DUEING the gale on the East Coast on the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th of November there were six launches at Cromer and Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. The crew of the Cromer station were out on service continuously for forty-five hours, while the crew at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston were out five times in the course of thirty- five hours. They spent eighteen of these thirty-five hours at sea, and in the first of the five services two of them were washed overboard.

The story of these six services begins at Cromer at 11 A.M. on the 16th November, when the Haisborough light- vessel reported that a steamer was ashore on the Haisborough Sands, three miles S.E. by E. of the light-vessel. A moderate W.N.W. breeze was blowing, and a moderate sea was running on the sands. The No. 1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey, was launched atll.!2A.M.

and found the vessel to be the Nor- wegian steamer Nesttun, of Tvede- strand. She had a crew of sixteen on board, and was bound from Trondhjem for London with a cargo of wood pulp.

The coxswain of the life-boat went on board, and the captain accepted his offer to help in refloating. A wireless message was sent out for two tugs, and they were connected to the Nesttun by the life-boat. They failed to refloat the steamer, and later two more tugs arrived and were connected. The life- boat stood by all that day and night.

On the morning of the 17th another attempt was made, again without success. The Nesttun then jettisoned her deck cargo, and at 6.45 in the evening she was refloated. The life- boat returned to Cromer at about mid- night, but the weather had got much worse and was then too bad to allow her to be rehoused, so she ran for Gorleston. She arrived there at eight on the morning of the 18th, having been forty-five hours at sea. She was left in the harbour and the crew returned to Cromer for dry clothing and a rest.

Two Life-boatmen Overboard.

At 5.50 on the same morning, the 18th, the coastguard had reported to the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston station that rockets had been seen near Palling, and the motor life-boat John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood put out at six o'clock. A whole northerly gale was now blowing, with a very heavy sea, and squalls of rain. The life-boat saw a steamer ashore on the mainland near Horsey Point. She was the Yewbank, of Glasgow. Just as the life-boat got abreast of her a very heavy sea broke on board the life-boat.

It knocked all the crew down and washed two of them overboard. One of them had taken off his life-belt a few minutes before, but the other managed to get hold of him and supported him in the water. The same wave damaged the gear of the steering-wheel, but the coxswain manoeuvred the life-boat skilfully, and the two men were picked up after being just over fifteen minutes in the water. During that time the one life-belt had kept them both afloat in their oilskins and sea-boots. The man who had no life-belt was insensible when taken aboard, but he soon re- covered consciousness. Another big sea hit the life-boat, and the wheel-gear collapsed entirely. By this time the life-boat was nearingthe breakers on the outer sandbank. The motor mechanic crawled along the after-box, with lines round him, and, with two men holding on to his feet, he managed to detach the damaged wheel-gear from the rudder.

The life-boat then made for home under the hand-steering gear. She arrived at 11.30, and the men who had been overboard were taken to the Mariners' Refuge for medical attention.

The crew of the Yewbank were rescued from the shore by the coastguard life-saving apparatus.

Meanwhile, at 6.30 the coastguard had reported to Cromer that a motor barge, the Lady Gwynfred, of London, was firing distress signals about one mile north of the life-boat station. The No. 2 motor life-boat, Harriot Dixon, was taken to the water's edge, but a very big sea washed her off the carriage, and she went ashore. Before she could be got afloat again it was learned that the barge had grounded and that her crew had been rescued from the shore.

A Drifter Sunk with all Hands.

Two hours after the damaged Great Yarmouth and Gorleston life-boat had returned, a steam drifter put into Gorleston harbour and reported that a motor drifter had turned turtle about half a mile N.W. of Gorton light-vessel.

She was the Olive Branch, of Peterhead, with a crew of nine, making for Yar- mouth. The wind was still blowing at gale force, and the sea was very heavy.

The Great Yarmouth and Gorleston life-boat did not put out again, owing to the damaged steering-gear, but her crew manned the Cromer life-boat, with the district engineer, Mr. J. A. Black, and the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston motor-mechanic in charge of the engines.

One of the two men who had been over- board four hours before, Mr. Ellery Harris, was one of the crew. The life-boat left at 1.55 P.M. No sign of the capsized drifter or of her crew could be found. It was impossible that anyone could have lived in such a sea.

The life-boat, however, made a wide search, and did not return until 4.50 P.M.

By this time the Cromer coxswain and mechanic had come back to Gorleston to look after their boat.

A Second Drifter in Distress.

At 7 P.M. yet another message was received. A disabled steam-drifter, in tow of another drifter, had parted her tow-rope and was driving towards the beach. Five minutes later the Cromer life-boat again put out, manned by the Gorleston coxswain and crew and the Cromer coxswain and motor mechanic.

She found the steam drifter Pitagaveny, of Banff, with ten men on board. The Pitagaveny had an anchor out, but it was not holding and she was dragging rapidly in towards the breakers, about half a mile south of Gorleston pier.

The life-boat ran alongside. Her bow was damaged against the drifter, but she rescued the whole crew. A few minutes later the Pitagaveny went ashore. The rescued men were taken to the Mariners' Refuge, and the life- boat was again ready for service at 8.15 P.M.

There were no more calls that night, but early next morning, the 19th, the coastguard reported that the S.S.

Yewforest, of Glasgow, which was in the roads, was flying a signal for a doctor. The gale had moderated, but very slightly, and the sea was still rough. A doctor volunteered to go, and the Cromer life-boat, still manned by the coxswain and crew of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, and the Cromer coxswain and motor mechanic, went out at 8.20 A.M., and put the doctor on board the steamer. He found that a fireman had fallen down the forecastle steps, but was already dead of his injuries. The life-boat brought him ashore again, and returned to harbour at 9.35 A.M.

A Steamer on Fire.

She had only just arrived when the coastguard reported that a vessel going south through Cockle Gat was on fire and urgently in need of help, and at 9.40 A.M., five minutes after returning, the life-boat was on her way out, with the same crew, on her fifth service.

The steamer on fire was the Lindisfarne, of Newcastle. She was at anchor in Yarmouth roads. The Cromer cox- swain went on board her, and the Lindisfarne's captain asked him to fetch help from H.M.S. Foyle, which was lying near by. The life-boat took a fire-party from the Foyle to the Lindisfarne, and stood by while they extinguished the fire. The fire-party was then taken into harbour, where H.M.S. Foyle had now gone, and the life-boat was moored up at 2 P.M. She was taken back to her own station at Cromer next day.

From 11.12 A.M. on the 16th Novem- ber to 3.40 P.M. on the 19th, a period ,of seventy-six hours, the two life-boats had been at sea for sixty-two hours.

The Institution has made the follow- ing awards to the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston crew : To ME. ELLERY HARRIS, who was washed overboard, held up the other life-boatman in the sea, and afterwards went, out on all the other four services, an inscribed barometer and £3, in addition to the same money awards as the rest of the crew-; To COXSWAIN C. A. JOHNSON and MOTOR MECHANIC B. J. DARBY, letters of appreciation; To MR. H. H. BARNARD, the honorary secretary of the station, and MR. J. A.

BLACK, district engineer, letters of thanks; To MR. R. GREEN and MR. J.

FORREST, officials of the Mariners' Refuge, Gorleston, and to the ROYAL NATIONAL MISSION TO DEEP-SEA FISHERMEN, letters of appreciation ; To each of the fourteen men in the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston motor life-boat who went out to the help of the Yewbank, 10s. in addition to the award of £1 8s. 6d. on the standard scale.

The awards for the six launches of the two Cromer motor life-boats and the Great Yarmouth and Goileston motor life-boats, and for the attempted launch of the Cromer No. 2 life-boat were : Cromer No. 1, to the S.S. Nesttun (property salvage case), £3 10s. 6d.; Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, to the S.S. Yewbank, £29 13s.; Cromer No. 2, to the barge Lady Gwynfred, £28 12s. 6d.; Cromer No. 1, to the drifter Olive Branch, £12 10s. 6d.; Cromer No. 1, to the drifter Pitagaveny, £21; Cromer No. 1, to the S.S. Yew- forest, £11 lls. 6d.; Cromer No. 1, to the S.S. Lindisfarne, property salvage case.

Total money rewards, £106 18s.

Mr. W. Hindle of Gorleston gave £150 to be divided among the life-boatmen..