AT 3.20 on the afternoon of the 12th of July, 1959, the honorary secretary of the North Sunderland, Northumber- land, life-boat station, Mr. T. W. A.

Swallow, learnt from the coastguard that a canoe with one man in it had been seen close under the western shore of the inner Fame Island. Although the weather was fine there was a strong west-south-westerly wind. There was a moderate sea, but near the island there was a heavy ground sea. It was one hour after low water.

Hanging on to Ledge At 3.30 the North Sunderland life- boat Grace Darling, which is one of the 35-feet 6-inches Liverpool type, was launched and made for the position given, which was two miles from the life-boat station.

The life-boat approached the south- west corner of the island, where a man could be seen hanging on to a ledge on the rocky face, which was some seventy feet high. He was about twelve feet up and the sea was breaking at his feet. He had scrambled into this position after his canoe had capsized a few feet from the cliff.

Hanging on as he was, the man clearly could not have grasped hold of a line if it had been fired to him, and Coxswain Thomas Dawson realised that somehow the man had to be brought to the life-boat without the help of a line. There was not a single member of the crew who could swim.

This is not uncommon among fishermen or indeed among those who have carried out acts of gallantry in life-boats at all times. Even the founder of the Life-boat Institution, Sir William Hillary, who himself helped to rescue more than three hundred lives, never learnt to swim. Yet every member of the North Sunderland crew volunteered to go overboard and take a line ashore.

Seaman of Experience The second coxswain, J. G. Walker, was a seaman of considerable experi- ence, and Coxswain Dawson had no doubt that he was capable of assumingfull command of the life-boat. He therefore decided that he himself would go to the help of the man on the cliffs.

He anchored the life-boat in seven fathoms of water on a sandy bottom as close to the shore as the considerable backwash, the height of the ground sea, which sometimes reached twelve feet, and the strong on-shore wind would safely allow.

The cable was veered until the stern of the life-boat was within sixty feet of the shore. Coxswain Dawson then went over the side with a line attached to his life-jacket and made his way as best he could through the deep and broken water to the base of the cliff.

Second Coxswain Walker held the life- boat in position with the engines so that there was always enough slack in the rope which was secured to the coxswain.

Bronze Medal Awarded When he reached the man on the cliff Coxswain Dawson found that he too was unable to swim. He therefore hauled a life-jacket from the life-boat and put it on the man before attempting to move him down the cliff, which sloped inwards about 15 degrees from the vertical. With difficulty he lowered the man to a ledge, and from there the man was hauled off to the life-boat with a bight of the rope which Coxswain Dawson had brought out.

The man was brought safely aboard, and then Coxswain Dawson was him- self hauled back by the same rope.

Though they were dragged through broken water, being under water more often than above it, neither suffered serious injury, although both were bruised.

The life-boat lay at anchor under the cliff for nearly half an hour, and she then returned to her station, arriving at 4.55.

For this service the bronze medal for gallantry has been awarded to Coxswain Thomas Dawson. Medal service certi- ficates were accorded to Second Coxs- wain J. Walker, Bowman R. Rutter, Mechanic M. Robson, Assistant Mech- anic W. Fawcus, and members of the crew O. Giloney and W. Giloney.

Rewards to the crew, £6 ; rewards to the helpers on shore, £6 Is..