EARLY in the afternoon of the 9th December, 1938, the open motor crabber, Channel Pride, of Dartmouth, was overtaken by a sudden gale off Coombe Point, Dartmouth. She had two men on board. Her skipper decided to return at once, but the propeller was fouled by a crab pot, and this stopped the engine.

At 2.15, the crabber, with one of the men waving an oar, was seen drifting towards the cliffs by Mr. F. Hyne, gardener to Mr. Cyril Maude, the actor, of Redlap House, Dartmouth.

He rushed back to the house and telephoned to the coastguard. The coastguard had already had the news, but they asked Mr. Hyne to take ropes to the cliff and to do anything possible until the life-saving apparatus arrived.

Meanwhile, the crabber had con- tinued to drift. The two men had let go the anchor, but it would not hold.

They were baling hard. Then they took off their seaboots, and lashed round themselves the inflated rubber floats used on the crab pots. It was all they could do, but they thought their last moment had come. The huge, breaking seas were dashing 50 feet up the cliffs. If the boat had struck the men would have been beaten to death at once on the rocks.

From the top of the cliff Mr. Hyne was able to call to them that the life-boat had been summoned, but so near was the crabber to the cliffs that it seemed impossible for the life-boat to reach her; and at any moment he expected to see her capsize. That she was still afloat when the life-boat arrived was due to three things: At the last moment her anchor had caught against a rock; the wind, which was blowing at 30 to 60 miles an hour from the south, veered to S.W.; and the back-wash of the seas helped to keep the boat off the cliffs.

At 2.24 the message reached the Torbay life-boat station from the coastguard at Berry Head. The crew were hurried down to the harbour in cars and at 2.40 the life-boat got away.

The heavy sea was made worse by the ebb tide running against the gale. There was heavy rain and visibility was very poor.

A Journey of Ten Miles.

The life-boat had a journey of about ten miles before her. After she had passed Berry Head, she searched along the coast to Dartmouth, keeping near the shore, then past Coombe Point, past Redlap and three miles further along the coast to Slapton Sands where the coxswain knew that the crab pots would be. The whole time she was driving into the full force of the gale.

A look-out was kept, but in the growing dusk and the heavy rain, she could see nothing of the crabber. The crabberwas showing no lights. The men on board had no electric light. Their matches were wet, and they were unable to light a lamp. The coxswain returned, again passing the crabber at Redlap, and ran towards Coombe Point.

Meanwhile, Mr. H. M. Smardon, the honorary secretary of the station, had been in constant touch with the Dart- mouth coastguard at Coombe Point.

News had now come that the crabber had anchored and was dragging towards the Redlap cliffs. News also came to him from Mr. Gough, of Three Beaches, that on his wireless he had heard the Niton Radio Station calling the life- boat and the life-boat calling Niton, but neither had been able to get into touch with the other. Through the coastguard, Mr. Smardon asked Niton to send out a message to the life-boat that the crabber was only 200 yards off Redlap. But though, both before the life-boat put out and after she returned, her wireless was found in perfect order, Niton could not get through to her.

Mr. Smardon knew that the crabber was dragging towards certain destruc- tion and asked the Dartmouth coast- guard to fire white star rockets, the signal, "I wish to communicate." The signal was given, but there was no response. It was fired a second time, and then the coastguard saw the navigation lights of the life-boat as she came in towards Coombe Point for information. He signalled the crabber's position to her by morse. It was then nearly five o'clock.

The Rescue.

After the rockets had been fired and the life-boat seen, Mrs. Maude's parlour- maid came out with electric torches and a towel soaked in paraffin and started a gorse fire on the cliff-top to guide the life-boat.

The coxswain made at once for Red- lap cliffs, but in the heavy rain and the intense darkness under the 200-feet cliffs, he saw nothing. It was not until the life-boat was almost on top of her, that the bowman saw the crabber on his starboard bow. Had she been seen sooner the coxswain would have .anchored and veered down to her. As he was so near he decided to go right in; put his helm hard over to bring the crabber under the lee of his port bow; then went hard astern and brought the life-boat up all standing alongside the crabber which was lying athwart the breakers. The two men jumped aboard the life-boat. A moment later a huge breaker hit her and knocked her bow towards the shore. The coxswain did not go astern for fear of fouling his propeller on the crabber's cable. He went full speed ahead, bringing her round with her head to the seas when she was only five or six yards from the cliffs, and the seas were rebounding from them over her stern. Next moment the coxswain had to put his helm hard over again and just missed a rock awash under his starboard bow. So he brought her safely out of the breakers and reached Torbay again at 7.45.

The Rewards.

It was a hazardous rescue carried out with great daring, and the Institu- tion has made the following awards: To Coxswain W. H. H. MOGEIDGE, the silver medal, accompanied by the vote inscribed on vellum; To the second coxswain, W. PILLAR, the bowman, F. C. SANDERS, the motor mechanic, R. T. HARRIS, the assistant motor mechanic, E. LAMSWOOD, and the other members of the crew, F.

TUCKER, C. BICKFORD and F.

LAMSWOOD, the thanks of the Institu- tion inscribed on vellum.

To the coxswain and each member of the crew a reward of £2 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £1 8*. Qd.

Standard rewards to the crew, £9 19s. 6d.

additional rewards to the crew, £16; total rewards, £26 13.?.; To Mr. H. M. SMARDON, the honorary secretary of the station; Mrs. CYRIL MAUDE, her gardener, Mr. HYNE, and her parlourmaid; Mr. P. F. INGRAM, who was the first to send the news to the coastguard; and Mr. N. P. GOUGH, who reported the failure of the wireless station and the life-boat to get into touch with one another, letters of thanks.

Coxswain Mogridge has now won a medal for gallantry three times. He was awarded the bronze medal in 1935, and the second-service clasp to that medal in 1937. On each occasion the members of his crew have been awarded the Institution's thanks inscribed on vellum..