A Holiday at Skipsea LAST summer a fifteen-year-old school- girl was holidaying at Skipsea, near Bridlington. Her home was at Baildon near Shipley, and she was staying with her parents at Sea Cabin Bungalow, Green Lane, which stood near the sea- shore. They had taken it so that she could play there with the home-made raft her father had made for her. Her name was Patricia Ann Huntington.

The 29th of August was a Monday, the start to what she fully expected to be another week of seaside romping and fun. She had just finished lunch when her mother, who was at the window, said she could see what appeared to be a yellow dinghy with a small boy on board, drifting out to sea. Patricia looked too. Her mother was right.

There was a large orange-coloured R.A.F. dinghy containing a slight boyish figure, drifting rapidly towards Flamborough Head. The youngster was trying to paddle shorewards with his hands, but his craft was too large for such a small reservoir of strength.

The dinghy drifted on. Indeed once, as they watched, the boy fell back exhausted out of sight and it was only when he reappeared to renew his paddling that they were reassured that he had not fallen into the sea.

The Raft is Launched Patricia lost no more time. She hurried down to the shore, where a man and a youth were already starting to launch her improvised raft. It was built of half a dozen five-gallon oil drums fastened together in two rows of three by a wooden frame. In the middle was a wooden seat. The oars were pieces of plywood attached to broom handles, and the rowlocks a nail driven into a short post on each side of the frame. A loop of wire fastened to each oar fitted over the nails, and completed this Heath Robinson craft.

The sea was choppy and running out fast as she clambered on to the raft.

With a push from the man, she got afloat and began to row towards Mam- borough Head, towards the boy in the dinghy. It was a very hot day, and the wind was blowing off shore. As Pat- ricia rowed, she noticed a man swim- ming out towards her, but after a while he changed direction, and turning her head she noticed why. There was another small boy, also in a dinghy, about two hundred yards from the beach, and the swimmer had decided to take care of him instead. Patricia was left to her lone rescue.

Boy and Girl For almost an hour she paddled on.

When about a mile out to sea she caught up with the first boy in his orange dinghy. He was panicky by now but she calmed him down. Neither child had a rope, so Patricia persuaded the boy to lean over the side of his dinghy and hold on to her raft.

Meanwhile the little drama had not gone unnoticed. One or two local inhabitants had seen Patricia put out to sea, besides those who had launched her raft; and one of them telephoned for help. Skipsea control tower re- layed the message to an R.A.F. rescue launch, patrolling off Skipsea firing range, and it at once began to search for the children. After a cmarter of an hour it sighted them, battling bravely against the ebbing tide but making very little headway, and took them on board.

Wrapped in blankets and revived with hot soup, they seemed little the worse for their adventure. They were quite cheerful and had not suffered a great deal from exposure. The launch took them both to Bridlington, where before long they were handed over to their relieved parents. The whole incident had taken about two hours.

Praise and Reward All accounts joined in praising Patricia Huntington's bravery and resourcefulness. The Flight Sergeant in command of the R.A.F. launch did not minimise the dangers she risked.

They might have been blown out to, sea, and the dinghy and raft overturned, he reported. The little boy—William Eugene Bottom] ey, aged 10, of Huns- worth—-not only acknowledged her courage and efforts, but struck a fine note of confidence. "If the R.A.F.

launch had not come, I feel sure that in spite of the hard work and the current she would have got me back to the beach," he said.

Perhaps Patricia will say there could be no tribute she will prize more; not even the inscribed wrist watch which the Royal National Life-boat Institu- tion has awarded her for her plucky and hazardous act..