IT was just after dark on the 26th of March (at 7.12 p.m.) when the coast- guard at Newhaven reported a trawler drifting shorewards, something less than a mile south-east of the harbour.

Quarter of an hour later he said she was firing rockets for help; and then the life-boat Cecil and Lilian Philpott was launched. The strong south- south-easterly wind was nearing gale force, and causing a heavy swell and heavy broken seas in the shallows. It was raining and misty and the tide was just beginning to make.

When Coxswain Harvey found the trawler she was only thirty yards off shore, rolling a great deal and pound- ing her heel heavily on the sandy stony bottom. She was a Belgian ship, the 40-ton Christiane II on passage from Dover to Newhaven; and apparently when she had grounded, she had let go anchor and got the cable round her propeller, thus anchoring herself by the stern.

No Room on the Port Side The coxswain first tried to go along- side the Christiane II's port side, but found there was not enough room between her and the shore to turn the life-boat head to sea. He therefore went full speed astern and anchored to windward of the trawler; then dropped down on her by veering his cable. She was now rolling badly, and a tide rip made her very difficult to get alongside. Coxswain Harvey thereupon drove the life-boat on to her with his engines.

Her crew of six, now almost demoral- ised by their plight, jumped on to the fore part of the life-boat with alacrity, and the coxswain, weighing anchor, set his face for harbour. He reached it at eight o'clock.

The Trawler is Refloated Soon after the rescue, the weather eased; and two days later, in the early afternoon, the skipper of the Christiane II asked the Newhaven life-boat to stand by while they tried to refloat his ship. A tug eventually pulled the trawler clear and took her on tow, and the life-boat accompanied them both back to harbour.

For his consummate skill in handling the life-boat in most difficult circum- stances and his fine seamanship, Coxswain William Harvey received the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum. £1 reward was paid to each of the ten members of the crew, in addition to the scale rewards of £1 per man..