FATAL CLIFF FALL At 2.20 p.m. on ist March, 1964, the coastguard told the honorary secretary of a police report that a man had fallen over the cliff between The Needles and Freshwater Bay. The life-boat The Earl and Countess Howe left at 2.40 with the boarding boat in tow. There was a light northnorth- easterly breeze and a slight sea, and the tide was ebbing. The life-boat took a doctor on board at Totland pier and on reaching the point opposite to where the man had fallen, the doctor and four members of the crew made for the shore in the boarding boat. The landing was made hazardous by the very rocky coast and the swell. The boat capsized as it reached shallow water but the doctor and the crew after considerable difficulty managed to reach the man, who was found to have died from a broken neck and multiple injuries. The tide was ebbing fast and as the man was too heavy to carry over the rocks to the boarding boat, his body was left at the foot of the cliffs and the police were informed. With great difficulty the crew waded waist-deep to put the boarding boat back into the water and returned to the life-boat which eventually reached her station at 6.20. A letter of thanks was sent to the doctor..