ABOUT 6.30 on the evening of the 15th July, 1962, a party of four people and a dog put to sea from Axmouth harbour, near Seaton, in a 12-foot 6-inch motor boat driven by a 5 horse-power out- board engine. After about an hour the man in charge of the boat, whose name was Collard, began to return to har- bour, but as he approached the river mouth he found the ground swell against the ebb tide made the approach extremely difficult, although there was little wind at the time. He negotiated two successive seas, but about eight o'clock a third sea coming up from astern capsized the boat and threw all four people into the river. At the time the boat was only a few yards from the river bank, but the ebb tide swept them out to sea.

Mr. Collard, who was a good swim- mer, helped two of the party, a Mrs.

Addicott and her daughter, and the two women hung on to a ring bolt on the upturned boat. The fourth member of the party, who was Mrs. Addicott's husband, could not swim, and Mr.

Collard swam out to sea and supported him while he struggled towards the capsized boat.

Two Young Men Put Out Nigel Harding, a seventeen-year-old schoolboy, of llchester Grammar School, was standing on the beach when he heard someone shout that a boat had capsized. He immediately asked a boat owner if he could borrow his boat and was about to put off when he was joined by another young man, Mr. David Mettam, who was aged twenty-two.

With Mettam at the oars they made for the capsized boat, and after round- ing a bend in the river they saw the boat, which was already some three hundred yards out to sea. They had some difficulty in pulling away from the river mouth, for the dinghy they had borrowed was only 10 feet in length, and was shipping a good deal of water.

The mother and the daughter were still clinging to the capsized boat and Mr. Collard was supporting Mr.Addi- cott, who was now unconscious. The two boys dragged Mr. Addicott in over the transom and laid him on the bottom boards. Then they helped Mr.

Collard in and pulled towards the capsized boat.

Tangled Round Legs Mrs. Addicott, who had fishing lines tangled round her legs, was pulled over the stem, and after her stockings had been freed from the hooks, Nigel Harding cut the lines adrift. David Mettam then hauled Miss Addicott aboard, and the dog, which had been swimming near, was pulled aboard by its collar.

After the two boys had trimmed the boat to the best of their ability, David Mettam began to pull for the river entrance. A larger boat then approached and offered help, but this boat's engine stalled, and David Mettam rowed on.

Their boat was carried on to the beach by a large wave and the two women jumped out before the backwash carried the boat out again. Mr. Collard jumped out on the next wave, and the boat was hauled up the beach with the help of bystanders. Mr. Addicott was laid on the beach, and one of the bystanders applied artificial respiration while Nigel Harding ran to the yacht club to sum- mon a doctor and ambulance. By the time the doctor and an ambulance arrived Mr. Addicott was found to be dead.

For this service inscribed wrist- watches have been awarded to David Mettam and Nigel Harding..