By a strange coincide the Hungarian Minister in London was notified by his government on the day of the disaster at St. Ives of the awards which it had made to St. Ives for the service to the Alba in January, 1938. Though the Alba was registered at Panama and her owner was Swiss, she had a number of Hungarians among her crew. The mayor of St. Ives was awarded the Order of Merit of Hungary, and Cox- swain Thomas Cocking the Cross of the Order of Merit. These and the other awards were presented on 31st Jan- uarv bv Mr. A. Beechman, M.C., the Member of Parliament for St. Ives.

At the first Investiture of the year, at Buckingham Palace, on 14th Feb- ruary, 1939, the King presented to Sergeant Horace Osborn, Constable George Appleton, Constable Leslie Jones and Constable Noel Wilkinson, all of the Cornwall Constabulary, the King's Police Medal for their gallantry at the wreck of the Alba. When the life-boat was washed ashore, with the crew of the life-boat and the rescued crew on board, all four policemen went into the sea to help get the men from the life-boat to the rocks..