Award of the Silver Medal.

DURING the twelve days from the 21st January to the 1st February. 1937 the worst gales within living memory blew at Aberdeen, and the south break- water of the harbour was washed away.

In those ten days the Aberdeen motor life-boat was launched three times, the pulling and sailing life-boat was launched once and her crew were assembled twice, and nine times the Institution's life-saving apparatus at North Pier and Torry were called out to stand by.

The First Call.

The first call came in the afternoon of 21st January, when a message was received through the coastguard from Wick Radio that the Aberdeen trawler Strathebrie was in need of help eighty or ninety miles N.E. by E.JE. of either Buchan Ness or Girdleness. It had been impossible for Wick Radio to tell for certain which of the two places the trawler had named in her call for help.

A whole gale was blowing from the south-east, Avith a very heavy sea and rain. The motor life-boat Emma Con- stance put out at 4.20 in the afternoon and found that several other vessels, which had received the trawler's call for help, were also looking for her.

She went to one of the positions given, eighty miles N.E. by E.JE. of Girdleness, then twenty miles to the north, then ten miles north-east, then ten miles south.

In this way she searched round both the positions given, but could find no sign of the trawler. She then put back and reached her station again at 4.47 in the afternoon of January 22nd. She had been at sea in the gale for over twenty- four hours, and had travelled 230 miles.

Shortly after she returned the coast- guard reported that the trawler was sheltering in Buckie Bay. The reason why none of the searching vessels had found her was that all the time she had been travelling slowly towards Buckie.

An Inland Rescue.

The second call came three days later. The rains had been very heavy.

The rivers Dee and Don had risen rapidly. They had now overflowed their banks at many points. At 10.45 on the morning of the 25th the police telephoned to the life-boat station that Waterside Farm, about a mile above the Bridge of Dee, had been flooded, and that a woman and two men were signalling for help from the upper storey of the farmhouse. A gale was blowing and the weather was very cold. The pulling and sailing life-boat William and Ellen Robson set out at eleven in the morning on her trans- porting carriage, and was taken by her launching tractor by road over three miles to the river bank above the farm.

There she was launched into the flooded river and was carried down to the farmhouse by the current. The cox- swain manoeuvred her close to the building. Then, by means of a ladder, the woman, the two men, a cat and a dog were brought down into the life- boat. The life-boat was then rowed to the bank and taken back by road to her station, where she arrived at 4.30 in the afternoon. Three hours later her crew were assembled again, as the coastguard had reported that a vessel was drifting ashore near Bel- helvie. They stood by for three- quarters of an hour, when another message came that the vessel was out of danger.

A Yawl Saved.

While the pulling and sailing life-boat was on service inland, the motor life- boat Emma Constance had also been called out. A local motor yawl, which was in the Old Torry harbour with no one on board, was seen to be hanging by stern moorings only, and was in danger of breaking away and being carried out to sea. A tug had been called out to go and secure the yawl, but the heavy spate in the river, with the strong gale from the south- east, made it impossible for the tug to do anything. The Emma Constance put out at noon; towed the yawl to the safety of the fish market; and returned to her station an hour later.A Silver Medal Service.

At 4.30 in the afternoon of the next day, January 26th, the coastguard reported that a trawler about three and a half miles east of'the Bridge of Don look-out was firing distress signals.

A small coastal steamer was astern of her, broadside to the sea and wallow- ing deeply. It was still blowing a whole gale from the south-east, with a very heavy sea. There were frequent heavy snow showers and the weather was intensely cold. The motor life- boat Emma Constance was away within eight minutes of the call.

The south-easterly gale was blowing against the ebbing tide, and this, with the flood water coming down the River Dee, caused an exceptionally heavy breaking sea on the harbour bar. The life-boat was seen from the shore to lift most of her length out of the water to the first sea, and then to be com- pletely swept by sea after sea.

She came safely through them, but not undamaged. Water was coming through the deck into the engine-room, but this was kept under control by the pump.

The life-boat found the steamer Fairy, of King's Lynn, with seven men on board, wallowing heavily in the trough of the sea. She had broken down and a German trawler, which had sent up the signal of distress, was trying to tow her, but was unable to keep her head to the seas. The life- boat went within hailing distance, but was told that the Fairy wished to hold on as long as possible. The life-boat stood by, and she and the trawler and the disabled steamer drifted north- wards. The life-boat then saw another steamer, the s.s. Montrose, drifting down on to the Fairy and flashing a lamp. The life-boat made for her, found that her steering-gear had carried away, and stood by while she repaired it. She then returned to the other two vessels, and found that the tow- rope had parted and that the Fairy was drifting towards the heavy surf about two miles south of Belhelvie.

The life-boat hailed her, asking her crew if they wished to abandon ship.

A few minutes later they signalled that they would like to be taken off.

The Fairy was then very close to the surf, and was being swept by heavy seas which were breaking over her. It was now eight o'clock.

The night was very dark. It was snowing hard.

Life-boat Carried on to the Wreck.

The life-boat went alongside on the leeside of the steamer and some of the crew jumped aboard the life-boat from the bridge deck. The Fairy was rolling heavily; the life-boat beside her was rolling and sheering about; and the bow of the life-boat was carried over the gunwale of the steamer, as the steamer rolled towards her. Then, as the side of the steamer came up again, the life-boat's bow was lifted right out of the water, until the life-boat slid backwards into the sea. Again she went alongside, and the rest of the Fairy's crew jumped aboard her. One of them fell between the steamer and the life-boat, but he was promptly grabbed and hauled aboard by one of the life-boatmen, John Masson, who saved the man's life at the risk of being dragged overboard himself. The actual work of rescuing the crew of seven men had only taken a few minutes, and very soon afterwards the Fairy drifted right into the heavy surf, where her crew would certainly have been washed out of her and drowned.

How much the life-boat had been damaged when crossing the bar it was impossible for her coxswain to tell.

With the tremendous seas still breaking over the bar he would not risk another crossing, and after signalling to the Montrose to report by wireless that the crew of the Fairy had been rescued, he made for Macduff, where the life-boat arrived at 4.30 the next morning. She had then been out for twelve hours.

The pulling and sailing surf-boat William and Ellen Robson had also been called out, when it was learnt that the Fairy was in danger of drifting ashore, and was taken by tractor as far as the Bridge of Don. There the news came that the Fairy's crew had been rescued by the motor life-boat.

Rewards.

This was a service carried out with great courage, determination and skill on the part of the coxswain and crew, in the face of very heavy seas, darkness, heavy snow squalls and intense cold, and in the face also of considerable danger both when the life-boat was crossing the bar and when she was engaged in the actual rescue just outside the very heavy surf breaking off the Belhelvie sands. The Institu- tion has made the following rewards : To Coxswain THOMAS M. SINCLAIR, the silver medal for gallantry. Cox- swain Sinclair won the bronze medal on Christmas Day, 1935, for the service to the trawler George Strwd.

To ALEXANDER WEIR, the motor mechanic, the bronze medal.

To JOHN MASSON, the member of the crew who at great personal risk saved the man who had jumped into the sea, the bronze medal. (The three medals were accompanied by a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum).

To each of the other five members of the crew the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum: GEORGE A. FLETT, JAMES COWPER, JOHN M. NOBLE, ALEXANDER S. MASSON, ROBERT J. B.

ESSON.

To the coxswain and to each member of the crew a reward of £2 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £2 7*., and £2 7s. for bringing the life-boat from Buckie, making a reward of £6 14s. to each man. Total money rewards for the service, £66 18s.

For the service to the Strathebrie, a reward of £2 to the coxswain and each member of the crew in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £3 6s., making a reward of £5 6s. to each man. Total money rewards for the service, £40 4s. 6d.

For the service by the pulling and sailing life-boat to the people marooned in the farm, £14 5s. 9d.

To the crew of the pulling and sailing life-boat for assembling when a vessel was reported in danger off Belhelvie, £2 17s.

To the crew of the pulling and sailing life-boat for assembling ready to go to the s.s. Fairy, £11 17s. 6d.

To the crew of the North Pier life- saving apparatus, which stood by •while trawlers came in on January 26th, £5 12s.

To the crew of the Torry life-saving apparatus, which between January 25th and February 1st stood by eight times, £28 13s.

To CAPTAIN W. A. JOHNSTONE, assistant honorary secretary, who, in the absence of the honorary secretary, played a most important part in this series of services, and was on duty almost continuously for ten days and nights, an inscribed binocular glass.

A letter of thanks was sent to the Board of Trade expressing appreciation for the valuable help given by CAPTAIN A. L. FLETCHER, R.N., inspector of coastguard.

The service to the yawl Utility was a property salvage case.

Total money rewards for this series of services, £170 7s. 9d..