Margate, Kent. — At 2.35 in the afternoon of the 26th of September, 1951, the coastguard telephoned that a barge was ashore on the outer edge of the Margate Sands and at three o'clock the life-boat North Foreland, Civil Service No. XI was launched.

A fresh south-westerly breeze was blowing, with a heavy swell. The life-boat found the motor bargeThallata, of Harwich, fast ashore. She was laden with wheat, bound from London to Ramsgate, and carried a crew of three. In her efforts to get off, the barge had disabled her engine and her master asked for help. The life-boat stood by until the tide flowed.

She then got a tow rope aboard, pulled the barge clear of the sands at 6.45, towed her to Ramsgate and moored her in the harbour. She reached her station again before midnight.— Property Salvage Case..