,now in the service of the Institution, was onpassage from Padstow to Milford Haven, butas a strong westerly wind was blowing, witha rough sea, the life-boat was unable to makeMilford that day, and her coxswain decidedto put in to Appledore for the n ight . Shesignalled Appledore, and as very heavy seaswere breaking on the bar the Appledore motorlife-boat Violet Armstrong went out at 2 P.M.,met the Jean Charcot and escorted her overthe bar, returning to her station at 4 PM-Rewards £5 4s.

SEPTEMBER 29TH . - BALTIMORE, CO.C O R K . A t 8 . 3 0 P . M . t h e o w n e r o f t h eSkibbereen motor fishing boat Safe Returnreported that his boat, with a crew of three,was five hours overdue, and the motor life-boat Shamrock was launched at 9.5 P .M. AN.E. wind was blowing, with a rough sea, andthe night was dark, with rain. The life-boatfound the fishing boat six miles S.W. ofBaltimore harbour. Her engine had failed,and with an auxiliary sail she was trying tomake port against a head wind. The life-boatt o w e d h e r i n , a r r i v i n g a t 1 1 . 1 5 P . M . -Rewards, £11 4s.

S E P T E M B E R 3 0 T H . - W H I T E H I L L S ,BANFFSHIRE. At 2.35 P .M. the coastguardreported that a small motor cargo vessel onemile N. by E. of Sandend had stopped andwas firing coloured rockets. A light southerlywind was blowing, with a moderate sea andheavy rain. The motor life-boat Civil ServiceNo. 4 was launched at 2.55 P.M. and two milesnorth of Cullen Head she found the motorvessel Benguela, of London. Her engine hadbroken down, but she had made temporaryrepairs and was able to go very slowly. Thelife-boat escorted her several miles on her wayto Buckie, and then returned to Whitehills,arriving at 6.10 P.M. - Rewards, £4 15s.

SEPTEMBER 30TH . - MARGATE KENT.At 5.35 P .M. information was received fromthe naval authorities that a fishing boat wasin distress three miles west of Margate pier,and the motor life-boat The Lord Southborough(Civil Service No. 1) was launched at 5.58 P.M.A slight S.S.W. wind was blowing and thes e a w a s c a l m . T h e l i f e - b o a t f o u n d t h eProvidence, of Margate, with her enginebroken down, and towed her into harbour,arriving at 6.50 P.M. - Rewards, £4 7s. 6d.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

SEPTEMBER 3RD. - PEEL, ISLE OF MAN.A fishing boat had been disabled by netsfouling her propeller, but another fishing boattowed her into harbour. - Rewards, £8 7s. 6d.

S E P T E M B E R 5 T H . - T O B E R M O R Y ,ARGYLLSHIRE. An aerop lane had beenWEXFORD. Rockets had been repor ted ,but no th ing could be found. - Rewards ,£21 5s.

SEPTEMBER 11TH. - CLACTON - ON - SEA,ESSEX. A Wellington aeroplane had beenreported down in the sea, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £9 18s.

SEPTEMBER 14TH. - TROON, AYRSHIRE.Red flares had been reported, but nothingcould be found. - Rewards, £9 1s.

S E P T E M B E R 1 5 T H . - I L F R A C O M B E ,DEVON. A small, unknown vessel had beenreported derelict or drifting, but nothingcould be found. - Rewards, £8 8s. 6d.

S E P T E M B E R 1 7 T H . - A R K L O W , C O .WICKLOW. Red lights had been reported,but nothing could be found. - Rewards, £10.

S E P T E M B E R 2 1 S T . A P P L E D O R E ,D E V O N . A n a e r o p l a n e w a s r e p o r t e d t ohave crashed eight miles north of HartlandPoint, and at four in the afternoon the motorlife-boat Violet Armstrong was launched. Asqually N.W. by W. wind was blowing, witha rough sea, and visibility was poor. Thelife-boat searched, but found nothing, and at5.25 she was recalled by wireless by the navalofficer in charge. As darkness would sooncome, and the weather was bad, the coxswaindecided to shelter in Lundy Roads for thenight. It was not possible for the crew toland, and they remained on board the life-boat, without food. The life-boat did notge t back to her s ta t ion un t i l four in theafternoon of the following day, 24 hours aftersetting out. An increase in the usual moneyreward on the standard scale was made to

48 SERVICES 1942

each member of the crew. - Standard rewardsto crew and helpers, £17 4s. ; additionalrewards to crew, £7 ; total rewards, £24 4s.

S E P T E M B E R 2 2 N D . - W A L T O N A N DF R I N T O N , E S S E X . N a v a l m o t o r b o a t shad been reported in need of help, but withthe help of a tug, and escorted by a motorlaunch, they reached Harwich. - Rewards,£4 3s.

S E P T E M B E R 2 4 T H . - I L F R A C O M B E ,DEVON. An aeroplane had been reporteddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £21 7s. 6d.

SE P T E M B E R 2 5 T H . - BLYTH, NORTH-UMBERLAND. A barge had broken awayfrom a tug, but the life-boat found that therewas no one on board her. - Rewards, £9 13s.

SE P T E M B E R 2 6 T H . - SKEGNESS, LIN-COLNSHIRE. An aerop lane had droppedinto the sea in flames, but it was learned laterthat the airmen had been rescued and thelife-boat was recalled. - Rewards, £6 17s.

SE P T E M B E R 2 6 T H . - ST . IVES, CORN-WALL. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £14 2s.

SEPTEMBER 27TH. - BARMOUTH, MER-IONETHSHIRE. An Amer ican ae rop lanehad come down in the sea , bu t the p i lo tswam ashore. - Rewards, £10 1s. 6d.

OCTOBER

Launches 32. Lives rescued 31.

O C T O B E R 8 T H . - C L O U G H E Y , C O .DOWN. At 12.30 P .M. the Tara coastguardr e p o r t e d t h a t t h e m o t o r b o a t D a w n , o fGlasgow, engaged on sa lvage work , wasshowing signals of distress at the entranceto S t rangford Lough. A s t rong wes ter lybreeze was blowing, with squalls and heavys h o w e r s , a n d t h e s e a w a s r o u g h . A t12.50 P .M. the motor life-boat Herbert Johnwas launched and found the boat with herengine broken down. She had no sails oroars, and the two men on board her werehelpless. The life-boat towed her to Porta-ferry Quay, and returned to her station at4.45 P.M. - Rewards, £10 13s.

OCTOBER 8TH . - SENNEN COVE, ANDS T . I V E S , C O R N W A L L . A t 2 . 2 3 P . M .information was received at Sennen Covefrom the coastguard that an aeroplane wasd o w n i n t h e s e a t w o h u n d r e d y a r d s o f fPendeen Lighthouse, and that two men fromh e r w e r e d r i f t i n g n o r t h - e a s t . A s t r o n gsqually N.W. wind was blowing, with a roughsea, and it had been decided to call out thel i f e - b o a t i n s t e a d o f t h e R . A . F . r e s c u elaunches. The Sennen Cove motor life-boatThe Newbons was launched at 2.34 P.M. andwas met by a Lysander aeroplane , whichguided her to where two men in “ Mae West ”jackets were floating unconscious. The life-

boat took them on board and her crew triedto revive them, but without success. Thelife-boat also picked up a rubber dinghydropped from the Lysander. At 5 P .M. thelife-boat returned to Sennen Cove, but hadto anchor off and wait for the tide. She cameinto harbour at 6.18 P.M., when the two bodieswere landed by a small boat. A letter wasreceived from the resident naval officer atPenzance thanking the crew.

Information of the aeroplane’s crash hadbeen received at St. Ives at 2.12 P.M., and themotor life-boat Caroline Oates Aver andW i l l i a m M a i n e h a d b e e n l a u n c h e d a t2.50 P .M., but on reaching Pendeen she wasrecalled, and arrived back at her station at5.40 P.M. - Rewards : Sennen Cove, £17 19s. ;St. Ives, £18 15s. 6d.

O C T O B E R 1 2 T H . - NEWQUAY, CORN-WALL. At 12.39 in the afternoon the coast-guard reported that an aeroplane had comedown in the sea 3 1/2 miles S.W. of Towan Head,and the motor life-boat Richard Silver Oliverwas launched at one o’clock. A light S.W.wind was blowing, with a slight ground swell.Mr. E. H. Trembath, the honorary secretaryof the station, went with her as signalman,and by morse lamp kept in touch wi th aLysander aeroplane which was circling overthe spot where the aeroplane had come down.In 25 minutes the life-boat was on the spot,and found six airmen in their dinghy. Sherescued them and brought them ashore at1.52 P.M. - Rewards, £23 6s. 6d.

OCTOBER 17TH. - SHERINGHAM, NOR-FOLK. At 4 P.M. the flag officer in chargeat Great Yarmouth asked that the life-boatshould take out a doctor to H.M. Trawler 677,which was two miles N.E. of Sheringham.A moderate W.S.W. breeze was blowing, witha slight swell. The motor life-boat ForestersCentenary was ready for launching withinfifteen minutes, but no doctor was availableand, after waiting another fifteen minutes,the life-boat left without him. She found thatthe master of the trawler insisted on thepresence of a doctor before allowing the sickman to be moved, and returned to Shering-ham. A doctor was now ready. He was puton board the life-boat by a fishing boat. At6.15 P.M. the life-boat returned ashore, bringingthe sick man, and he was sent to CromerHospital by ambulance. - Rewards, £24 11s.

O C T O B E R 2 1 S T . - C L O U G H E Y , C O .DOWN. At 6.50 A.M . the Tara coastguardreported a vessel on the rocks at the oldlighthouse on South Rock, and the motorl i fe -boat H e r b e r t J o h n was launched a t7.30 A.M . A moderate westerly breeze wasblowing, with a smooth sea. The life-boatfound H.M. Minesweeper Wedgeport gettingclear of the rocks on the rising tide. Hercaptain said that he was off his course, so thelife-boat coxswain went aboard the mine-sweeper, piloted her to South Rock Light-ship and put her on her course. She had sus-tained some damage and was making water,but her captain decided to go on his way,and the life-boat returned to her station,arriving at 9.5 A.M. - Rewards, £10 19s.

SERVICES 1942 49

OCTOBER 21ST. - GREAT YARMOUTHAND GORLESTON, NORFOLK. At 9.51in the evening the coastguard reported anaeroplane down in Yarmouth Roads to theeast of Nelson’s Column. The aeroplane wasa bomber which, by mistake, had been shotdown by our own an t i -a i rc ra f t f i re . Themotor life-boat Louise Stephens was launchedat ten past ten. A light westerly wind wasblowing, with a moderate sea, and there wasmist and rain. The life-boat searched until11.35, but though she found some of theequipment of the aeroplane, and picked it up,she found no sign of the crew, and she wasrecalled by a wireless message from the navalbase. She was back at her station by 12.30next morning. - Rewards, £20 7s.

O C T O B E R 2 2 N D . - BARROW, LANCA-SHIRE. At 12.50 P .M. the naval officer incharge at Barrow reported a boat in distressoff Ravenglass harbour, and the motor life-boat N.T. was launched at 1 P .M . A freshS.W. wind was blowing, with a heavy swell.When five miles N.N.E. of the Selker buoythe life-boat found the motor fishing boatMeta, of Ravenglass, with a crew of two.Her engine had broken down. The life-boattowed her to Barrow, arriving at 10.15 P .M.- Rewards, £23 7s. 6d.

O C T O B E R 2 3 R D . - B U C K I E , B A N F F -S H I R E . A t 1 1 . 3 0 A . M . t h e c o a s t g u a r dreported a vessel five or six miles N.E. by N.of Buckie , burn ing what appeared to bedis t ress s ignals , and the motor l i fe -boatK.B.M. was launched at 11.55 A.M. A stiffW. by N. breeze was blowing, with a choppysea. In three-quarters of an hour the life-boat found the ex-Danish fishing boat Vester-land, with a crew of four. She was bound forBuckie from the fishing grounds, had brokendown and, before the life-boat arrived, hadbeen taken in tow by H.M. Drifter Archi-medes. The life-boat escorted them to Buckieharbour, arriving at 1.40 P . M . - Rewards,£7 18s.

OCTOBER 25TH . - FENIT, CO. KERRY.At 5 P .M. the Kerryhead look-out reportedthat a raft was floating in Tralee Bay, abouttwo miles south of the head, and the motorlife-boat City of Bradford I, on temporaryduty at the station, was launched at 5.30 P.M.Mr. Timothy F. Barrett, the honorary secre-tary, went out with her. A moderate S.W.wind was blowing, with a heavy swell. At7.20 P .M . the life-boat found the raft, butthere was no one on board. The life-boatb r o u g h t i t b a c k t o F e n i t , a r r i v i n g a t10.30 P.M. - Rewards, £13 14s. 6d.

OCTOBER 26TH. - SOUTHEND - ON - SEA,ESSEX. At 7.45 in the evening the navalcont ro l asked the l i fe -boat coxswain toassemble his crew, as a vessel, somewhere inthe east anchorage, was sending out a wirelessSOS, and a tug and a fire-float had goneashore east of the pier. The motor life-boatJ. B. Proudfoot was launched at 8.5 withsome difficulty, for two wreck-lifting lighters,which were bringing in a wreck, had mooredacross the end of the slipway only sixty feet

away from it, and had allowed the wreck totake the bottom there. As soon as the life-boat left the slipway, her engine had to beput full speed astern to check her way andto prevent her from running into them. Thecoxswain decided to go first to the vesselw h i c h w a s s e n d i n g o u t t h e S O S a s h ethought that the other two would be in noimmedia te danger . A souther ly ga le wasblowing, with a rough sea, and the nightwas dark, with mist. He searched the edgeof the sands, to the east of the pier, and ata b o u t 8 . 2 5 f o u n d t h e c o n v e r t e d y a c h tT h o m a I I , in the serv ice of the Por t ofL o n d o n A u t h o r i t y . S h e w a s a g r o u n d aquarter of a mile west of the West ShoeburyBuoy and about one and a half miles east ofthe pier. She was lying broadside on to theseas, which were breaking aboard her, andshe was rolling heavily.

The tide was low, and there was not enoughwater for the life-boat to go under the leeof the wreck, so the coxswain anchored toseaward and dropped down towards heron h is cab le . When she was about th i r tyf e e t a w a y , t h e l i f e - b o a t g r o u n d e d o n asand bank herself. Like the yacht she wasbroadside on to the seas and began to rollheavily, with the seas breaking over her allthe time. In spite of this her crew threw theheaving cane aboard the yacht, with a linea t tached , r igged the breeches buoy, andhauled the crew of the yacht through thesurf into the life-boat. There were eight ofthem and their rescue took about half anhour. There was nothing to do then, but towait for the tide to rise. When it did thel i f e - b o a t r e f l o a t e d a n d a r r i v e d b a c k a tSouthend pier, where she landed the rescuedmen about 10.15 that night.

A quarter of an hour later she cast offagain and went to the help of the tug andthe f i re - f loa t which were on the sands ami le eas t of the p ier . She reached themin a few minutes and found that another tugwas he lp ing the tug , which had los t herpropeller, so the coxswain went to the helpof the fire-float. She was lying on the sandsin about a fathom of water. He ran out aspare anchor, with a rope cable attached to it,passed the cable to the fire-float, and putaboard her three of his own crew. They putthe cable round a small hand capstan and,with the fire-float’s engine working, hauledher off the sands. The fire-float then returnedto her tender under her own power, with thelife-boat standing by. The life-boat got backto her station again at 1.30 in the morning.Both the launch and the rescue of the crewof the yacht were skilfully carried out in faceof considerable difficulty, and the Institutionmade the following awards :

To COXSWAIN SIDNEY PAGE, the thanks ofthe Institution inscribed on vellum ;

To the coxswain and each member of thecrew a reward of 30s. in addition to theordinary rewards on the standard scale of£1 17s. 6d. for each of the services, makinga total reward to each man of £5 5s. ;

S tandard rewards for the f i r s t se rv ice ,£16 1s.; standard rewards for the secondservice, £17 18s. 6d. ; additional rewards,£13 10s. ; total rewards, £47 9s. 6d.

50 SERVICES 1942

O C T O B E R 2 9 T H . - EYEMOUTH, BER-WICKSHIRE. During the afternoon threelocal fishing boats in Eyemouth Bay wereseen making for harbour in a strong N.E.gale, with a very heavy sea, and the motorl i fe -boat Frank and Wi l l i am Oa te s waslaunched at 3.45 P.M. She stood by the boats,and they all got in safely but at great risk.S h e r e t u r n e d t o h e r s t a t i o n a t 5 P . M . -Rewards, £12 4s.

OCTOBER 29TH - 30TH. - PORT ST. MARY,I S L E O F M A N . T h e l a d e n N o r w e g i a ntanker Spenanger, of 7,248 tons, bound fromMilford to the Clyde with an escort, got offher course and ran on the Carrick Rock, inPort St. Mary Bay. The weather was hazy,with a light E.N.E. wind and a slight sea.The coastguard reported the vessel agroundat 2.40 A.M . and twenty-five minutes laterthe motor life-boat Sir Heath Harrison putout. The master of the tanker asked her toreturn ashore and ask for immediate helpfrom the naval authorities. This the life-boatdid. She then returned to the Spenanger,and stood by until 7 A.M., when she returnedto her station. The tanker discharged partof her cargo of crude oil, but a tug, whicharrived at noon, failed to get her off. At twoin the morning of the 30th the life-boat againput ou t and took a nava l o f f ice r to theSpenanger, as her stern had shifted. Anothertug now came, and the life-boat remainedstanding by in case the tanker should capsizewhen an attempt was made to re-float her,but the tugs got her safely off, and she wasable to go on her way escorted by the tugs.The life-boat returned to her station, arrivingat 3.30 A.M. - Rewards, £34 11s. and £28 1s.

OCTOBER 30TH. - SHERINGHAM, NOR-FOLK. At 6.49 A.M. the coastguard reportedthat an aeroplane had crashed into the seaabout two miles east of Sheringham, and afew minutes later the coastguard rang upagain to say that he could see men on theaeroplane, and that she was getting lower inthe water. Soldiers helped in the launch,and with some of the launchers going in upto their necks the motor life-boat ForestersCentenary got away at 7.10. She found aHalifax bomber, with her crew of six Polishairmen all in one dinghy. The dinghy haddrifted close to the shore, where there was agood deal of surf, and the men were thinkingthat they would attempt to swim in whenfortunately the life-boat arrived. She tookthem and their dinghy on board and got backto he r s t a t ion a t 7 .40 A . M . None of therescued was seriously injured, and after hotba ths , d ry c lo thes , and breakfas t , whichMr. H. R. Johnson, the honorary secretary,had arranged, they left at 8.30 for LanghamAerodrome in an R.A.F. ambulance, whichhad been sent for them. At the request ofBomber Command the life-boat put out againat 7.52 to try and tow in the aeroplane, butshe found it had drifted ashore, and returnedto her station at 9.10 A.M. Messages of thanksand congratulations were received from theR.A.F . S ta t ion , the Inspec tor of Coas t -

boats,” page 70.)

guard and the Director General of AircraftSafety. - Rewards, £24 16s. 6d.

(See Sheringham, “ Services by Shore-

O C T O B E R 3 l S T . - ARRANMORE, CO.DONEGAL. While a small fishing boat wasreturning from the fishing grounds her enginebroke down, and the motor life-boat K.T.J.S.was launched at 2.30 PM . to help her. Anortherly wind was blowing, with a moderatesea. The life-boat found the fishing boat offArranmore and got her safely to harbour at5.30 P.M. - Rewards, £13 14s.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

OCTOBER 5TH. - THURSO, CAITHNESS-SHIRE. Red rockets had been reported, butnothing was found, and later it was learnedthat a bombing aeroplane had come down onthe land. - Rewards, £14 4s. 6d.

OCTOBER 5TH . - ST. ABBS, BERWICK-SHIRE, AND DUNBAR, EAST LOTHIAN.An R.A.F. aeroplane had crashed severalmiles inland. One of the crew was killed, butthe other had baled out. He was carried tothe coast and came down in the sea, but hisp a r a c h u t e b e c a m e d e t a c h e d a n d h e w a sdrowned. - Rewards : S t . Abbs , £9 7s . ;Dunbar, £5 14s.

(See Cockburnspath, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 70.)

OCTOBER 11TH . - ALDEBURGH, SUF-FOLK. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing could be found.- Rewards, £43 5s.

O C T O B E R 1 2 T H . - B E R W I C K - O N -TWEED, NORTHUMBERLAND. An aero-plane was reported to have dived into the sea,but no th ing could be found. - Rewards ,£11 3s. 6d.

O C T O B E R 1 4 T H . - N E W B R I G H T O N ,CHESHIRE. A buoy had broken adrift withfour boys on board, but as the tide ebbedthey were able to get ashore. - Rewards,£7 3s.

O C T O B E R 1 4 T H . - T O B E R M O R Y ,A R G Y L L S H I R E . D u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u snight two small boats with naval men aboardhad drifted out of harbour, but they madeland without help. - Rewards, £5 14s.

O C T O B E R 1 4 T H . - MARYPORT, CUM-BERLAND. A steamer had run ashore, andthe life-boat went out to stand by while anattempt was being made to refloat her, butwas signalled to return as she was not needed.- Rewards, £11 11s.

OCTOBER 16TH. - SHERINGHAM, NOR-FOLK. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing could be found.- Rewards, £41 6s. 6d.

SERVICES 1942 51

OCTOBER 24TH. - ST. IVES, CORNWALL.A white light had been reported off GurnardsHead, but nothing could be found. - Rewards,£25 7s. 6d.

O C T O B E R 2 7 T H . - B A L T I M O R E , C O .CORK. A s teamer had been repor ted onthe horizon apparently sinking, but nothingcould be found. - Rewards, £29 0s. 6d.

OCTOBER 29TH. - MINEHEAD, SOMER-S E T . A n A m e r i c a n L i b e r a t o r b o m b i n gaeroplane had crashed, but she had comedown on land. - Rewards, £24 4s.

O C T O B E R 2 0 T H . - ARRANMORE, CO.DONEGAL. Flares had been reported, butnothing could be found. - Rewards, £17 18s.

OCTOBER 30TH. - ST. MARY’S, SCILLYISLES. A Whitley bombing aeroplane hadbeen reported down 40 miles S.W. of BishopRock, but the life-boat returned, after goingover thirty miles, as it was learned that motorlaunches had searched the area and foundnothing. - Rewards, £24 5s. 6d.

OCTOBER 3lST . - RHYL, FLINTSHIRE.The Royal Naval Walrus aeroplane W3097had come down on the sea, but she taxiedashore without help. - Rewards, £15 7s.

NOVEMBER

Launches 22. Lives rescued 7.

NOVEMBER 6TH. - ARKLOW, CO. WICK-L O W . D u r i n g t h e a f t e r n o o n t h e m o t o rfishing boat Dan O’Connell, of Arklow, witha crew of five, ran out of fuel as she wascoming in, and anchored. A strong S.W.wind was blowing, with a rough sea, andthough she made no signals, anxiety was feltfor her safety, and the motor life-boat InbhearMor was launched at 8.45 P.M., with a supplyof fuel oil. She reached the Dan O’Connellthree miles N.E. of Arklow pier, and put the oilon board. One of her crew jumped into thelife-boat, which brought him ashore, arrivinga t h e r s t a t i o n a t 9 . 4 5 P . M . - R e w a r d s ,£15 10s. 6d.

N O V E M B E R 1 0 T H . - F R A S E R B U R G H ,A B E R D E E N S H I R E . A t 3 . 2 8 P . M . t h eKinnaird Head coastguard reported that asmall motor boat had broken down off theBeacon, and the motor life-boat John andCharles Kennedy was launched at 4.12 P.M.,A f resh N.W. wind was b lowing, wi th aslight sea. The life-boat found the motorboat Maris Stel la, of Fraserburgh, with acrew of five. She was bound from Maryportfor Fraserburgh and her engine had failed.The life-boat towed her into Fraserburgh,arriving at 5 P.M. - Rewards, £7 11s.

NOVEMBER 18TH. - RUNSWICK, YORK-SHIRE. The Staithes fishing boats Minnie,Flora and Star of Hope had put to sea at10 A.M. in fine weather, but by 1.45 PM. theN.W. wind had increased and the sea hadbecome very rough, making it dangerous for

the boats when returning. The motor life-boat Robert Patton - The Always Ready waslaunched at 2.15 P .M., and went to Staithes.She escorted all the boats into safety, andreached he r s t a t ion aga in a t 4 .30 P . M . -Rewards, £9 16s.

N O V E M B E R 1 8 T H . - C R O M E R , N O R -F O L K . A t 7 . 2 0 P . M . i n f o r m a t i o n w a sreceived from the naval base at Great Yar-mouth, through the Cromer coastguard, thata boat was in distress half a mile E. by N.of Eccles, and the motor life-boat H. F. Baileywas launched at 7.43 P.M. A squally northerlybreeze was blowing, with a moderate groundswell. The life-boat found the ex-Caister life-boat Charles Burton, now the motor fishingboat Silver Queen, of Lowestoft, with a crewof two. Her engine had broken down andshe was leaking through the stern gland. Thel i fe -boa t towed her to Grea t Yarmouth ,a r r iv ing a t 3 A . M . , and go t back to herstation at mid-day. - Property salvage case.

N O V E M B E R 2 4 T H . - C R O M E R , N O R -FOLK. At about 6 P . M . the coxswain wastold by the resident naval officer that thel i fe -boat might be requi red . A modera tenortherly wind was blowing, with a groundswell. The crew stood by, and at 7.45 P.M.news came that the life-boat was to go to anAdmira l ty t rawler . At 8 P . M . t he No . 2life-boat Harriot Dixon was launched, andfound the trawler about six miles off shoreat 9 .35 P . M . Her master handed the cox-swain a parce l and some papers for theresident naval officer and the life-boat reachedher station again at 10.30 P.M. - Rewards,£29 14s. 6d.

N O V E M B E R 2 8 T H . - H A R T L E P O O L ,DURHAM. At 9 .30 A . M . i t was lea rnedthat the motor fishing vessel Dahlia, of Hull,with a crew of five, had not returned to portsince the previous day. A light N.W. windwas blowing, with a rough sea. The coast-guard and the naval base were informed andthe life-boat crew assembled. At 11.12 A.M.the Dahlia was seen one mile east of Heughand a minute later the motor life-boat ThePrincess Royal (Civil Service No. 7) waslaunched. She found that the fishing boatwas having trouble with her engine, and towedher in , a r r iv ing a t 11 .48 A . M . - Proper tysalvage case.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

N O V E M B E R 6 T H . - A B E R Y S T W Y T H ,CARDIGANSHIRE, AND BARMOUTH,M E R I O N E T H S H I R E . A B r i t i s h A n s o naeroplane had crashed into the sea and bothlife-boats were launched. The Aberystwythboat put out without waiting for the second-coxswain and assistant motor-mechanic, andin addition to the five regular members of thecrew on board she took a police sergeant, andfive men of the R.A.F. with signalling appa-ratus. A strong wind was blowing, with arough sea . On her way out she passed amotor boat which told the coxswain that she

52 SERVICES 1942

had picked up three airmen, one alive andtwo dead . Two o thers were miss ing . TheAberystwyth life-boat searched, but no traceof them could be found, and the Barmouthlife-boat was recalled before she had gone far.Rewards, Aberystwyth, £14 11s. 6d. ; Bar-mouth, £19 14s. 6d.

(See Aberystwyth, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 71.)

N O V E M B E R 6 T H . - B R I D L I N G T O N ,YORKSHIRE. A naval vessel appeared tobe in difficulties on the Smethic Sands, butshe went on her way before the life-boatreached her. - Rewards, £9 18s.

NOVEMBER 6TH . - ST. DAVID’S, PEM-BROKESHIRE. A Lysander aeroplane hadcrashed into a rough sea one mile east ofPorth Gain, but the life-boat found nothingand it was learned later that one airman hadgot ashore in his dinghy and the other hadbeen drowned. - Rewards, £13 13s.

N O V E M B E R 6 T H . - S T . I V E S , C O R N -WALL. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing was found.-Rewards, £12 12s.

NOVEMBER 8TH . - AITH, SHETLANDS.A British Wellington bombing aeroplane hadcome down in the sea, but the life-boat foundnothing, and it was learned later that fourairmen had got ashore during the darknessin the i r rubber d inghy and two had beendrowned. - Rewards, £20 4s. 6d.

(See Walls, “ Services by Shore-boats,”1943, page 57.)

N O V E M B E R 9 T H . - B U C K I E , B A N F F -SHIRE. An a i rman was repor ted to havebaled out, but nothing was found. - Rewards,£15 12s.

NOVEMBER 14TH. - WELLS, NORFOLK.A flash had been reported, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £27 9s. 9d.

N O V E M B E R 1 4 T H . - THURSO, CAITH-NESS-SHIRE. A s teamer had ca l led forhelp at night, but the life-boat could not findher, and it was learned later that she hadbeen able to go slowly on her way. - Rewards,£18 9s.

N O V E M B E R 1 5 T H . - BERWICK - ON -TWEED, NORTHUMBERLAND. An aero-plane had been reported down in the sea,but nothing was found. - Rewards, £7 5s.

N O V E M B E R 1 5 T H . - C R O M E R , N O R -FOLK. An aeroplane had been repor teddown in the sea, but nothing could be found.- Rewards, £10 2s. 6d.

N O V E M B E R 1 6 T H . - CLOUGHEY, CO.DOWN. A loud explosion had been heardand a flash had been seen, but nothing couldbe found. - Rewards, £10 7s.

N O V E M B E R 2 l S T . - A B E R Y S T W Y T H ,CARDIGANSHIRE. A f i sh ing vesse l hadbeen reported in distress, and sank, but her

crew landed in their own boat. Men of theR.A.F. and R.A. helped in getting the life-boat launched and re-housed. - Rewards,£25 5s.

N O V E M B E R 2 7 T H . - BUCKIE, BANFF-S H I R E . A n a e r o p l a n e h a d c r a s h e d i n t othe sea, but nothing was found except a bodyand a rubber dinghy, which were picked upby an R.A.F . rescue launch . - Rewards ,£15 12s.

NOVEMBER 28TH . - LONGHOPE, ORK-NEYS. A Whitley aeroplane had been re-ported in distress off Duncansby Head, butnothing was found. - Rewards, £15 3s. 6d.

NOVEMBER 30TH . - WESTON - SUPER-M A R E , S O M E R S E T . A m a n h a d b e e nreported to have dropped into the sea byparachute, but nothing was found. - Rewards,£10 13s.

DECEMBER

Launches 61. Lives rescued 79.

D E C E M B E R 1 S T . - W H I T B Y , Y O R K -SHIRE. While the fishing fleet was out thenortherly wind increased until it was blowingstrongly, with squalls, bringing a rough sea,which made the harbour entrance dangerousfor the returning boats, and at 11.15 A.M .the motor life-boat Mary Ann Hepworth waslaunched. She met three boats a mile beyondt h e R o c k B u o y a n d e s c o r t e d t h e m i n t oharbour. Putting out again she escorted ina further seven boats and returned to herstation at 3.15 P.M. - Rewards, £7 11s.

D E C E M B E R 1 S T . - F L A M B O R O U G H ,Y O R K S H I R E . D u r i n g t h e m o r n i n g t h ewind increased, and the life-boat coxswainwho was out fishing returned. By eleveno’clock a northerly gale was blowing, with aheavy sea and rain squalls, and as some ofthe fishing boats were still out the motorlife-boat Elizabeth and Albina Whitley waslaunched at 11.25 A.M.. and went in the direc-tion of the fishing grounds. She found thefour Flamborough cobles - Quest , DoreenMay, Imperialist, and Boy's Own - six milesE.N.E. of the station. The life-boat directedtwo to Bridlington, and escorted the othertwo to the shore a t the nor th landing a tFlamborough. She returned to her stationat 4.17 P.M. - Rewards, £12 3s. 6d.

DECEMBER 1ST . - RUNSWICK, YORK-SHIRE. The Runswick and Staithes cobleswere out fishing in a moderate wind, butduring the morning the wind increased to astrong gale from the N.N.W., with a roughsea and heavy rain, and the motor life-boatRober t Pa t t on - The A lways Ready waslaunched at 11.35 A.M. The district inspectorof life-boats, Commander T. G. Michelmore,R.D., R.N.R., who was at the station, wentout with her. Off Staithes the life-boat foundtwo cobles of Runswick and three of Staithes,and as in that weather it was impossible tomake a landing at Staithes she escorted all

SERVICES 1942 53

f ive in to Runswick , and re turned to herstation, arriving at 2.15 in the afternoon.-Rewards, £10 15s.

DECEMBER 1ST . - FILEY, YORKSHIRE.While the local fishing cobles were out, windand sea increased, and some of the boatsreturned, but five stayed out. By 1 P .M. astrong N.W. wind was blowing, with a roughsea, and at 1.30 P.M. the motor life-boat TheCuttle was launched. Some of the boats werea long way off, but the life-boat escortedthem all home, and returned to her station at4.30 P.M. - Rewards, £12 9s.

DECEMBER 1ST . - LLANDUDNO CAER-N A R V O N S H I R E . A t 3 P . M . t h e c o a s t -guard reported a fishing boat in distress amile or two west of Great Ormes Head, andthe motor life-boat Thomas and Annie WadeRichards was launched at 3.30 P.M. A strong

N.N.E. wind was blowing, with a rough sea.T h e l i f e - b o a t f o u n d t h e f i s h i n g v e s s e lMargaret , of Conway, in tow of anotherfishing boat, and stood by until both boatshad got into the lee of Puffin Island. At6 P .M. the master of the Margaret said hewished to go to Conway, but the life-boatcoxswain said he could not take the life-boatthere and advised h im not to a t tempt i t .After remaining with him for some time thelife-boat returned to her station, arriving at8.30 P.M. - Rewards, £35 18s. 6d.

D E C E M B E R 2 N D . - P O R T A S K A I G ,ARGYLLSHIRE. At 3 .11 A . M . the Ki l -choman coastguard reported a vessel ashorein the Sound of Islay. The weather was fine,with a light S.W. wind and a calm sea. Themotor life-boat Charlot te Elizabeth waslaunched at 4.10 A.M. and found the steamtrawler Celtia, of Fleetwood, aground on theS .W. po in t o f Jura . She had a c rew oftwelve and was laden with fish for Fleetwood.She was in no immediate danger, and anotherFleetwood trawler, the Toronto, was standingby, bu t unable to go c lose inshore . Thelife-boat waited until daylight. She thenpiloted the Toronto inshore and also carrieda cable from her to the Celtia. On the hightide the Toronto got the Celtia afloat andtowed her into deep water. The life-boatreturned to her station at 12.55 P.M. - Prop-erty salvage case.

D E C E M B E R 2 N D . - S C A R B O R O U G H ,Y O R K S H I R E . A t 1 1 A . M . t h e c r e wassembled for an exercise, but as a strongN.N.W. wind was blowing, with a rough sea,and some fishing boats were out the launchwas de layed and the crew s tood by . In-coming trawlers reported bad weather, andat 12.20 P .M . the motor life-boat HerbertJoy II was launched. She went in a north-easterly direction and found nine boats, allof which she escorted to harbour. She re-turned to her station at 4 P.M. - Rewards,£18 13s.

DECEMBER 4TH. - SEAHAM, DURHAM.About 4.40 A.M . the coastguard reporteda vessel aground at Hawthorne Point, twomiles south of Seaham coastguard look-out.

A l igh t S .W. wind was b lowing, wi th aground swell, and the weather was foggy.At 5.30 A.M. the motor life-boat ElizabethWills Allen was launched and found that thevessel was the m.v. Rosedene, in ballast forSeaham. At her master’s request the life-boat took out an anchor, and then stood byuntil the Rosedene had refloated. She re-turned to her station at 10.55 A.M. - Propertysalvage case.

D E C E M B E R 7 T H . - SHOREHAM HAR-B O U R , S U S S E X . A t 1 A . M . t h e c o a s t -guard reported a message from the coast-watching post at Goring that it had seen redflares at sea about a mile away. A fresh S.W.wind was b lowing, wi th a modera te sea .There was doubt whether or not a rescuelaunch would be sent and, after consultationwith the naval authorities, the motor life-boa t R o s a W o o d d a n d P h y l l i s L u n n waslaunched a t 2 .20 A . M . She found tha t arescue motor launch f rom Li t t l ehamptonhad, in fact, gone out and had found that anR.A.F. aeroplane had come down in the sea.She had rescued three of the aeroplane’screw. The o ther two had been los t . Thelife-boat attempted to tow in a Carley float,but it broke adrift. She brought in somegear from the aeroplane, and returned to herstation at 6.30 A.M. - Rewards, £16 2s. 6d.

D E C E M B E R 9 T H . - F L A M B O R O U G H ,Y O R K S H I R E . A b o u t 5 . 4 5 P . M . i t w a slearned that the motor fishing coble Dorishad not returned. On board was the life-boat coxswain, George Leng, with a crew ofthree. It was very dark, with a rough seaand a s t rong souther ly wind . The motorlife-boat Elizabeth and Albina Whitley waslaunched at 6.15 P .M. and found the Dorisabout one and a half miles away. Her enginehad been disabled by heavy seas. The life-boat towed her in, and returned to her stationat 7.15 P.M - Rewards, £26 19s. 6d.

DECEMBER 12TH. - BALLYCOTTON, CO.C O R K . D u r i n g t h e e v e n i n g a s t r o n gsoutherly gale was blowing, with a very heavysea, and a pilot launch and a port controllaunch, both of Cork, were swamped andsunk in Cork Harbour when on their way toput a pilot and an examiner on a ship at theharbour mouth. Five lives were lost, andthe news of the s inking was brought byone man from the pilot launch who swamashore. It was then 8.30 in the evening, andthe launches had sunk two hours before .The news reached the Ballycotton life-boatstation, through the Civic Guard, at 9.20 P.M.,and the life-boat coxswain doubted the use-fulness of sending out the life-boat as shewould have nearly twenty miles to travel,and in that weather she could not reach thescene until after midnight, nearly six hourssince the launches had sunk. But the coxswainwas told that the life-boat was wanted, andthe motor life-boat Mary Stanford put outat 10 P . M . The night was very dark, withsqualls of rain and lightning, and the cox-s w a i n d e s c r i b e d i t a s o n e o f t h e w o r s t

5 4 SERVICES 1942

southerly gales in his experience. In additionto the severe weather there was the dangerof mines. Going round Ballycotton Light-house the coxswain had to keep about fourmiles off the land owing to the breaking seas,and the life-boat shipped several heavy seas.She reached Cork Harbour at 12.40, and bythe light of her own searchlight, and search-lights from the forts, she searched for thelaunches, but found nothing except pieces ofwreckage, and went on to Queenstown, whereshe a r r ived a t 3 A . M . on the 13 th . Theweather was so bad that she was unable toreturn to her station for two days.

She left Queenstown at 9.10 in the morn-ing of the 15 th and reached Bal lyco t tona t 12 .30 tha t a f t e rnoon . There she wenta longs ide the s team t rawler D e r e s k e , ofM i l f o r d H a v e n . T w o h o u r s b e f o r e , t h etrawler had signalled to the shore that shewas without water. Her captain now toldthe coxswain tha t they had been wi thoutfresh water for eight days, as salt water hadgot into the tanks, that they were meltingice both for cooking and drinking, and thatseveral of the crew were covered with boilsdue to the chemicals in the ice water. Healso said that he could not bring the vesselinto the harbour as the authorities would notgive him permission. The life-boat went toher station and the honorary secretary rangup the customs officer at Queenstown andgot permission. The life-boat then returned tothe trawler and put one of her crew on board,and the trawler, with the life-boat in at-tendance, came into harbour under her ownsteam. The life-boat then returned to herstation, arriving at 3.30 in the afternoon.

It had been a long and arduous journey,and the Institution gave a reward of 30s. toeach member of the crew in addition to theordinary rewards: on the standard scale forthe two services of £4 15s. 6d., making atotal reward to each man of £6 5s. ; rewardson the standard scale and other payments,£41 10s. 6d. ; additional rewards, £12 ; totalrewards and other payments, £53 10s. 6d.

DECEMBER 13TH - 14TH . - DUNMORE,EAST, CO. WATERFORD, AND KILMORE,CO. WEXFORD. Just before half-past fivein the evening the coast watcher at HookP o i n t t e l e p h o n e d t o t h e D u n m o r e E a s ts t a t i o n t h a t a v e s s e l w a s o f f t h e H o o kshowing flares. The honorary secretary wasabout to call out the crew when he saw asteamer coming round Hook Point and askedher by morse if she had seen any vessel indistress. The reply was no, and the honorarysecretary decided not to send out the life-boa t . At 9 .15 another t e lephone messagecame to say that the vessel was still there,and the motor life-boat Annie Blanche Smithwas launched at 10.15. A gale was blowingfrom the S.S.W., with a very heavy sea. Thelife-boat searched for some hours, but foundno sign of the vessel in distress and returnedto her station at three in the morning.

M e a n w h i l e t h e K i l m o r e s t a t i o n h a dreceived at eight in the evening a telephonemessage from the life-saving service that aship was in distress 4 1/2 miles S.E. of the

Hook. Other messages came conf i rmingth is . The sea was coming r igh t in to theharbour, and up the slipway, and it wasimpossible to launch the life-boat, but thecrew stood by. They stood by all night, andat 7.50 the next morning, as day was break-ing, the motor life-boat Ann Isabella Pyemontwas launched with great difficulty.

T h e D u n m o r e E a s t l i f e b o a t w a s a l s olaunched again at daybreak, and the twolife-boats found the vessel in distress at thesame time a mile south of Baginbun Head.She was the Admiralty trawler Moray, andthe tug Empire Ned was standing by. TheDunmore Eas t l i fe -boa t re turned to herstation, where she arrived again at 12.5 inthe afternoon, leaving the Kilmore life-boatto give what help was needed.

The trawler by this time had weighed heranchor, and was trying to unshackle the wirefrom it, so that she could pass it to the tugfor towing . The tug t r ied twice to ge t aheaving line on board the trawler but failed.The life-boat then passed the line for her,but the trawler was still trying to get herwi re unshackled , and a f te r about twentyminutes the heaving line parted. Again thelife-boat got the line on board the trawler, butthis time it fouled the tug’s propeller. Allthis time the vessels were drifting towardsIngard Poin t , and the l i fe -boa t coxswainthen warned the trawler that she was gettinginto shallow and dangerous water. The tugthen asked for the help of a man with localknowledge, and the life-boat put her second-coxswain on board . At las t the t rawlergot her wire unshackled from the anchor ;another line was passed to her by the life-boa t ; the t rawler ’ s wi re was hau led onboard the tug and shackled to her hawser ;and the tug began to tow. The trawler bythis time was dangerously near the rocks,and the towing had started only just in timeto save her. The life-boat stood by untilt h e t u g a n d t r a w l e r w e r e w e l l c l e a r o fB a g i n b u n H e a d , a n d t h e n , a t t h e t u g ’ srequest, went to Kilmore with a message fora pilot to be ready at Dunmore East to meetthem as they came in. She returned to herstation at two in the afternoon.

At 3.15, when the tug and trawler wereseen to be coming into harbour at DunmoreEast, the Dunmore East life-boat put off fora third time with a pilot on board. She wentahead of the tug until they were in sufficientshelter for it to be possible to put the pilotaboard. The weather was so bad that thelife-boat, on arriving at Passage East at 6.30in the evening, remained there for the night,returning to her moorings at Dunmore Eastnext morning.

The Ins t i tu t ion awarded i t s thanks in -scribed on vellum to COXSWAIN W ILLIAMBLAKE, of Kilmore. No money awards weremade to the Kilmore coxswain and crew asthey were paid salvage by the owners of theMoray.

Rewards to Dunmore East, £13 2s. 6d.,£5 14s., and £13 4s. 6d.

DECEMBER 13TH. - DUNGENESS, KENT.A t 4 . 2 0 A . M . a t e l e p h o n e m e s s a g e w a sreceived from the naval authorities at Dover,

SERVICES 1942 55

through the Lade coastguard, that three ofH.M. tank landing vessels were in difficulties.The n igh t was very dark , wi th a s t rongsoutherly wind blowing and a rough sea.At 4.40 A.M. the position of the vessels wasgiven, and twenty minutes later the motorlife-boat Charles Cooper Henderson waslaunched. About two mi les nor th-eas t ofDungeness Lighthouse the life-boat foundtwo of the vesse ls . Both were r id ing toanchors and the life-boat went alongside andspoke to them by megaphone saying shewould remain by them until daylight. Shefound the third vessel five miles N.E. by N.of the lighthouse. At daybreak, three mine-sweepers came up to escort the vessels toharbour and the life-boat returned to herstation, arriving at 8.30 A.M . - Rewards,£22 5s. 6d.

D E C E M B E R 1 3 T H . - WALMER, KENT.At 8.20 A.M. the Deal coastguard asked fort h e l i f e - b o a t c r e w t o b e a s s e m b l e d . A t9.18 A.M . a further message came that avessel was over the Brake Sands, and themotor life-boat Charles Dibdin (Civil ServiceNo. 2) was launched at 9.30 A.M. A moderateS.S.W. gale was blowing, with rain squallsand a heavy sea. The life-boat found theAdmiralty L.C.T. 534 in a dangerous positionwi th s te rn anchor down. She had a c rewof twelve. The life-boat’s second-coxswainw e n t a b o a r d h e r , a n d a t t h e r e q u e s t o fthe officer in charge the life-boat escortedthe vessel to the Downs. There an armedtrawler arrived and took over, and the life-boat reached her station again at 11.30 A.M.- Rewards, £15 14s.

D E C E M B E R 1 4 T H . - S T O R N O W A Y ,ISLAND OF’ LEWIS. Shortly after mid-n igh t the nava l base repor ted tha t H.M.L.C.T. 398, a tank landing craft, was ashoreon the S.E. corner of Goat Island in Storno-way Harbour, and that her crew of fifteenhad landed on the island and were in need ofimmediate help. As a strong southerly gale wasblowing, with a rough sea, and no small boatcould go out, the motor life-boat William andHarriot was launched at 1.35 A.M., taking arowing boat in tow. A few minutes later shereached the lee of the island, sent the rowingboat to the beach , rescued the men, andr e t u r n e d t o h e r s t a t i o n a t 3 . 1 5 A . M . -Rewards, £9 7s. 6d.

BRONZE MEDAL SERVICEAT PETERHEAD

DECEMBER 15TH. - PETERHEAD,ABERDEENSHIRE. At 3.50 in themorning the coastguard reported tothe motor-mechanic of the life-boatsignals of distress from a vessel in thedirection of Buchan Ness. The motor-mechanic went at once to the life-boathouse. He could see the vessel indistress, with the coastal searchlightson her. She appeared to be a trawler.

The coxswain of the life-boat was ill,and Captain James Winter, the har-bour master, took command, but thecoxswain left his sick bed, helped tocall the crew together and to launchthe life-boat, and remained at thestation until the life-boat returned.The motor life-boat Julia Park Barryof Glasgow was launched at 4.20.There was a strong wind from the south-south-east, with a heavy sea. The nightwas very dark, with rain. The life-boat reached the trawler at 4.35 andfound that she was the Loch Wasdale,of Aberdeen. She was lying on theSkerry Rocks, off Buchan Ness. Herstern was right under water and heavyseas were breaking over her. Hercrew were clinging to the forwardrigging and the deck. In the heavyseas and the darkness it was verydifficult for Captain Winter to seeexactly how the trawler was lying,and the best method to come along-side her. He tried first to go underher lee, but he could not come nearbecause of the rocks, so he took thelife-boat round to the windward side,and made straight for the trawler.He knew that there was a great risk,for he could not tell if there was enoughwater, or if the life-boat would bewrecked herself on the rocks. He tookthe risk.

The life-boat went in on the top of abig sea, and her crew threw a line tothe trawler and hauled the life-boatalongside. The trawler was lying onher side and was lifted by every seathat came in. At one moment shethreatened to roll over and to crashon top of the life-boat. The next thelife-boat was herself lifted by the seasand in danger of being flung on top ofthe t r awle r . Bu t Cap ta in Win te rhandled her with great courage andskill, and, with his engines running,kept her alongside, while, one by one,the twelve men of the trawler jumpedand were seized and hauled aboard thelife-boat. One of them fell betweenthe two boats, and was badly crushed,but he too was dragged aboard. Then,just as the life-boat, with every manrescued, drew away, the wreck turnedover and sank. Had the l ife-boatcome only a few minutes later, or hadCaptain Winter hesitated to take her

56 SERVICES 1942

straight in to the rescue, the whole ofthe trawler’s crew would have beenlost. At 5.15 the life-boat was backagain at her station. She had beena w a y f o r o n l y 5 5 m i n u t e s . T h erescued men were loud in their praise,and the trawler’s chief engineer saidthat he had thought that the life-boatcould not possibly reach them.

The success of the service was dueprincipally to the intrepid courage andsk i l l o f Capta in Winte r , and h i scourage was all the greater as he hadnot been at sea for some years, andhe was 69 years old. The Institutionmade the following awards :

To CAPTAIN JAMES WINTER, theacting coxswain, the bronze medal forgallantry, with a copy of the voteinscribed on vellum ;

To DAVID F. WISEMAN, the motor-mechanic, the thanks of the Institu-tion inscribed on vellum ;

To the acting coxswain and each ofthe seven members of the crew areward of £2 in addition to the ordinaryreward on the s tandard sca le o f£1 17s. 6d. ;

To Coxswain John McLean a specialreward of £2 ;

To Mrs. M. Craighead, acting ashonorary secretary in the absence ofher husband serving in the Royal AirForce, who took an active part inmustering the crew, a letter of thanks ;

Standard rewards, £15 18s. ; addi-tional rewards, £18 ; total rewards,£33 18s.

D E C E M B E R 1 5 T H . - DUNMORE EAST,CO. WATERFORD. The S.S. Ir ish Beecharrived off Dunmore East in a southerly gale,with very heavy seas. The pilot boat hadgone up the river for shelter and the pilotwas unable to go out to the steamer. As noother boat was available the motor life-boatAnnie Blanche Smith was launched at 10.45A . M . wi th the p i lo t aboard . She escor tedthe I r i s h B e e c h to near Duncannon , andthere was able to put the pilot aboard her.The life-boat returned to her station at 1 P.M.- Rewards, £6 13s.

D E C E M B E R 1 6 T H . - FLAMBOROUGH,Y O R K S H I R E . T h e m o t o r l i f e - b o a tElizabeth and Albina Whitley was launchedat 11.45 A.M. in a heavy S.S.E. gale, with arough sea, to the help of the local motorfishing coble Boy's Own. She found her sixmiles E.N.E. of Flamborough and escortedher home, a r r iv ing a t 3 P . M . - Rewards ,£14 0s. 6d.

DECEMBER 17TH . - ALDEBURGH, SUF-FOLK. Shortly before 10 A.M . the coast-guard reported an object, apparently a boat,about one mile E.S.E. of Sizewell look-out,and the No. 1 motor life-boat Abdy Beauclerkwas launched at 10.20 A.M. A light southerlyw i n d w a s b l o w i n g , w i t h a c h o p p y s e a .Guided by smoke bombs dropped by anaeroplane, the life-boat found, a quarter of ami le of f shore oppos i te S izewel l Gap, aGerman aeroplane’s rubber dinghy, but therewas no one on board. The life-boat broughtin the dinghy, arriving at 11.40 A.M. - Re-wards, £24 1s. 6d.

DECEMBER 20TH . - DUN LAOGHAIRE,CO. DUBLIN. Dur ing the a f te rnoon twosmall fishing boats were seen off Bullock.A strong southerly wind was blowing, witha very choppy sea. One boat was seen totake the other in tow, but they could notmake any headway in their attempt to row tothe shore, and at 3.25 P.M. the motor life-boatDunleary II was launched. She towed thetwo boats to Bullock and returned to herstation at 4.15 P.M. - Rewards, £7 11s.

SILVER MEDAL SERVICEAT BALLYCOTTON

D E C E M B E R 2 3 R D . - B A L L Y -COTTON, CO. CORK. At nine inthe morning a message was receivedat the station that a vessel was indistress about five miles south ofPower Head. She could be seen fromBallycotton, but she was showing nosignals of distress. A gale was blowingfrom the south-south-west, with heavysqualls of rain and a rough sea. Thegale grew steadily more violent ; thevessel was drifting fast ; and at 12.45the motor life-boat Mary Stanford putout. The vessel was then about 4 1/2miles south of Ballycotton Light-house and was drifting towards thenorth-north-east. The life-boat reachedher about 1.30 in the afternoon andfound her to be the steamer Irish Ash,of Dublin, with a crew of 35 men.

Her captain said that the circu-lating pumps and the ballast pumpshad broken down and that he wouldlike the life-boat to stand by him.This she did, and about three in theafternoon the coxswain advised thesteamer’s captain to anchor. Thesteamer was then about a mile southof Cape1 Island and was drifting fasttowards it. She let both anchors go,and they held. The captain had heardby wireless that a steamer was comingout to his help, but when she arrived

SERVICES 1942 57

the captain said that he would wait fora more suitable ship to tow him off andthat he thought that he might soon gethis pumps working. In that case hewould try to go back to Queenstownunder his own steam. The life-boatthen went to Knockadoon with amessage from the captain asking forengineers to be sent to him fromQueenstown, but in the heavy seasshe could not go alongside the pierand returned to the Irish Ash again.She continued to stand by until afternine that night. By that t ime therepairs had been made and, with thelife-boat escorting her, the Irish Ashs ta r ted to s team s lowly towardsQueenstown, but she had not gone farwhen her engines broke down again.She was then four miles south of Bally-cotton Island.

The wind was still increasing, and avery heavy and confused sea was run-ning, made much worse by the ebbtide. The steamer’s head fell off, and,rolling heavily and broadside on tothe seas, she began to drift towardsthe island at an alarming speed. Hadshe struck she would have gone topieces on the rocks in a few minutes,and there would have been very littlehope of rescuing her crew. It wasthen 10.30 at night. If she and hercrew were to be saved the life-boatmust tow her head round so that shewould drift clear of the island. Thecoxswain took the life-boat close underher bows and shouted for a rope. Atthe same time his men threw a lineaboard the s t eamer . To th i s thesteamer’s crew attached a wire. Thelife-boat hauled it aboard, made itfast, and started to tow. A very heavysea struck her and the wire broke.A second wire was made fast, buttwice i t broke. Then a rope wasmade fast. With this the life-boatsucceeded in towing the steamer’shead round, and she drifted pastthe i s land wi th less than ha l f amile to spare. She was now in shal-lower water, the seas were less vio-lent, and the coxswain advised herto anchor again. This she did. Afterstanding by her for another half anhour, to be satisfied that the anchorwould hold, the life-boat returned toBallycotton to refuel and to deliver

the message which she had failed todeliver at Knockadoon. She reachedBallycotton at 1.45 in the morningof the 24th. Since nine the previousmorning her crew had had no food ordrink, except for half a bucket of teawhich the Irish Ash had lowered tothem. The petrol tanks were refilled,the crew had a meal, and the life-boatput out again to the Irish Ash at 2.30.She found tha t she had draggedanother half a mile towards the shorein the strong flood tide and was gettingnear the Ballycrenane Rocks, but hercaptain still hoped to start his en-gines again and shortly after six inthe morning they were working. Theanchor was weighed, and the life-boatled the steamer to a safe anchoragehalf a mile north-north-west of Bally-cotton light.

The l ife-boat again went ashoreto see if the engineers had come fromQueenstown, and as they had not theIrish Ash’s captain decided to go thereunder his own steam. The wind hadshifted to the north-west and there wasa little shelter. The life-boat went withher and they arrived at Queenstownabout 2.30 in the afternoon. The life-boat left again at 4.30 and was backat her station at 6.30 that evening.It was then thirty hours since she hadput out. Her crew were soaked to theskin and exhausted. The coxswain’swrists were swollen to twice theirnormal size and his voice had gone.The two motor mechanics were com-pletely worn out, for it had not beenpossible for the life-boat to anchor atany time and they had been on theirknees at the controls during the wholetime.

It was a very long and hard service,and the life-boat had been handledvery skilfully and courageously. TheInstitution made the following awards :

To COXSWAIN PATRICK SLINEY, theInstitution’s silver medal for gallantry,with a copy of the vote inscribed onvellum ;

To MICHAEL L. WALSH, the second-coxswain, and THOMAS SLINEY, themotor-mechanic, the bronze medal forgallantry, and to WILLIAM SLINEY, theassistant motor-mechanic, a clasp tohis bronze medal, in each case with acopy of the vote inscribed on vellum;

58 SERVICES 1942

To each of the other four membersof the crew, THOMAS F. WALSH, bow-man, and B E R T I E LY N C H , J A M E SMCLEOD and MICHAEL C. WALSH, life-boatmen, the Institution’s thanks in-scribed on vellum ;

To the coxswain and each of theseven members of the crew a rewardof £3 in addition to the reward on thestandard scale of £5 13s., making atotal reward to each man of £8 13s. ;

S tandard rewards to c rew andlaunchers, £42 7s. ; additional rewardsto crew, £24 ; total rewards, £66 7s.

The owners, Irish Shipping Ltd.,gave £100 to the crew of the life-boat.

D E C E M B E R 2 9 T H . - AMBLE, NORTH-UMBERLAND. At about 10 A.M. the localfishing coble Treasure was seen to be introuble trying to get into harbour, and at10.15 the motor life-boat Frederick and Emmawas launched. A gale was blowing from thenorth, with a heavy sea. The life-boat stoodby at the harbour entrance until the Treasurehad come into the harbour, and returned toher station at 10.50 A.M. - Rewards, £7 12s.

DECEMBER 29T H . - PADSTOW, CORN-WALL. At 11.45 A.M. a telephone messagewas rece ived f rom the nava l au thor i t i esasking for the life-boat to stand by, as anR.A.F. rescue launch had gone to sea andfound the weather too heavy to return. Agale was blowing from the N.N.W., with ar o u g h s e a . T h e N o . 1 m o t o r l i f e - b o a tPrincess Mary was launched at 12.24 P .M.and found the launch two mi les wes t ofStepper Poin t . She s tood by her and bywireless directed her safely into harbour, wherethe two boats arrived at 1.18 P.M. - Partlypaid permanent crew. Rewards, £4 2s.

DECEMBER 29TH. - GREAT YARMOUTHAND GORLESTON, NORFOLK. At aboutnoon some small fishing boats were seens o u t h o f t h e h a r b o u r . A s t r o n g n o r t h -westerly wind was blowing, with a very roughsea and snow squalls. The coastguard keptthem in view, saw that one of them was indifficulties, and rang up the life-boat station.A t 1 .12 P . M . the motor l i fe -boat L o u i s eStephens was launched and found that theboat was the rowing boat Molly, of Gorleston,with one man aboard. She was drifting withher anchor down. The life-boat towed her in,reaching harbour at 1.40 P . M . - Rewards,£5 12s.

D E C E M B E R 2 9 T H . - BUCKIE, BANFF-S H I R E . A t 2 . 3 5 P . M . t h e c o a s t g u a r drepor ted tha t a vesse l was a t tempt ing toenter harbour. A strong N.N.E. gale wasblowing, with a heavy sea. Other vesselscould be seen outside, and it was decided tosend out the motor l i fe -boat K.B.M. She

left at 2.45 P .M. and stood by until 6 P .M.,by which t ime the Danish motor f i sh ingvessel Vestarland had got into harbour andthe other vessels had made for the MorayFirth for shelter. - Rewards, £10 8s. 6d.

The following life-boats were launched, butno services were rendered for the reasonsgiven :

DECEMBER 1ST. - BALLYCOTTON, CO.CORK. The engine of the Belg ian motortrawler Blauwvoet, formerly of Ostend, hadbroken down, but another Belgian trawlercame to her help. - Rewards, £6 19s.

DECEMBER 3RD. - HASTINGS, SUSSEX.A rubber dinghy had been reported at sea,but no th ing could be found. - Rewards ,£22 7s.

DECEMBER 5TH . - GREAT YARMOUTHA N D G O R L E S T O N , N O R F O L K . A nAdmiralty trawler had been in collision, butshe could not be found and she got in withouthelp. - Rewards, £13 11s. 6d.

DECEMBER 6TH. - SHERINGHAM, NOR-FOLK. A flashing light had been reported,but no th ing could be found. - Rewards ,£32 16s.

DECEMBER 7TH. - HARTLEPOOL, DUR-HAM. A steamer had been in collision, buta d e s t r o y e r p i c k e d u p t h e s u r v i v o r s . -Rewards, £10 7s.

D E C E M B E R 9 T H . - PADSTOW, CORN-WALL, CLOVELLY, AND APPLEDORE,DEVON. On the afternoon of the 9th Decem-ber Padstow No. 1 motor life-boat put outto the help of a Whitley bombing aeroplanewhich had been reported down in the sea.She searched throughout the night withoutresult. On the following day an extensivesearch was made by the Clovelly and Apple-dore l i fe -boats , bu t they found noth ing . -Rewards : Pads tow, £9 14s . ; C love l ly ,£25 9s. ; Appledore, £24 12s. 6d.

DECEMBER 10TH. - FENIT, CO. KERRY.An object had been seen, but it was foundto be a large tree. The crew did not wish tobe rewarded.

D E C E M B E R 1 1 T H . - F I L E Y , Y O R K -SHIRE. A British Halifax bombing aero-plane had crashed into the sea, but her creww e r e s a v e d b y a F i l e y f i s h i n g b o a t . -Rewards, £24 4s. 6d.

(See Filey, “ Services by Shore-boats,”1943, page 58.)

D E C E M B E R 1 2 T H . - ROSSLARE HAR-BOUR, CO. WEXFORD. A f i sh ing boa twas in difficulties, but another fishing boattook her in tow. - Partly paid permanentcrew. Rewards, £4 19s.

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DECEMBER 13TH. - HASTINGS, SUSSEX.A s teamer showing a red l ight had beenreported, but no vessel in need of help couldbe found. - Rewards, £43 15s. 6d.

D E C E M B E R 1 3 T H . - W E Y M O U T H ,D O R S E T . A s m a l l b o a t f r o m a n a v a ldrifter had been smashed on rocks, but theonly man aboard got ashore without help.-Rewards, £6 13s.

D E C E M B E R 1 3 T H . - P O R T P A T R I C K ,WIGTOWNSHIRE. A s teamer had goneashore, but her crew were rescued by thecoastguard life-saving rocket apparatus.-Rewards, £6 19s.

D E C E M B E R 1 3 T H . - H O L Y H E A D ,ANGLESEY. A vessel had been reportedin d is t ress of f Rhoscolyn, but the onlysteamer found was the Norwegian Nesttun,and she was going on her way. - Rewards,£5 12s.

D E C E M B E R 1 5 T H . - P E N L E E , C O R N -WALL. An aeroplane’s d inghy had beenreported showing a light south of the WolfL i g h t h o u s e , b u t n o t h i n g w a s f o u n d . -Rewards, £27 3s.

DECEMBER 15TH . - PORTHDINLLAEN,CAERNARVONSHIRE. A Br i t i sh Ansonaeroplane had come down in the sea, but hercrew were rescued by a steamer. - Rewards,£8 4s.

DECEMBER 18TH. - ST. MARY’S, SCILLYISLES. An aeroplane’s d inghy had beenreported some miles S.W. of the Bishop Rock,but nothing was found. - Rewards, £12 4s. 6d.

D E C E M B E R 1 8 T H . - B E A U M A R I S ,ANGLESEY, AND LLANDUDNO, CAER-NARVONSHIRE. An aeroplane had beenreported down in the sea, but it was foundto have crashed on land. - Rewards : Beau-maris, £15 ; Llandudno, £35 0S. 6d.

D E C E M B E R 1 9 T H . - SKEGNESS, LIN-C O L N S H I R E . A n a e r o p l a n e h a d b e e nreported down in the sea, but the life-boatfound nothing. Later a body was washedashore. A letter of thanks was received fromAir Commodore of the R.A.F. station at Cran-w e l l , f o r t h i s a n d p r e v i o u s s e r v i c e s . -Rewards, £18 17s. 6d.

DECEMBER 20TH . - WELLS, NORFOLK.A dinghy, assumed to belong to an aeroplane,

had been repor ted , bu t no th ing could befound. - Rewards, £22 19s. 3d.

DECEMBER 23RD . - PORTHDINLLAEN,C A E R N A R V O N S H I R E . S u r v i v o r s o f asteamer which had been mined reported thatother survivors were adrift, but they gavethe wrong position, so the life-boat foundnothing, and another vessel rescued them.-Rewards, £20 16s.

D E C E M B E R 2 3 R D . - C R O M E R , N O R -FOLK. An aeroplane had burst into flamesand crashed into the sea, but only the blazingp e t r o l t a n k a n d w r e c k a g e w e r e f o u n d . -Rewards, £19 8s.

D E C E M B E R 2 4 T H . - S E N N E N C O V E ,CORNWALL. A Whi t ley ae rop lane hadcrashed into the sea, but four men from itwere rescued by a patrol trawler. The otherswere not found. - Rewards, £9 10s.

D E C E M B E R 2 5 T H . - P O R T P A T R I C K ,WIGTOWNSHIRE. A steamer was on fire,b u t a t r a w l e r h a d g o n e t o h e r h e l p . -Rewards, £10 8s. 6d.

DECEMBER 27TH. - WALTON AND FRIN-TON, ESSEX. A sa i l ing barge had beenblown up, but one of her crew was rescuedby another barge and the other one was lost.- Rewards, £9 3s. 6d.

DECEMBER 27TH . - BARROW, LANCA-SHIRE. A Swordf i sh aeroplane had beenreported down in the sea, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards, £20 19s.

(See Millom, “Services by Auxiliary Rescue-boats,” page 72.)

D E C E M B E R 3 1 S T . - S K E G N E S S , L I N -COLNSHIRE. Two Spitfire aeroplanes hadcollided over the sea, but nothing was found.- Rewards, £27 12s. 6d.

DECEMBER 31ST. - BALLYCOTTON, CO.CORK. Signals of distress had been madeby a vessel, but before the life-boat reachedher she signalled again that she did not needhelp and the life-boat was recalled. - Rewards,£13 2s. 6d.

DECEMBER 31ST. - RHYL, FLINTSHIRE,AND HOYLAKE, CHESHIRE. A boat withtwenty men on board had been repor tedadrift in the Dee Channel, but nothing wasfound. - Rewards : Rhyl. £20 15s. ; Hoylake,£31 3s. 6d.

Services by Shore-boats

Thirteen Medals for GallantryRHOSNEIGIR, ANGLESEY

On the 28th August, 1941, determined efforts were made to rescue the crew of aBritish aeroplane which had crashed in the sea.

MR. DERRICK H. BAYNHAM was awarded the silver medal.MR. JOHN L. S. WOOD was awarded the silver medal.SECOND LIEUTENANT PETER T. WHYSALL, R.A. was posthumously

awarded the bronze medalBATTERY SERGEANT-MAJOR ALFRED W. MOGER, R.A. was post-

humously awarded the bronze medal.GUNNER CLARENCE H. THORNTON, R.A. was posthumously awarded

the bronze medal.GUNNER REGINALD EATON, R.A. was posthumously awarded the bronze

medal.MR. ARTHUR J. OWEN, Second Officer, Mercantile Marine, was post-

humously awarded the bronze medal.POLICE CONSTABLE GEORGE C. ARTHUR was posthumously awarded

the bronze medal.SERGEANT C. JACKSON, R.A. was awarded the bronze medal.LANCE BOMBARDIER T. TAYLOR, R.A. was awarded the bronze medal.GUNNER J. W. PARKINSON, R.A. was awarded the bronze medal.COASTGUARD OFFICER EVAN JONES was posthumously awarded the

bronze medal.AIRCRAFTSMAN 1st CLASS ALBERT E. ATKINSON was awarded the

bronze medal.

JANUARY MEETING

SILVER MEDAL SERVICEAT RHOSNEIGIR

R H O S N E I G I R , A N G L E S E Y . About11.30 in the morning of the 28th ofAugust, 1941, a British bombing aero-plane crashed in the sea off Rhosneigir.A gale was blowing from the south-west,with a very heavy sea. The nearestlife-boat, the Holyhead motor life-boat, was at a shipyard for overhaul,and her crew were away fetching arelief l ife-boat. The Porthdinllaenmotor life-boat was called out andlaunched at 12.48 in the afternoon.She reached Rhosneigir about 2.30.By that time there was nothing to be

the crew. The most gallant attemptsat rescue were made by four shoreboats, and by many people workingfrom the beach, but all the effortsfailed, and not only were the threeairmen lost, but eleven of the rescuers.The honorary secretary of the Holy-head life-boat station, who visitedRhosneigir afterwards, said that thesega l lan t a t t empts mus t have beenhopeless from the start, for the seasthat were driving on shore with thetide running out against them were notrolling in and breaking on the openbeach in the usual way, but movinglike walls of water, with curling tops.

Almost as soon as the aeroplanecame down on the water two of her

seen of the aeroplane, but even had crew were washed off her. The thirdthe life-boat been able to arrive earlier clung to the fuselage. He wasthe aeroplane was in water so shallowthat it would have been impossible for

seen by two boys of seventeen ,Mr. John L. S. Wood, of Chester,

the life-boat to reach her and rescue and Mr. Derrick Baynham, of Walton-6 0

SERVICES 1942 61

on-Thames. With a total disregardfor their own safety they at oncelaunched a small dinghy and set outto the rescue. It took them three-quarters of an hour of hard rowing toreach the aeroplane, and they showedwonderful seamanship in handling,and keeping afloat that small openboat through the heavy seas. Butas they turned it to go alongsidethe aeroplane, a sea caught it broad-side on and capsized i t . Both theboys were thrown into the water,but both succeeded in clinging to theover-turned boat. Then they left itand swam to the aeroplane on whichthe airman was crouching. Whenthey had regained their breath theydecided to make for their boat again.It was being driven shoreward andthey feared that at any moment theaeroplane might sink.

They persuaded the airman, a Pole,to go with them. He had been slightlyinjured in the crash, and was weakfrom shock and exposure. He wasscarcely able to help himself, and wassupported by the two boys as, bat-tered by the seas, they struggled tokeep their heads above water. Theaeroplane as well as the boat wasbeing carried shoreward, and in theirstruggle they used anything they couldget hold of, an oar, the boat andoccasionally the aeroplane itself. Inthis way they gradually drifted nearerto the shore and one of the boys andthe airman managed to seize a beachdefence pos t . I t was no t s t rongenough to bear their combined weight,so the boy left the airman to hold onto it, and again struck off towards theshore. Both the boys had now almostgiven up hope of reaching anotherdefence post or the shore itself, butpeople on the shore, who had watchedtheir splendid struggle, were preparingto go to their help. They formed ahuman chain, reaching far out fromthe shore, and this chain succeeded inseizing and passing in the two boys.Unfortunately it was not able also torescue the Polish airman. He wasactually then in his own depth as heclung to the post , but he was soexhausted that he could not hold on.He lost his grip, was swept away anddrowned.

Meanwhile other, very gallant,efforts had been made to reach theaeroplane. One man had put out ina boat alone, but was forced by theheavy seas to turn back. Then ninemen put out in a whaler. Seven ofthem were soldiers and the other twowere an officer of the merchant navyand a police constable. They musthave realised that they were makingan almost hopeless attempt, at therisk of their own lives, but they refusedto listen to the warning of other peopleon the shore. They felt it their dutyto make the attempt. They succeededin rowing the whaler well out to sea,but in trying to bring her under thelee of the aeroplane they were caughtand capsized by a heavy sea, and werethrown into the water in all directions.One of the nine men managed tostruggle ashore himself. Two, neitherof whom could swim, clung to an oar.A man swam out from the beach tohe lp them, and brought them in .They were only half conscious, butwere revived. The other six men wereall washed up, but it was impossibleto revive them.

Yet a fourth boat put out with twomen on board, a coastguard and anaircraftsman. This boat too was cap-sized. The coastguard was drowned,the aircraftsman was saved.

People on shore saw the capsize ofthe boats and the men on board themthrown into the water, and fourteensoldiers and airmen swam out to helpthem. Four of these fourteen men losttheir lives.

During these heroic efforts aero-planes were flying low overhead anddropping life-belts to the rescuersstruggling in the water.

The Institution made the followingawards to those who had attemptedrescue with the use of boats :

To JOHN L. S. WOOD and DERRICKBAYNHAM, each the silver medal forgallantry, with a copy of the voteinscribed on vellum. They were alsoboth awarded George Medals, and re-ceived money rewards from the AirMinistry, and silver cigarette-casesfrom General Sikorski, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Forces, with hissignature on them ;

To SERGEANT C. JACKSON, LANCE

62 SERVICES 1942

BOMBARDIER T. TAYLOR and GUNNERJ. W. PARKINSON, the three survivorsof the nine men who manned thewhaler, each the bronze medal forgallantry, with a copy of the voteinscribed on vellum ;

To AIRCRAFTSMAN(1St Class) ALBERTE. ATKINSON the survivor of the twomen who manned the fourth boat, thebronze medal for gallantry, and a copyof the vote inscribed on vellum.

The bronze medal for gallantry,with a copy of the vote inscribedon vellum, was also posthumouslyawarded to each of the seven menwho lost their l ives in the boats,as follows : SECOND-LIEUTENANTPETER T. WHYSALL R. A. BATTERYSERGEANT-MAJOR ALFRED W. MOGER,GUNNER CLARENCE H. THORNTON,SECOND MATE, MERCANTILE MARINE,ARTHUR J. OWEN, POLICE CONSTABLEGEORGE C. ARTHUR, COASTGUARDOFFICER EVAN JONES and GUNNERREGINALD EATON.

The Royal Humane Society re-warded those who had made attemptsat rescue by swimming.

Fourteen men put out in boats.Seven of them lost their lives. Fourteenmen swam out. Four of them losttheir lives.

(See Porthdinllaen “ Accounts ofServices by Life-boats,” 1941, page 67.)

SANDAY , ORKNEYS . On the morning ofthe 30th October, 1941, the Norwegian motorvessel Anna went aground on a lee shore atHyngreenie Point, Sanday. A light S. windwas blowing, with a slight sea. The coast-guard informed the Stromness life-boat, butshe was not needed as two men had put offfrom the shore in a small rowing boat andbrought ashore the whole crew of eleven.-Rewards, £2.

B A L L Y H A L B E R T , CO. . DOWN. On theafternoon of the 26th November, 1941, themotor vessel Francois Tixier, of Bristol, witha crew of fourteen, was seen to be in distressin Ballyhalbert Bay. She had sprung a leak,was listing heavily, and was circling roundher own anchor with her propeller out of thewater. A fresh S.W. wind was blowing, witha rough sea. The Cloughey and Donaghadeelife-boat crews were called out, but the boatswere no t l aunched as a boa t , which wasalready at sea, went to the rescue. She wasa 35-feet motor boat, with a crew of two,and she rescued all the crew of the vesselexcept one man, who was drowned. - Rewards,£2 and 10s. for fuel used.

H E R N E B A Y , K E N T . A b o u t 8 i n t h eevening of 27 th November , 1941 , coas t -guards watch ing an aeroplane coming in

from seawards saw it crash in flames nearHerne Bay pier, and Beltinge observer postreported cries for help. These cries wereh e a r d b y t w o m e n , w h o j u m p e d i n t o arowing boat, and rescued one man who hadcome down by parachute. - Rewards, £2 10s.

NEWQUAY, CORNWALL. At 4 in the after-noon of the 20th December, 1941, informationwas received at the life-boat station that aBritish aeroplane was in the sea six milesN.W. of Penhale Point. The weather wasfine, with a smooth sea and a light N.E. wind.At 4.25 P.M. a 26-feet motor boat - the EarlyDawn - manned by the life-boat coxswain,the mechanic, the bowman and Mr. E. H.Trembath, the honorary secretary, put out.They reached the spot , to f ind tha t fouraeroplanes and an R.A.F. rescue launch werealready searching. A few minutes later thelaunch picked up one survivor and then twobodies. The fourth airman was not found.- Rewards, £3 and 10s. for fuel used.

LYTHAM-ST. ANNE'S, LANCASHIRE. About4 .30 in the a f te rnoon of 21s t December ,1941, a Lytham resident telephoned to thehonorary secretary of the life-boat stationtha t an ae rop lane had c rashed . About aquarter of a mile south of the pier, on thebank by the ninth mile light, a British fighteraeroplane could be seen, burning fiercely.A strong S.W. breeze was blowing, with amoderate sea. As there was no water overthe south training wall the life-boat was notlaunched, but the life-boat coxswain andseven men manned the life-boat’s boardingboat, and the second-mechanic and anotherm a n m a n n e d t h e m e c h a n i c ’ s p u n t . T h emotor mechanic remained on shore to standby the life-boat. As the boats were puttingoff, an Admiralty launch came alongside thepier, and took them in tow. The honorarysecretary of the life-boat station went in thelaunch. The launch towed the two boats asfar as it could, and when the water becametoo shallow cast them off, leaving them togo to the burning plane while It searchedthe river for any survivors. The life-boatcrew and volunteers landed from the board-ing boat on the sandbank, but they foundthat the aeroplane had buried itself in themud and quicksand to a depth of about fivefeet. They picked up parts of the aeroplaneand an airman’s helmet. As the aeroplanehad crashed at full speed, there seemed tobe no hope of any survivors, and the boardingboa t re tu rned to her s t a t ion , a r r iv ing a t6 . 3 0 P . M . T h e A d m i r a l t y l a u n c h , a f t e rsearching the river, had returned at 5.45 P.M.The naval authorities were thanked for thehelp which they gave, and a letter of thankswas sent to the honorary secretary, FergusDearden. - Rewards, £10.

N E W Q U A Y , C O R N W A L L . A t 1 1 i n t h emorning of the 7th January, 1942, a BritishAvro Anson aeroplane was reported to hedown in the sea. A moderately rough seawas running, with a fresh northerly wind.The motor fishing boat Bonny Girl, which hadjust returned from sea, put out at once witha crew of three and found the aeroplane

SERVICES 1942 63

three hundred yards east of Goose Rock,Pentire Point, and rescued the three airmenjust as the aeroplane sank. They were suf-fe r ing f rom s l igh t cu ts and shock . TheNewquay motor life-boat was launched afterthe fishing boat, but the fishing boat reachedthe aeroplane first. - Rewards, £3 and 5s. forfuel used.

(See Newquay, “ Accounts of Services byLife-boats,” page 27.)

FEBRUARY MEETING

CRICCIETH , CAERNARVONSHIRE . Shortlybefore 6 in the evening of the 6th January,1942, it became known that an Anson traineraeroplane had come down in the sea inTremadoc Ray. A light northerly wind wasblowing, with a moderate sea. A motor boatput out from Criccieth, manned by five men,and searched from 6.10 P .M. until midnight,but found nothing. The Pwllheli and Bar-mouth life-boats were also launched, butfound nothing that night. On the followingmorning the Pwllheli life-boat went out again,found the aeroplane sinking and marked theposition with a buoy. The crew of the aero-plane had been rescued from their dinghyby a seaplane. - Rewards, £9 7s. 6d. and12s. 6d. for fuel used.

(See Barmouth and Pwllheli, “ Accounts ofServices by Life-boats,” page 10.)

HASTINGS, SUSSEX. At 2.10 in the after-noon of the 30th January, 1942, the coast-guard at Fairlight reported that, the fishingboat RX52 was towing another fishing boat,R X 1 1 2 , towards Has t ings . The sea wasrough, with a strong S.W. wind. The boatswere making steady progress, but the honorarysecretary of the life-boat station asked thecoastguard to keep him informed in case thelife-boat’s help should be needed. At 2.45the coastguard reported that another boat,RX106, which was at sea, had gone to help,and the RX112, whose engine had brokendown, was brought safely into Hastings at3.15. - Rewards, £2 13s., with 7s. 6d. and 3s.for fuel used.

MARCH MEETING

BARRA ISLAND, HEBRIDES. On the eveningof 16th January, 1942, the steamer R. J.Cullen, of St. John’s, Newfoundland, wasb l o w n a s h o r e a t L e a n i s h P o i n t , o n t h eS.E. side of Barra, by a S.E. gale, and on the16th January, 1942, the Barra Island motorlife-boat had been unable to get near her.On the morning of the 17th January, whenthe gale had somewhat moderated, the life-boat coxswain arranged for the motor fishingboat St. Margaret, of Vatersay, to go to herhelp, as the life-boat herself was at this timegoing out to another ship ashore. Mannedby her crew of six, the motor fishing boat leftVatersay at 8 in the morning. In spite ofnumerous reefs and heavy swell, she gotalongside and rescued the crew of forty-seven.She landed them at Castlebay and arrivedback a t Vate rsay a t 5 in the even ing . -Rewards, £5 14s. and £3 10s. for fuel used.

(See Barra Island, “ Accounts of Servicesby Life-boats,” page 12.)

BARRA ISLAND , HEBRIDES . On the 22ndJanuary, 1942, the Barra Island life-boatrescued twenty-e ight of the crew of theS.S. Eugenie S. Embiricos, which had beendisabled and driven ashore, in a gale, atLeanish Point, on the S.E. side of BarraIsland. On the following morning the life-boatcoxswain arranged for the lobster fishing boatJoy, from Earsary, which was about a milefrom the wreck, to go and rescue four men whohad remained on board. A moderate S.E.wind was then blowing, with a rough sea.Four men manned the J o y , which was arowing boat, and, with some difficulty owingto the reefs and rough sea, they rescued thefour men on the steamer. - Rewards, £3 16s.

(See Barra Island, “ Accounts of Servicesby Life-boats,” page 12.)

PORTHCAWL , GLAMORGANSHIRE . At 3.10P .M. on the 30th January, 1942, five airmenin a skiff belonging to the R.A.F. left Porth-cawl to go to an R.A.F. motor launch lyingat a buoy about 1,000 yards off the pier.The skiff missed the launch and was swepttowards the Tusker Rocks. It could be seenthat she was in very great danger, and at3.50 P.M. a motor boat, manned by the ownerand the crew of four of the R.A.F. launch,went to the rescue. They boarded the launch,and in her followed the skiff, which theypicked up when she was only 100 yards fromthe Tuskcr Rocks. - Rewards, 10s. to theowner of the motor boat and 2s. 6d. for fuelused.

VENTNOR, ISLE OF WIGHT. At 2.35 in thea f t e rnoon o f the 15 th February , 1942 , amember of the coast life-saving corps re-ported what appeared to be a rubber dinghyfour miles S.S.E. of Woody Point. Threemen put out at once in a pulling boat. Thecoastguards were told, and so too were themilitary in case the boat was not back bysunset. An air/sea rescue launch also putout, and a Walrus flying boat. The launchrescued four airmen, whose aeroplane hadcome down in the sea at about 2.30 thatmorning , whi le re turn ing f rom a ra id onMannheim. The launch towed the pullingboat back to Ventnor . - Rewards to thethree men, £2 5s.

CLACTON-ON-SEA , ESSEX . At about 3.30P .M. on the afternoon of the 15th February,1942, a British Wellington bomber crashedinto the sea about 300 yards off the beach,a quarter of a mile W. of Clacton Pier. Alight N.N.W. wind was blowing, with a slightsea. The life-boat motor-mechanic was onthe pier, and he and three soldiers at once putoff in two rowing boats. The mechanic hadrealised that time was vital and that it wouldt a k e t o o l o n g t o g e t t h e l i f e - b o a t c r e wtogether. He took one soldier with him inthe larger of the two rowing boats, the twoother soldiers manning the other. Under hissupervision the two boats picked up fourmen from the bomber and two Army officerswho had swum out to he lp and were inserious difficulty. Some of the rescued mendied later. The action of the two officers inswimming out was reported to the Royal

64 SERVICES 1942

Humane Society and two of the soldiers whowent out in the two boats, a captain and abattery sergeant-major, were thanked, butthe third could not be traced. At the requestof the authorities the life-boat coxswain andassistant motor-mechanic put off in a boatlater in the day to take officers out to theaeroplane . These two men were engagedf rom 7 P . M . un t i l 9 .30 P . M . - Rewards ,£2 2s. 6d.

APRIL MEETING

MONTROSE , ANGUS. At about 10 in themorning of the 24th March, 1942, the life-boat coxswain and two other men were aboutto enter harbour in a motor boat, when theysaw an aeroplane fall into the sea. The seawas smooth and a light westerly wind wasblowing. Putting about, the three men wentto the spot where the aeroplane had crashed,one mile N.E. from Scurdyness Lighthouse,a n d f o u n d h e r p a r t l y s u b m e r g e d . T h e yrescued the pilot, who was badly injuredabout the face , and semi-consc ious , andbrought him back to Montrose where he wastaken to the R.A.F . hosp i ta l . - Rewards ,£2 17s.

T EIGNMOUTH , DEVON . At about mid-dayon the 28th March, 1942, two men were outin a small motor boat hauling lobster potsoff the Ness Rocks, Teignmouth. An easterlywind was blowing, and their boat was caughtin broken water and capsized. They werethrown into the sea and were in danger ofdrowning . S ix men went ou t in a motorfe r ry boa t , c rossed the harbour bar andrescued them. - Rewards, £3.

PE T E R H E A D , AB E R D E E N S H I R E . A t abou t12.30 in the morning of 1st April, 1942, thecoastguard at Collieston saw a distress signalfrom an aeroplane, which had crashed a mileS.E. of Cruden Bay. A light S.W. wind wasblowing, wi th a modera te swel l , and theweather was fine. Two motor boats, eachmanned by three men, put out from CrudenBay and one of them rescued two airmen.The three other members of the aeroplane’screw were lost. The Peterhead life-boat wasalso launched, but she, and naval vesselswhich joined in the search, found nothing.-Rewards, £6 and 9s. for fuel used. The six mengenerously returned their rewards as a giftto the Institution. Three of them wrote :“ We don’t wish any gain for ourselves. Weonly tried to help the men who are riskingtheir lives day and night to keep our countrysafe “.

(See Peterhead, “Accounts of Services byLife-boats,” page 37.)

W H I T B Y , Y O R K S H I R E . A t 9 . 4 2 i n t h emorning of the 8th April, 1942, the coast.guard reported that the motor fishing cobleSpray, of Whitby, was showing a distresss ignal one mi le nor th of Whi tby p ier . Astrong W.S.W. wind was blowing, with achoppy sea. The life-boat coxswain decidedthat the job could be done by a fishing coble,and with two other men he put off in themotor fishing coble Rosamund. They found

the Spray at anchor, with her engine brokendown. She had two men on board . Theytook her in tow and brought her into harbour.- Rewards, £2 5s. and 4s. for fuel used.

MAY MEETING

R INGFORD , Co. ANTRIM . Two men wentout in a very small boat, on the 27th October,1941 , to l i f t lobs te r po ts . A modera te lystrong and squally off-shore wind was blow-ing and the sea was choppy. Apparently thesmall boat got into difficulties and, for someunexplained reason, one of the men wentoverboard and attempted to swim to shore.The other man was unable to manage theboat by himself.. Men on shore saw that hewas in difficulties and signalled to a manwho was coming into Carnlough harbour inhis motor fishing boat. He went to the smallboat and rescued the man. Then he searchedfor the swimmer, but he had disappeared.-Rewards, 19s. and 4s. for fuel used.

HILBRE ISLAND, CHESHIRE. At about sixin the evening of 13th March, 1942, a Hurricaneaeroplane made a forced landing on the WestHoyle Bank. A moderate wind was blowingfrom the S.E., with a slight sea, but the tidewas flowing and the bank would be coveredin two hours’ time. The lighthouse keeperof Hilbre Island and an airman put off in arowing boat to the rescue. They had a hardrow for about a mile and a half, but theyreached the bank in good time and rescuedthe pilot. It was another hard row back, andthe night had come before they reached thelighthouse. The lighthouse keeper’s wife putup the rescued pilot for the night. - Rewards,£3.

ST . ANDREWS , F IFESHIRE . On the after-noon of the 15th March, 1942, two R.A.F.aircraftsmen hired a rowing boat. The seawas rough, with a stiff easterly breeze blow-ing, and the men were advised to keep in theharbour. After a time they took the boatoutside, and when about 350 yards from thebreakwate r , they met rough wate r . Theyt u r n e d b a c k , b u t t h e i r b o a t c a p s i z e d ,and they were thrown into the sea. Theymanaged to ge t back to the boa t and tohold on, although at times they had to let goas the boat turned over in the heavy seas.Two men put out in a small rowing boat and,with some difficulty and at some risk in therough sea, rescued the two aircraftsmen.They had then been in the water for about15 minutes. - Rewards, £1 18s.

T EESMOUTH , YORKSHIRE . Shortly before10 in the morning of the 17th March, 1942,a Hudson aeroplane fell into the sea threemiles N.E. of Saltscar. It exploded and burstinto flames. A moderate southerly wind wasblowing, but the sea was smooth. The cox-swain of the Teesmouth life-boat put outin his motor boat with his two sons, who werenaval ratings, and three unknown airmen.They soon reached the scene and saw wreck-age floating and several bodies, but therewere no survivors. An R.A.F. rescue launchthen arrived and took over the work, picking

SERVICES 1942 65

up several bodies. The Redcar motor life-boat also put out and picked up one body.Six airmen had lost their lives. - Rewards,£2 17s. to the coxswain and his sons and 4s.for fuel used.

(See Redcar, “Accounts of Services byLife-boats,” page 32.)

COLWYN BAY , DENBIGHSHIRE . Just afternoon on the 8th April, 1942, a British aero-plane came down in the sea half a mile offColwyn Bay pier. A strong S.S.W. wind wasb l o w i n g a n d t h e s e a w a s r o u g h . T h r e esoldiers from a Colwyn Bay camp put outat once in a rowing boat, found the rubberdinghy from the aeroplane, with four air-men on board, off Llysfaen, and took it intow ; bu t they could make no headwayagainst the wind and sea, with the dinghy intow, and had to give up the attempt to reachthe shore. A motor boat had also put out,manned by a special constable, his son anda n o t h e r m a n . T h e y t o o k o v e r f r o m t h erowing boat the towing of the rubber dinghywith the airmen, and landed them at 1.40in the a f te rnoon. The so ld iers , wi th nodinghy in tow, were able to row back to theShore. - Rewards to the crew of the motorboat, £1 17s. 6d. and 4s. for fuel used. Thesoldiers could not be traced.

(See Llandudno, “ Accounts of Services byLife-boats,” page 37.)

WALMER, KENT. At 1.58 in the afternoonof the 12th April, 1942, the Deal coastguardreported to the Walmer life-boat station thata British aeroplane was down in the sea, andthe airman afloat in a rubber dinghy aboutone mile east of Walmer Castle. A light S.E.wind was blowing, with a moderate sea. At2.14 P.M. a motor fishing boat put out, mannedby the station officer of coastguard, the life-boat coxswain, mechanic, bowman and oneof the life-boat crew. When she was abouttwo hundred yards off the airman the fishingboat was passed by an R.A.F. rescue launchwhich rescued the airman and took him toDover. A man also put out from Kingsdown,but he also did not reach the spot until aftert h e R . A . F . r e s c u e l a u n c h . - R e w a r d s ,£1 17s. 6d. to three of the men. The others,being Deal men, were rewarded by the BevanTrustees of Deal and Broadstairs.

BEER , DEVON . A few minutes before 11at night of the 12th April , 1942, a Beau-fighter aeroplane was seen by the coastguardto crash into the sea. A light S.W. wind wasblowing, with a moderate sea. The owner ofa motor fishing boat, with two other menand two police constables, went out to therescue. They picked up some parts of anaeroplane a mile or two south of Beer Head,bu t found no surv ivors , and re tu rned a t3 o’clock - Rewards, £6 5s. and 8s. for fuelused.

SWANAGE, DORSET. At about eight in themorning of 10th May, 1942, the life-boatmechanic saw an invasion barge in difficultiesin the bay, and endeavouring to come along-side the pier. She had been badly damagedabout the bows, had a lot of water in thehold, and could only move astern. It was,

however, useless for her to come alongsidethe pier, as it had been cut in two to preventit from being used in an invasion, and therewas no way of getting ashore except by boat.Realising this, the mechanic told the coast-guard, and it was decided not to launch thelife-boat, but to make use of a rowing boat,although a fresh N.E. wind was blowing, witha nasty swell. The life-boat’s coxswain, themotor mechanic and the ass i s tan t motormechanic pu t o f f in a boa t , and , a t therequest of the naval officer-in-charge, gavetheir help to the captain of the barge and thesalvage party which he had on board. Theywere engaged in this work from eight in themorning until six in the evening. - Rewards,£1 17s. 6d.

HASTINGS, SUSSEX . At 1.18 in the after-noon of the 17th May, 1942, the Fairlightcoastguard reported that the local fishingboat Good Luck had been machine-gunned bya German aeroplane about one and a halfmi les S .E . o f Has t ings harbour . A l igh twesterly wind was blowing and the sea wassmooth. It was nearly high water. On shorethere was an air-raid alert. The life-boatcoxswain and four other men put off in amotor boat, met the Good Luck about half amile out, and escorted her into harbour. Noone on board was wounded , bu t the boa th e r s e l f w a s h o l e d a n d m a k i n g w a t e r . -Rewards, £3 2s. 6d. to five men, £1 to tenhelpers and 1s. 6d. for fuel used.

SHERINGHAM, NORFOLK. At 11.30 at nighton the 17 th May , 1942 , the coas tguardreported that an aeroplane had crashed abouttwo miles E. by N. of the coastguard station.A light southerly wind was blowing and thesea was smooth. As the life-boat was havingher annual overhaul, twelve life-boatmen putoff in two fishing boats at about 11.45 P.M.A minesweeper, which had her searchlighton, reported that she had seen an aeroplanecrash, and the military searchlight on shorewas a l so swi tched on , but the two boatsfound nothing, although they searched until2 next morning. The Cromer life-boat alsocame out, and the fishing boats left her thereto continue the search. - Rewards, £10 and10s. for fuel used.

(See Cromer, “Accounts of Services byLife-boats,” page 39.)

JUNE MEETING

PORTREATH , CORNWALL . At 9.10 in themorning of the 7th January, 1942, a coast-guard saw a rubber dinghy in the sea oneand a half miles N.W. of Portreath look-out.A light northerly wind was blowing, with amoderate swell. The harbour company wereinformed, and their motor boat went out,manned by the harbour mas te r and th reeo ther men. They p icked up one a i rman.The R.A.F. had been informed, one of itsa m b u l a n c e s w a s w a i t i n g w h e n t h e b o a tr e t u r n e d , a n d t h e r e s c u e d m a n w a s i nhospital within one and a half hours of thedinghy being sighted. - Rewards, £3 16s.

G O U R D O N , K I N C A R D I N E S H I R E . A t abou t2 in the afternoon of the 29th April, 1942, a

66 SERVICES 1942

small open boat was seen drifting betweenG o u r d o n a n d J o h n s h a v e n . A f r e s h S . E .wind was blowing, with a heavy swell. Thelife-boat coxswain’s motor fishing boat wasafloat in the harbour, and the coxswain andfive other men put off in her to investigate.T h e y f o u n d t h e d r i f t i n g b o a t e m p t y . -Rewards, £3 and 8s. for fuel used.

S ILLOTH , CUMBERLAND . While the motorfishing boat Roamer, of Silloth, was returningfrom fishing in Allonby Bay, at 12.13 in theafternoon of the 6th May, 1942, her crew offive saw a Hudson aeroplane crash, about amile south of Silloth Lighthouse. The seawas calm. The motor boat went to the helpof the a i rmen, and found tha t they wereunhurt and had got on to a sandbank. Theywaded from it to the boat, and were broughtashore. - Rewards, £3 2s. 6d. and 8s. 6d. forfuel used. The rewards were returned as adonation.

ABERYSTWYTH , CARDIGANSHIRE . At 5 inthe evening of the 10th May, 1942, the coast-g u a r d s a w a r o w i n g b o a t b e l o n g i n g t oAberystwyth University in difficulties abouta mile N.W. of the promenade. Then shefilled with water and capsized. A fresh tostrong S.E. wind was blowing, with a swell.Prompt steps were taken by the coastguard,police, life-boatmen, airmen and others, whomanned th ree rowing boa ts and pu t ou t .The first boat away, manned by three men,saved four men who were clinging to theu p t u r n e d b o a t . T h e t w o o t h e r b o a t s ,manned by three and six men, reached thescene a l i t t l e la te r and searched for twoo t h e r m e n . O n e o f t h e t w o h a d s w u mashore. The other was drowned. - Rewards,£6 15s.

DYMCHURCH, KENT. At 2.24 in the after-noon of the 22nd May, 1942, a British fighteraeroplane was seen by the Dymchurch coast-guard to fall into the sea about half a mileeast of the coastguard station and 200 yardsf rom the shore . A l ight S .W. wind wasblowing and the sea was calm, but there wassome fog. A man put out alone in a smallrowing boat and searched for about an hour,but without success. He had considerabledifficulty in launching and getting ashoreagain owing to beach defences. - Reward, £1.

NEW QUAY, CARDIGANSHIRE . At 5.26 inthe afternoon of the 26th May, 1942, thecoastguard telephoned the life-boat stationtha t in format ion had been rece ived f romFishguard that an aeroplane was down inthe sea two miles N.W. of New Quay. Theposition was in full view from New Quay,but from there nothing had been seen. Themotor vessel Alpha, belonging to the Lanca-shire and Western Sea Fisheries, put out,manned by three of her own crew and twol i fe-boatmen. The second-coxswain s toodby on shore in case the life-boat should beneeded. A second message gave the positionas just West of Pen Cribach Head, and themotor vessel had to be recalled and giventhis information. A naval motor launch wasalso out searching, and later she signalled

the Alpha that the aeroplane had come downon land. The Alpha returned at 8.30 P .M .-Rewards, £5 14s.

C A S T L E T O W N , I S L E O F MA N . A t abou t4 in the afternoon of the 6th June, 1942, asmall fishing boat had her sail blown awayin a squall in Castletown Bay, a mile fromh a r b o u r , a n d d r i f t e d t o w a r d s L a n g n e s sPoint. There was one man on board. Theaccident was seen by Mr. W. F. Haworth,who put off in a motor boat, but before hecould reach the sailing boat she had groundednear Langness Lighthouse and the man hadgot safely ashore. - Reward, a letter of thanksto Mr. W. F. Haworth.

JULY MEETING

ME E N L A R A G H , Co . D O N E G A L . A t abou tfour in the afternoon of 7th March, 1942, themotor boat Pride of Drumcliffe, with a crewof six men, was returning to the mainlandwi th mai l s f rom Tory Is land . As she gotnear the island in Innishbofin Bay, she sawthe schooner Loch Ryan, of Skibbereen, indifficulties. Her engine had broken down.The tide was at flood, and a strong S.E. windwas b lowing, wi th a choppy sea . I t wasraining. The place where the schooner laywas full of reefs, with the water swirlinga m o n g t h e m , a n d n o o n e w i t h o u t l o c a lknowledge could have ventured near. Thesix men in the motor boat made at once forthe schooner, rescued the crew and landedthem. The schooner herself went ashore onInnishdoe I s land , in a heavy squa l l , andbecame a total loss. - Rewards, £6 and 12s. 6d.for fuel used.

L O C H B O I S D A L E , H E B R I D E S . A t a b o u t2.20 in the afternoon of the 4th May, 1942,a Sunderland flying boat crashed at GasayI s l a n d i n c o m i n g t o m o o r i n g s . A l i g h tsoutherly wind was blowing, with a moderatesea, and it was very cold. The sea transportofficer called out two herring drifters, eachwith a crew of five. He went aboard one ofthem himself, with a party of six sappersf rom the R.E . Docks Group . The f ly ingboat had disappeared behind an island inthe middle of Lochboisdale, and when theherring drifters reached it, six minutes afterthe crash, they found twelve of the crew offourteen, some on the wings of the aeroplane,some on the rocks close by, and two or threehalf in the water and clinging to the rocks.Most of the men were injured and sufferingfrom cold and shock. One of the herringdr i f te r s re turned a t once to harbour forblankets and brought out additional helpers,a clergyman, a police sergeant, a supervisorof the auxiliary coastguard and men of theR.A.F. Two crof te rs , who had seen theaccident, had also put out in their own openmotor boat. The three boats quickly broughtthe twelve airmen ashore. When the tidefell, the bodies of the other two airmen weref o u n d i n t h e w r e c k e d f l y i n g b o a t . T h eofficer commanding at the Royal Air ForceStation at Benbecula wrote that there couldbe no doubt that it was due to the speed withwhich the rescue had been organised and

SERVICES 1942 67

carried out that more lives had not been lost.- Rewards to the crew of the three boats, £12,and £10 to one of the boats for compensationfor gear which she lost.

T I G H N A B R U A I C H , K Y L E S O F B U T E . A t3.15 in the afternoon of the 21st May, 1942,a man was in his front garden when a Sword-fish aeroplane hit the water 600 yards east ofTighnabruaich pier. The sea was calm, witha very light westerly wind. The man at oncegot the help of his next-door neighbour, andthey rowed out to the Swordf i sh . Theyrescued the three men on board. All wereinjured, one badly, and it was only with diffi-culty, and at some risk of capsizing their boat,that they got the injured airmen aboard.Then they buoyed the aeroplane and broughtthe airmen ashore. - Rewards, £1.

LLANDDWYN, ANGLESEY. At 12.25 in theafternoon of the 30th May, 1942, a Bothaaeroplane was seen to crash into the seaabout half a mile S.E. of Llanddwyn Island.The wind and sea were moderate, but therewas a heavy surf on the beach. Leaving awoman in charge of their post with instruc-tions to telephone for the R.A.F. rescue launch,two auxiliary coastguards, one aged 59 andthe other 63, put out in a small boat, whichthey launched wi th the he lp of v is i tors .Within twenty minutes of the crash theyreached the aeroplane. Her wings were justawash . They found and rescued a bad lyinjured airman. The other airman had beentrapped inside and drowned. At one o’clockthe R.A.F. rescue boat from Belan arrivedand took aboard the rescued man. - Rewards,£2.

WALMER , KENT . At about 2.50 P .M . onthe 5th June, 1942, two aeroplanes collided,caught fire and crashed into the sea a mileand three-quar te rs eas t o f the l i fe -boa tstation. The sea was moderate, with a lightnortherly wind. The motor boat Terrier waslaunched, manned by the life-boat’s second-coxswain, assistant mechanic and a memberof the crew. On nearing the spot they sawan airman floating in the sea, and directeda speed boat to him, which very quicklyrescued him. - Rewards, 12s. 6d. to one man;the services of the others, being Deal men,were reported to the local Bevan Trustees.

NEW BRIGHTON, CHESHIRE. At about 4.45in the afternoon of 7th June, 1942, the life-boat coxswain saw a number of childrenplaying on a sandbank south of New Brightonlanding stage. A moderate sea was running,with a fresh N.W. wind blowing, and the tidew a s r i s i n g . T h e c o x s w a i n w a r n e d t h echildren, but they took no notice, and a littlelater it was seen that they had been trappedby the rising tide, and were in grave dangerof being swept away and drowned. The cox-swain, the assistant motor-mechanic, andanother life-boatman put out in the life-boat’sm o t o r b o a r d i n g b o a t , a n d r e s c u e d t h echildren. There were 25 of them, and by thetime the last had been taken on board thesandbank was nearly covered by the tide.-Rewards, £1 5s.

CLOVELLY, DEVON. In the early morningof the 14th June, 1942, a small Dutch steamerwas bombed and sunk by enemy aeroplaneswhi le in convoy some seven miles W. ofHar t land Poin t . The wea ther was foggy ,with a light S.W. wind and a smooth sea.The crew of the steamer took to their boats.The life-boat coxswain put out alone in hismotor boat at 5.45 and towed one of thesteamer’s boats, with six Dutch and fourBr i t i sh sa i lo rs on board , in to Clove l ly . -Rewards, £2 and 2s. for fuel used.

SHERINGHAM, NORFOLK. At 6.15 in theevening of the 20th June, 1942, a Spitfireaeroplane crashed into the sea half a mileN.E. of the coastguard station. The weatherwas fine, with only a slight swell. The crashwas seen by the coastguard and by fishermenon the beach, and a rowing boat, with a crewo f f i v e , w a s a w a y w i t h i n t w o m i n u t e s ,fo l lowed three minutes la te r by a motorfishing boat, with a crew of eight. The boatsfound the aerop lane under wate r , bu t nosurv ivors . The Sher ingham l i fe -boa t wasaway for overhaul and the Cromer life-boatwas launched . She and the f i sh ing boatstried to raise the aeroplane, but could notdo it. - Rewards, £9 10s. and 5s. for fuel used.

(See Cromer, “Accounts of Services byLife-boats,” page 40.)

SC A R B O R O U G H , Y O R K S H I R E . A t 5 .30 inthe morning of the 26th June, 1942, threemen coming home in a motor fishing boatsaw an R.A.F. Halifax bomber crash on therocks about a mile north of Scarborough.The weather was fine. The airmen succeededin getting out of the aeroplane and into ad i n g h y w i t h d i f f i c u l t y . T h e f i s h e r m e nchanged their course, took the airmen aboardtheir boat, and brought them to Scarborough.- Rewards, £1 10s. and 2s. 6d. for fuel used.

NEWQUAY , CORNWALL . At 10.10 in themorn ing o f the 26 th June , 1942 , a Skuaaeroplane of the Fleet Air Arm crashed inthe sea three miles N.N.E. of Towan Head.The weather was fine and the sea smooth.The crew of two airmen got into their dinghy.The aeroplane sank about half an hour later.A fisherman, in his motor boat, at once wentto the dinghy, took off the two airmen, andlanded them at 10.55. - Rewards, 12s. 6d.and 2s. 6d. for fuel used.

ILFRACOMBE, DEVON. At 6 in the eveningof the 28th June, 1942, a fisherman and histwo sons were returning from fishing in theirmotor boa t when they saw a man and awoman on Lee Cliffs. They were in bathingdresses and had been cut of f by the t ideafter bathing. A light westerly wind wasblowing and the sea was calm, but there wassome wash among the rocks. As the fisher-men could not land from the motor boat theywent to Ilfracombe for a rowing boat andropes. With the help of these they got theman and woman down the cliff to the boatsand then took them back to Lee. - Rewards,£2 17s. and 5s. for fuel used. A gift was alsoreceived from the woman.

68 SERVICES 1942

SEPTEMBER MEETING

FRASERBURGH, ABERDEENSHIRE . On the11th June, 1942, a Spitfire aeroplane wason a practice flight when the engine failedand the pilot landed on the sea. There wasa slight swell with a light N.E. wind. Theaeroplane sank at once and the pilot swamfor the shore. The accident had been seenfrom the shore and two men put out in amotor boat. Guided by seagulls circling, themen went at once to the right spot and pickedup the pilot. He was unable to speak, andthe men cut away his collar and tie and gavehim artificial respiration. - Rewards, £1.

PE T E R H E A D , AB E R D E E N S H I R E . Shor t lybefore 12.30 in the afternoon of the 28thJune, 1942, two boys (brothers) were playingon the shore at Burnhaven with a raft made ofship’s hatch covers and an old table. Thet ide was four hours f lood , wi th a l igh tN.N.W. wind and a slight sea. Wind andtide carried the raft seawards and the boysca l led for he lp . Three men put of f in ar o w i n g b o a t a n d b r o u g h t t h e m a s h o r e . -Rewards, £1 10s. and 5s. for the use of theboat.

PORTRUSH , CO . ANTRIM . About 1 in thea f te rnoon o f the 4 th Ju ly , 1942 , a smal lpulling boat, with one man on board, wasseen to be in difficulties in a north-westerlydirection about two miles from Ramore Head.A light but increasing southerly off-shorewind was b lowing, wi th a modera te sea .Four men put out in a motor boat, but theyran out of fuel and had to return. Anothermotor boat, with a crew of five, then put off,and towed the small boat, drifting some fivemiles off, to Portrush. - Rewards, £3 10s. and9s. for fuel used.

PORT ST. MARY, ISLE OF MAN. At about6.45 in the evening of the 10th July, 1942,the sailing yacht Diana, of Castletown, wasseen to be in distress in Carrick Bay, near thePoolvaa ish Rocks . A nor ther ly ga le wasblowing, with a very choppy sea. The cox-swain and motor-mechanic of the life-boatmet a motor boat. with three men on board,as she came in from a pleasure trip, returningon account of the bad weather, and asked themen if they would put out again to the rescue.This they d id , the coxswain and motor -mechanic going with them, and they came upwith the Diana when she was only 100 yardsfrom the rocks. She had two men on board,and they had been fishing in Perwick Bay.When the gale sprang up they had tried tomake harbour, but their mainsail was badlytorn. They were helpless, and were blownt w o a n d a h a l f m i l e s b e f o r e t h e y w e r erescued. Had the rescuers been a little laterin reaching the yacht they would have foundher smashed against the rocks, and the twomen in great danger of losing their lives.-Rewards, £5 and 5s. for fuel used.

CASTLETOWN , ISLE OF MAN . At 4.30 inthe afternoon of the 18th July, 1942, a smallsailing boat was reported to be in difficulties.S h e h a d o n l y b o y s o n b o a r d . A s t r o n g

N.N.W. wind was blowing. The boys couldnot make Castletown, and had anchored halfa mile to the south. Two men, Mr. Wm. Myl-chreest and Mr. John Kellet, put out in amotor boat and towed the sailing boat intoharbour. - Rewards, letter of thanks to themen, who had been rewarded by the fatherof the boys.

CADGWITH , CORNWALL . At about 10.38in the morning of the 19th July, 1942, anairman was seen to bale out of a Spitfireaeroplane which had crashed into the seaabout one and half miles S.E. of Cadgwith.A moderate northerly wind was blowing, witha slight sea. Four men went out in a motorfishing boat and rescued the pilot, who wasin his rubber dinghy. - Rewards, £2 10s. and5s. for fuel used.

WHITSTABLE , KENT . On the morning ofthe 22nd Ju ly , 1942 , two men f rom theR.A.F. range at Shellness put out in a smalldinghy to attend a target 900 yards seawards.While they were so engaged the tide turned,and the current coming down the Swale,helped by a squall, drove the dinghy sea-wards. She made no distress signals, butthree men in a Whitstable motor fishing boatsaw that the dinghy was in difficulties andwent to her help. It was then 10.30 in themorning . They took the two a i rmen onboard and brought them and their dinghyto Shellness. - Rewards, £1 17s. 6d. and 2s. 6d.for fuel used.

MABLETHORPE , L INCOLNSHIRE . At about12.50 in the afternoon of 16th August, 1942,an aeroplane crashed into the sea betweenTheddlethorpe and Saltfleet. Mr. C. Moun-tain, Eastern Sea Fisheries Officer, and hisassistant officer, Mr. H. West, put off in theEastern Sea Fisheries boat. There were nosurvivors, but they found the aeroplane andrescued the bodies of the airmen. - Rewards,Letters of thanks to Mr. C. Mountain andMr. H. West.

BOULMER , NORTHUMBERLAND . At about5.30 in the afternoon of the 18th August,1942 , a Bo tha t r a in ing ae rop lane and aLysander, towing a target, collided in the air.The Botha crashed into the sea about one anda half miles N.E. of the life-boat station, andthe Lysander crash-landed in a field abouthalf a mile S. of the station and burst intoflames, but her crew of two got clear. A lightS.E. wind was blowing, with a choppy sea.Three fishing boats put out to the help ofthe Botha, with eleven men on board, and afourth boat, on her way home from fishing,with a crew of three, changed course and alsowent to the rescue. They found an emptyrubber dinghy, a dead body and a severelyinjured man, who died. - Rewards, £7 and10s. for fuel used.

BARROW , LANCASHIRE . A Barrow motorpilot boat put out on the 20th August, 1942,to help an aeroplane which had crashed.-Rewards, £5 and 12s. for fuel used.

(See Barrow and Millom, “ Services byShore-boats, 1943,” page 56.)

SERVICES 1942 69

NEW QUAY, CARDIGANSHIRE. At 12.12 inthe afternoon of the 20th August, 1942, thecoastguard saw that a rowing boat, with fourpeople on board, was in difficulties half am i l e e a s t o f N e w Q u a y p i e r . A s t r o n gsqua l ly N.W. wind was b lowing , wi th amoderately rough sea. A motor boat, witha crew of two, which had just come in fromfishing, was sent off. She found that thepeople in the rowing boat were v is i tors .They had lost an oar, and their boat wasd r i f t i n g r a p i d l y a w a y . T h e m o t o r b o a tbrought them in. - Rewards, £1 and 2s. forfuel used.

C A D G W I T H , C O R N W A L L . A t 9 .40 in theevening of the 21st August, 1942, a Beau-fighter aeroplane crashed into the sea a quarterof a mile off Church Cove. A light S.W.wind was blowing, with a slight sea. Thecrash was heard, but not seen from the beach,and within eight minutes a motor boat witha crew of four was away. Ten minutes latera second motor boat, also with a crew of four,put out. The first boat picked up a deadairman off Church Cove, and the second boatsalved some wreckage. The first boat putout aga in , th i s t ime wi th a c rew of s ix ,inc lud ing an R.A.F . doc tor and a po l iceconstable, and picked up some equipment.A punt also went out, manned by four men,but found nothing. - Rewards, £13 and 8s.for fuel used.

W A T C H E T , S O M E R S E T . A t 10 .40 in themorning of the 29th August, 1942, an armyofficer reported to the life-boat’s second-coxswain tha t a par ty of ba thers was indifficulties near Helwell Point. A S.W. windwas blowing, with some swell. The second-coxswain and two o ther l i fe -boatmen a tonce put off in a rowing boat and found tensoldiers on ledges of rock under the precipi-tous cliffs. One of them was being given firstaid. The boat took him on board and sixo thers and landed them in Helwel l Bay .She then re turned and rescued the o therthree. - Rewards, £1 17s. 6d.

H A S T I N G S , S U S S E X . A t 1 0 . 1 0 i n t h emorning of the 2nd September, 1942, a para-chute was seen to come down into the sea.A light S.W. wind was blowing, with a slightswell. Two men put out in a motor boat.They did not find the parachute, but theypicked up the canis te r of a smoke bombwhich had been dropped about eight milesout to guide the Hastings life-boat, whichwas also searching. - Rewards, £1 5s. and 8s.for fuel used.

OCTOBER MEETING

PORTH HELLICK, SCILLY ISLES. At about4 in the afternoon of the 4th June, 1942, aTiger Moth aeroplane, the engine of whichhad failed, fell into the sea about fifty yardsoff the shore at Porth Hellick. The accidentwas seen by Mr. C. Stideford, who was atwork in a field two hundred yards away. Heran to his home, telephoned the coastguardand, with two other men, put off in a smallrowing boat. The two airmen had got clear

of the aeroplane . One swam ashore . Theboat picked up the other. Another airmanhad swum out to help, and he was also pickedup by the boat. The two rescued men weretransferred to a motor launch, which reachedthe scene a few minutes later. - Rewards,letters of thanks to Messrs. C. Stideford, H.Jenkins and William J. Guy, Junior.

LOSSIEMOUTH, MORAYSHIRE. On the 20thAugust, 1942, six men were fishing from themotor fishing boat Renown, of Lossiemouth,about three and a half miles off Lossiemouth,w h e n a W h i t l e y b o m b e r m a d e a f o r c e dlanding on the sea 500 yards away. The menbuoyed their nets, went at once to the aero-plane, and rescued her crew of five from theirdinghy. - Rewards, £3.

WOOLTACK POINT , PEMBROKESHIRE . At9.45 in the evening of the 1st September,1 9 4 2 , t h e c o a s t g u a r d w a t c h m a n s a w aflashing white light about two miles awayto the nor th-wes t . Three-quar te rs of anhour later it was still flashing. He thoughtthat it was a vessel signalling, but the signalswere not understood, and three auxiliarycoastguards, one of them a woman, put outin a motor boat to investigate. They madea thorough search, but found nothing, andreturned at one next morning. - Rewards, £3and 5s. for fuel used.

BLACKROCK, Co. CORK. On the afternoonof the 6th September, 1942, John Duffy, aboy of six, was playing in a boat moored inthe River Lee, and he fell into the water.David Hegarty aged ten, and Laurence Canny,aged twelve, returning from blackberrying,saw him in the water, clinging to the mooringrope of the boat from which he had fallen.These two boys hauled on the mooring ropeso as to keep him above water. Then oneof them got into another boat. This boat thefirst boy pulled towards John Duffy, and theboy in it was able to catch hold of him anddrag him ashore. The two boys took himto one of their homes, gave him tea and dryclothes, and then took him home. - Rewards,letters of appreciation to the two boys.

BRIDLINGTON, YORKSHIRE. At 12.50 P .M.on the 12 th Sep tember , 1942 , the coas t -guard repor ted to the l i fe -boa t coxswainthat a man in a coble was waving his arms,and that the coble was in broken water offFlamborough Head. A light easterly windwas blowing, with a moderate sea. A watchwas kept on the boat, and it was decidedthat, instead of the life-boat, a motor cobleshould put out as soon as the tide had risensufficiently to launch her. At 3.25 P .M. thelife-boat coxswain and two other men putout in a motor coble. They found that thecoble in distress had lost her propeller andwas drifting under sail. The two men onboard had intended to try and beach her.The motor coble towed her into Bridlingtonharbour. - Rewards, £1 17s. 6d. and 2s. 6d.for fuel used.

MARGATE, KENT. At 7.45 in the morningof 20th September, 1942, three men (aged 71,

70 SERVICES 1942

69 and 16) went out in their motor launch tofish. The wind was light, but the sea waschoppy. As the men put out they saw arescue launch on its way to look for a Stirlingbomber which had crashed three and a halfmiles out at sea. The three fishermen hadjust got out their gear when they heard ashout and saw three a i rmen in the waterholding on to one another. The fishermengot them on board their boat at once. Oneof the men was unconscious and they triedto revive him, but he was dead. They thenhauled in their net and brought the airmeninto harbour, where they landed them at 9.30.The rescue launch picked up two other air-men. - Rewards, £3 and 10s. for fuel used.

NOVEMBER MEETING

L Y N M O U T H , D E V O N . A t e i g h t i n t h eevening of the 2nd September, 1942, a visitorreported that several people could be heardshouting for help beneath the cliffs to theeast of the harbour. A light westerly windwas blowing, but the sea was smooth and theweather was fine. The honorary secretaryof the life-boat station, Mr. T. F. Bevan, thesecond-coxswain, a seaman and a policeman,put out in a rowing boat. Dusk had fallen,but the boat was guided by shouts, and foundamong the rocks two young men and twoyoung women and also two boys. The boyshad climbed down the cliffs to reassure theothers. The boat was taken in among therocks, and the six people waded out to her.She was only a 16-feet boat, and she now hadten people on board her. She got back toLynmouth at ten o’clock. - Rewards, a letterof thanks to Mr. T. F. Bevan and £2 15s.given to the other three men. The rescuedpeople also gave a reward.

MA I D E N S , AY R S H I R E . Jus t a f te r seveno’clock in the morning of 11th September,1942, a British aeroplane crashed into thesea. A light S.W. wind was blowing, and thesea was smooth. She crashed near two boatswhich were fishing in Maidens Bay. Theywere owned by Mr. A. MrCrindle and Mr. T.Sloan. They went at once to the aeroplane,and Mr. MrCrindle rescued two airmen andMr. Sloan one, before the R.A.F. launch fromG i r v a n a r r i v e d . O n e a i r m a n w a s l o s t . -Rewards, letters of thanks to Mr. McCrindleand Mr. Sloan, who did not wish to havemoney rewards.

WESTON , DEVON . At 2.45 in the after-noon of 21st September, 1942, a Westonwatcher told the coastguard at Beer Headthat a bather was in difficulties about twentyyards of f Weston Beach. A s t rong S .W.wind was blowing, with a slight sea. Fourmen, one of them a police constable, put offfrom Beer in a motor boat, but found nothing.Later the body of the bather was washedashore. - Rewards, £5 and 3s. for fuel used.

COCKBURNSPATH , BERWICKSHIRE . Aboutmid-day on the 5th October, 1942, an airmandropped by parachute into the sea betweenCockburnspa th and Fas t Cas t le . A verystrong westerly wind was blowing, and the

sea was very choppy, but the weather wasclear. Three men at once put off in a fishingboat. The parachute was drifting fast withthe wind and tide, but they picked it upabout one and a half miles seaward of Red-hough Bay . No a i rman was found . Thelife-boats at Dunbar and St. Abbs also tookpart in the search, but they found nothing.- Rewards, £2 17s. and 3s. for fuel used.

(See Dunbar and St. Abbs, “Accounts ofservices by Life-boats,” page 50.)

NEW BRIGHTON, CHESHIRE. Shortly before7 in the evening of the 18th October, 1942,a man reported at the life-boat house thatsome boys in a boat, moored off Egremontstage, were waving for help. A moderateN.W. wind was blowing. The sea was smooth,but the weather was misty. The life-boatcoxswain , second-coxswain and motor-mechanic put off in the life-boat’s motorboarding boat. They searched all the boatsin the neighbourhood, but could find no traceof the boys. They returned at 8 P .M . , andthen learned that an empty boat had beenpicked up off Seacombe. Evidently the boyshad climbed from this boat into the mooredboat, and then been taken off before theboarding boat arrived. - Rewards, £1 10s.

SH E R I N G H A M , N O R F O L K . Shor t ly a f te rseven in the morning of 30th October, 1942,a damaged Halifax bombing aeroplanecrashed into the sea east of Sheringham.A strong E.N.E. wind was blowing, with amoderate swell. Her crew of six Polish air-men were rescued from their dinghy by theSheringham life-boat. A motor fishing boat,with six men on board, also put out to therescue, but she arrived just after the life-boat. The six men knew that the life-boatwas putting out, but, seeing the airmen inthe water, being half a mile nearer to themthan the life-boat station, and knowing thatevery moment was vital, they also went tothe rescue. - Rewards, £3 and 2s. 6d. for fuelused.

(See Sheringham, “ Accounts of Servicesby Life-boats,” page 50.)

GLENBARR , KINTYRE , ARGYLLSHIRE . Atabout 8.15 in the evening of the 2nd Novem-ber, 1942, a Fleet Air Arm aeroplane engagedon night flying exercises crashed into the seawest of Glenecardoch Point, near Glenbarr,Kintyre . Her c rew of thrce succeeded inswimming to a rock off the shore, but weretoo exhausted to attempt to swim further.The news was telephoned to Campbeltown.An aeroplane was sent to drop flares, and arescue boat was summoned from Port Ellenand a naval boat from Tarbert. Meanwhile,people who were nearest the scene sent for aman living about three miles further north.His boat had been drawn up for the winterbut he quickly launched it, with another man,rowed to the aeroplane and rescued the threeairmen who were slightly injured. On theirway home the rescuers met the rescue boat.-Rewards, £12 10s.

NEWQUAY , CORNWALL . Just after noonon the 3rd November, 1942, a Hudson aero-

SERVICES 1942 71

plane struck the sea and blew up about sixmi les wes t o f Towan Head . The weatherwas fine, with a light N.E. wind and a smoothsea. A fishing boat, with two men on board,was within half a mile of the spot where theaeroplane had crashed and went at once tothe rescue, but all she found was the bodiesof three airmen. - Rewards, £2 10s. and 3s.for fuel used.

DECEMBER MEETING

G I R V A N , AY R S H I R E . A t abou t 9 .30 inthe mornmg of the 7 th October , 1942 , amilitary aeroplane crashed into the sea aboutfour miles, N.N.W. of Girvan. The sea wasc a l m , w i t h a l i g h t w e s t e r l y w i n d . T h eFraserburgh motor fishing boat Primrose,which was already at sea, picked up twoa i r m e n . T w o o t h e r s w e r e r e s c u e d b y arescue launch. - Rewards, a letter of thanksto the master of the Primrose, William Good-brand, and his crew.

ST. AGNES, SCILLY ISLES. At about 10.45in the morning of the 1st November, 1942,a Hurricane aeroplane crashed into the seaabout a quarter of a mile south by west fromCamper Drizzle Point, St. Agnes. Smokewas seen pouring from it. The weather wasfine and the sea smooth. Boats put out bothfrom St. Agnes and St. Mary’s, five in all,m a n n e d b y s i x t e e n m e n . O n e o f t h e mrescued the pilot who was only half conscious.It was then only ten minutes after the crash.Two of the boats which went out belonged tothe war department, and were manned bytheir regular crews. To those no rewardswere made. One of the men did not desireto have a money reward, and to him a letterof thanks was sent. - Rewards to the remain-ing men, £5 10s. and £1 14s. 6d. for fuel used.

ABERYSTWYTH, CARDIGANSHIRE. At about4.15 in the afternoon of the 6th November,1942, the coastguard saw an aeroplane crashinto the sea half a mile off Wallog, somethree miles N.N.E. of Aberystwyth Castle.A S.S.E. wind was blowing, with a rough sea.The coastguard ran and told the owner ofthe motor boat Emerald Star, which had justreturned from fishing. With a crew of fourthe motor boat put out, and found the aero-plane with her tail above water at 4.45 P.M.She picked up one airman and two bodies.The Aberystwyth and Barmouth life-boatsb o t h p u t o u t , b u t w e r e n o t n e e d e d . -Rewards, £5 14s. and 6s. for fuel used.

(See Aberys twyth and Barmouth , “Ac-counts of Services by Life-boats,” page 51.)

A I L S A C R A I G , A Y R S H I R E . O n t h e 7 t hNovember, 1942, the Buckie motor fishingboat Frugality was out fishing when an Ansonaeroplane, whose engines had failed, circledround her and came down in the sea one anda ha l f mi les away, th ree mi les E .S .E . ofAilsa Craig. The sea was moderate with a

fresh wind. The master of the fishing boatcut away and buoyed his gear, made for theaeroplane’s dinghy and rescued the crew offive airmen. He gave them a meal and tookthem to Ayr. - Rewards, £2 for fuel.

FA R A , O R K N E Y S . A t abou t 2 .20 in theafternoon of the 11th November, 1942, anaeroplane exploded in the air, and the pilotcame down by parachute in Fara Sound .the accident was seen by the coastguard.A man put out in his motor boat about 2.45,rescued the pilot at 3 o’clock and landed himon Fara. - Rewards, £1.

BEER , DEVON . At 6.5 in the evening ofthe 12th November, 1942, the Beer Headcoastguard learned that the motor fishingboat Florence May, of Beer, with one manaboard, had not returned. A light N.N.E.wind was blowing, with a slight sea, andvisibility was poor. The fishing boat Sylvia,with a crew of two, put out at 6.30, but couldnot find the missing boat, and returned at8.50 P.M. An R.A.F. speed boat also searchedw i t h o u t s u c c e s s . A f u r t h e r s e a r c h w a sar ranged , and a t daybreak the fo l lowingmorning the Sylvia again put out and alsothe fishing boat Gem, with a crew of two.Aeroplanes searched, but failed to see themiss ing boa t , and the G e m found her a tanchor, with a broken propeller shaft, tenmiles S.S.E. of Beer, and towed her to Beer,arriving at 12.20 P.M. - Rewards, £7 12s. 6d.

C L O V E L L Y , D E V O N . At abou t 2 in theafternoon of the 30th November, 1942, asmall motor trawler, a mile to the north ofClovelly, put up a distress signal. She wasThe Pansy, on passage from Appledore toPadstow. She had been bought by the bow-man of the Padstow life-boat, and he wastaking her to Padstow with the help of twoother men. These two men were not sailorsand were sea-sick. The engine had brokendown, and the anchor chain was not longe n o u g h t o a l l o w t h e b o a t t o a n c h o r . Asqually fresh north wind was blowing. TheClovelly life-boat coxswain and a formersecond-mechanic put out in a rowing boat,boarded The Pansy, got her engine going,and brought her into Clovelly HIarbour.-Rewards, £1 18s.

C A D G W I T H , C O R N W A L L . A t 3 .40 in themorning of the 1st December, 1942, calls forhelp were heard from the sea about half amile south of Cadgwith Cove. The sea wascalm. A coastguard officer and another manput out in a rowing dinghy and found thefishing boat Willie, of Falmouth. Her crewwere father and son. The father had col-l a p s e d . T h e c o a s t g u a r d o f f i c e r a t o n c ereturned ashore in the dinghy to get furtherhelp, and sent it out again with two othermen on board. The sick man was broughtashore and the doctor found that he had hada stroke. - Rewards, £4.

Services by Auxiliary Rescue-boats

Launches 6 Lives rescued 3

COURTOWN, Co. WEXFORD. At 5.40 in theafternoon of the 22nd of October, 1942, thehonorary agent received information that thelocal motor fishing boat St. Mary was indifficulties about three miles to the north ofC o u r t o w n p i e r . A m o d e r a t e t o s q u a l l ysouth-west wind was blowing and the sea wasu n s e t t l e d . T h e s k i p p e r o f t h e a u x i l i a r yrescue-boat was consulted and ten minuteslater she left the harbour. She overhauledthe f i sh ing boat , which , wi th her enginebroken down, was being driven farther northby wind and tide. The crew of three of thedisabled fishing boat had been fishing all day.They were co ld and hungry . The rescue-boat took them in tow and reached Courtownagain at 7.30 that evening. - Rewards, £5 12s.6d. and 6s. 4d. for fuel used.

D INGLE, Co. KERRY . About 8.30 in theevening of the 27th of October, 1942, themotor fishing boat Angelus Bell, of Dingle,broke down off Blasket Strand, and a tele-phone call from Blasket Island asked for aboat to tow her in. A light northerly windwas b lowing and the sea was ca lm. Theauxiliary rescue-boat put out with a crew offive and, off Ventry, found the Angelus Bell.She had got her engine going again and madeDingle under her own power. The rescueboa t was ou t fo r about two hours . - Norewards desired ; cost of fuel 8s.

MALIN HEAD , Co. DONEGAL . At eight inthe morning of the 2nd of November, 1942,a report came from the lightkeeper at Inish-trahull that an object, which looked like aboat, could be seen to the eastward. A lightsoutherly breeze was blowing and the sea wassmooth. The auxiliary rescue-boat Jane waslaunched, manned by a crew of four. Aboutfour mi les eas t o f In i sh t rahul l she founda 16-feet zeppelin-shaped buoy with anchor,

mast and flag. The buoy was towed ashoreat 11.30 A.M. - Rewards, £3 16s. and 9s. 6d.for fuel.

T EELIN , Co. DONEGAL . On the morningof the 14th of November, 1942, the CarrigeanHead coastwatchers reported that there wassomething like a boat about two miles offthe Head. The auxiliary rescue-boat was atKillybegs and information was at once sentto the skipper through the civic guard atCar r ick . The rescue-boa t se t ou t fo r theHead, fourteen miles distant, but when near-ing the position met another local boat. Shehad the thing in tow. It was a large tank.No rewards desired ; cost of fuel, 3s. 2d.

SCALASAIG, COLONSAY, HEBRIDES. On the2nd of December, 1942, a telephone messagewas received from the R.A.F. Oban, throughthe Colonsay coastguard, that a dinghy hadbeen seen in position 56 04 N. 06 20 W. Thesea was calm, with a light north-west wind.It was thought that an aeroplane might havecrashed, and it was uncertain if anyone wasin the d inghy . The auxi l i a ry rescue-boa tput out at 3.55 P.M. and after making a widebut fruitless search returned at eight o’clockthat evening. Two aeroplanes were also outsearching. - Rewards, £9 8s. ; cost of fuel, £17s. 6d.

M ILLOM , CUMBERLAND . On the 27th ofDecember, 1942, a Swordfish aeroplane hadbeen reported down in the sea in Millom Bay,and the auxiliary rescue-boat put out at aboutthree in the afternoon, in a strong south-westerly wind, with a moderate sea. Shesearched without success and returned at 1.30the following morning. The Barrow motorl i fe -boa t a l so took par t in the search . -Rewards, £4 14s. and 14s. 9d. for fuel. (SeeBarrow, “Accounts of Serv ices by Li fe-boats,” page 59.)