THE portrait on the cover is of Coxswain Thomas Allchorn of Eastbourne, who was appointed coxswain in 1951 after service as a member of the crew.

Since his appointment as coxswain Eastbourne life-boats have been launched on service 47 times and have rescued 72 lives. Coxswain Allchorn was awarded the bronze medal for gallantry for a service to the London steamer Barnhill in March 1940, when he and another member of the crew went aboard the burning steamer. He received a second-service clasp to his bronze medal when the Eastbourne lifeboat rescued sixteen men from the wreck of the S.S. Germania and four men from two salvage boats on the 6th of May, 1955. The photograph is reproduced by courtesy of the Evening News..