ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, TUESDAY, MAY 17 1976: A YEAR OF GREAT ACHIEVEMENT ON SEA AND LAND A STANDING OVATION for a gold medallist and his crew at the end of the presentation of no less than 24 medals for gallantry; the report of an increase of income of some 2-J per cent above the year's rate of inflation, making possible the continuing, with renewed vigour, of the policy of fleet modernisation as well as an improvement in the level of free reserves; the recording of 1,049 people rescued from drowning. Thus is the gallantry of lifeboat crews complemented by the devotion of fund raisers, and such is the crown of their united endeavours. Surely, when lifeboat people came together for the annual general meeting and presentation of awards at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday, May 17, they had much of which to be proud, much for which to be thankful, and while inflation still gave cause for concern, there was also much cause for encouragement.

The presentation of a gold medal for conspicuous gallantry is as rare at it is memorable. When the time came for Acting Coxswain Keith Bower to go up on to the platform at the Festival Hall, he was the first man to receive a gold medal for ten years; only six have been awarded since the end of the second world war, 32 years ago. 'My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen', announced Major-General Ralph Farrant, Chairman of the Institution, after he had made the presentation, '/ have received this message for Acting Coxswain Bower from our President, The Duke of Kent: '/ have been greatly stirred by the account of the magnificent rescue carried out by the Torbay lifeboat last December.

The courage and heroism displayed by you and your crew were in the finest traditions of the lifeboat service and I send you my warmest congratulations on the award of the Institution's gold medal.' And, as Keith Bower turned to join his crew—his brother, Stephen Bower, William Hunkin, Michael Mills, Nicholas Davies, Richard Brown and John Dew—standing quietly by, everyone rose, and that crowded hall reverberated with the warmth of their acclaim. It was a triumphant moment few who were there will ever forget.

Following the traditional pattern, the day had begun with the annual general meeting of governors in the morning at which General Farrant had presented the annual report and accounts for 1976: 'Good morning and welcome . . . may I congratulate you on the number who have come today . . .

'Last year I addressed this meeting as Chairman for the first time and I was able when doing so to report on a year of outstanding achievement by the lifeboat service, but I was obliged to end by sounding a warning. The warning was a consequence of the fact that the Committee of Management of the RNLI had come to the conclusion that we should have to effect a pause in our boat building programme for compelling financial reasons. I did stress that the committee intended that it should only be a pause and we should revert as soon as possible to our normal level of boat construction. I am glad to be able to say, as an aside, that we are beginning to do so.

'Once again this year I am in the privileged position of being able to report on a year of great achievements.

The lives of 1,049 people were saved by RNLI lifeboats last year and our crews not only maintained the standards of skill, of seamanship and courage to which we have been accustomed, but in a number of instances can be said to have gone far beyond the call of duty.' After referring to some of the outstanding services at sea and also to some of the technical achievements made during the year, in radar and radio installations, in protective clothing, in the conversion of lifeboats to give them a self-righting capability and in the reduction of noise levels, General Farrant turned to finance: 'I can also report very gratifying achievements in the financial field, in which I know you are all interested, as a result of which it has been possible to begin to build up the RNLI's free reserves by transferring £356,000 from revenue.

The reasons which explain how this has come about are fourfold, and three of these reasons give grounds for encouragement.

There was a large increase in the amount the RNLI received from legacies and special gifts. This is, above all, evidence of the strength of the RNLI's greatest financial asset, the goodwill it enjoys among the public at large.

Secondly, our fund-raising branches and guilds excelled themselves; there was a steady increase in the number of members enrolled into Shoreline now totalling 40,200 and corporate efforts made by outside bodies to raise funds for the RNLI were quite outstanding.

"The third main cause for the financial improvement was the level of economies achieved by the Director and his staff.

May I offer one rather remarkable statistic for your consideration? The total number of lifeboats in the RNLI fleet, offshore and inshore boats at their stations and those in the relief fleet, amounts to 316. The total number of full-time staff, including of course the one full-time man, coxswain or mechanic as the case may be, to be found at every offshore lifeboat station, was 629. This ratio of almost exactly two employees per operational vessel surely speaks for itself. Of what other maritime organisation, commercial or governmental, could a claim of this kind be made? Not long ago a distinguished American soldier described the armed forces of this country as consisting of admirals, generals and bands. I think he was possibly a bit wide of the mark but at least, in the RNLI, we can say we have no bands, and the admirals and generals we do have are not paid. I can assure you of this from first hand knowledge.' After the laughter had died down, General Farrant spoke of the fourth reason for the financial improvement— the one which could not be considered gratifying but which had been forced upon the Institution. During 1976, although 10 new offshore lifeboats had been launched, orders had been placed for only three new boats. In the long run such a number of new boats in a year would not be enough to maintain a fully effective service.

'This', said General Farrant, 'is a serious fact of which we are well aware.

We are therefore looking to new sources of income to increase our revenue and enable us to revert to a boat building programme which will fully meet our requirements.' Mentioning discussions which were being held with the General Council of British Shipping, the insurance and oil industries and the American lifeboat appeal as examples of such new sources of income, he continued: "The RNLI has been hit by inflation as have all other organisations, and of course private citizens in the country.

Our free reserves are still dangerously low, amounting to only 13 weeks expenditure at current levels—that is to say with the cost of things today and not as they will be tomorrow. All this must give us cause for concern, but as I have tried to indicate we also have much cause for encouragement. For this we are indebted to all of you in this room who are Governors of the Institution and to all those whom you represent in such a generous and public spirited manner.' Turning in more detail to the accounts (summarised in the summer issue of THE LIFEBOAT) General Farrant drew attention to the fact that assets had risen by some £0.8 million in the year, with both property and investments up by some £0.4 million each. Income had risen to £6.25 million, an increase of some 2-J per cent above the year's rate of inflation, but inevitably inflation had taken a heavy toll in expenditure, which amounted to £5.9 million: 'Operational expenses have risen by some 20 per cent to reach £3.1 million, with maintenance charges, of course, particularly heavy. The effects of this have been offset by the pause in the building programme and savings in administration and fund raising in comparison with national inflationary trends—administration for example has risen by only 4 per cent compared with the national inflation rate of 16.5 per cent. Congratulations to the Director and staff.

'Thus the objective of the transfer to reserves in respect of the year's workings of £0.35 million, which is what we hoped to achieve in consultation with our funding committee, has been achieved despite the intense pressure on our resources during the year. We are therefore, I believe, continuing our policy of fleet modernisation with a return to a normal rate of building whilst still maintaining, or improving, the level of free reserves.' General Farrant concluded by proposing that the annual report and accounts for 1976 be adopted. The proposition was seconded by Mr Maldwin Drummond and carried unanimously.

Elections followed: of the President, HRH The Duke of Kent; of the Vice- Presidents; of the Treasurer, the Duke of Northumberland, and Deputy Treasurer, David Acland; and of other members of the Committee of Management.

Price Waterhouse were reappointed as auditors.

Discussion then became more general, and among a number of matters raised was the use of an ex-lifeboat for fund raising on the Thames and the naming of inshore lifeboats.

On the subject of whether a copy of the annual report and accounts should be sent out to all governors automatically, the Chairman recalled that it had been agreed at the last AGM that, as a matter of economy, they should only be sent to those who asked for them: it was not just a question of extra postage but of extra costs for printing and envelopes as well. It was also mentioned that while copies of the bye-laws of the Institution are not sent out to every governor, they are available from headquarters on request.

One questioner asked how much money an area needed to raise before it could have a lifeboat or ILB station.

Admiral Hezlet, Chairman of the Search and Rescue Committee, explained that funds had to be deployed to save the most lives, and the problem of where lifeboats should be stationed had to be studied with extreme care; if financial considerations were allowed to govern planning there would be a distorted distribution of lifeboats and they would not necessarily be where they were most needed; at present several applications for ILBs were being considered.

The Festival Hall was crowded for the annual presentation of awards in the afternoon, when General Farrant opened proceedings with a look back at 1976: 'Though some may recall a drought, others will recall day after day of cloudless skies and sumhine. In this country we are used, climatically, to paying later lor our pleasures and, sure enough, the golden summer of 1976 was followed by many severe gales in the autumn and early winter. At times lifeboats of the RNLI were called out in winds of hurricane force. Accounts of some of these services will be read to you later. One of them was so exceptional that it led to the award of a gold medal.

'World War Two ended in Europe 32 years ago; during those 32 years lifeboats of the RNLI have been called out well over 43,000 times and have saved more than 27,600 lives. Of all those services, only six have led to the award of a gold medal. That is some measure of its rarity.

The earlier recipients of the gold medal were Coxswain Thomas King of Jersey; Coxswain Richard Evans of Moelfre, who won it twice; Coxswain Hubert Petit of St Peter Port, Guernsey; and a former lifeboat inspector, Harold Harvey.

Now this distinguished band is joined by Second Coxswain Keith Bower of Torbay.

'When you hear later this afternoon the accounts of some of the services carried out by our lifeboat crews you may even wonder how it was that in those conditions our boats and crews managed to come through with their lives. The truth is, of course, that the possibility of a disaster was there. Indeed during one service last December we came very near to losing the crew of the Padstow lifeboat due to the force of the sea. The wheelhouse was seriously damaged, the coxswain was concussed and temporarily blinded, yet Second Coxswain Trevor England succeeded in bringing back the boat to her station, where she was made ready for action with remarkable speed.' The gold medal service at Torbay and a silver medal service at Weymouth had both been carried out by the new Arun class of boat, the prototype of which had been designed by J. A.

McLachlan of G. L. Watson and Co.

'When we began the planning and design of this new class of lifeboat we were conscious of the long-standing need of greater speed. The essence of our problem was to combine the additional speed with those qualities which are traditional to the lifeboat, stability and seaworthiness, as well as a self-righting capability. I think you will agree that the latest achievement of these new boats indicates that we have attained some measure of success in solving this problem. . . .

'That it has been possible to provide our lifeboat crews with these new Aruns and other lifeboats has, of course, been due to the efforts of our voluntary supporters everywhere. In particular I want to thank all those members of ou branches and guilds for the way in which, year after year, they continue to raise money for the lifeboat service, no matter what the financial difficulties of the country may be. In the political field we hear today much about devolution. In the RNLI we have, and have long had, an exemplary form of devolution of powers. Our station branches and our fund-raising branches and guiJds are largely autonomous, able, willing and authorised to conduct their own affairs.

The Committee of Management is concerned with policy and the permanent staff provide the continuity, professional skills and guidance which help to support the structure. It is, 1 am sure, because of this system, and also because of the nature of the cause we serve, that the RNLI enjoys such strength and wide support.' General Farrant then paid tribute to the magnificent efforts of other voluntary associations which had made it possible for the RNLI to obtain new boats: the Scout Association, the Round Table and the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows: "Then, most appropriately, a lifeboat bearing the name Silver Jubilee has been provided by the contributions of our unfailing supporters, the members of the Civil Service and Post Office Lifeboat Fund . . .

'I am pleased to announce that as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations a lifeboat will be named Duke of Kent in honour of our President and of our lifeboat crews and voluntary workers. This lifeboat will be stationed at Eastbourne.' Promises of help to meet the cost of new lifeboats had come from the shipping and oil industries, and also from abroad: 'We are very fortunate in the fact that to mark the mutual goodwill shown at the time of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the American Declaration of Independence a number of prominent citizens in the United States came together and decided the best way of expressing their feelings in a tangible form would be to provide a new lifeboat for the RNLI. A committee was therefore formed including many of the leading Americans in this country, and when I point out that on the British side the committee includes two former Prime Ministers, the Chief of Defence Staff, a number of leading industrialists, several ambassadors or former ambassadors and a vice-chancellor of a university, you will have some impression of the goodwill this new project commands.' In his summing up, General Farrant emphasised that, notwithstanding the splendid efforts of all the thousands of people to whom he had referred, more money was still needed, and that the pause in boat building could only be a temporary one if the voluntary crews of the Institution were to be provided with all that they require and deserve: "This is an indication of the challenge which we face and shall continue to face.

I am confident that with the calibre of the people we have working for the RNLI we can meet with success.' His speech concluded, General Farrant then presented the awards for gallantry. Coxswain Robert Allen was unable to be there to receive his medal.

Crew Members Peter King, Christopher Smith and John Street, Calshot: bronze medal During the evening of January 29, 1976, a report was received that the Hamble rescue boat had gone aground in the marsh area of Ashmore Creek while trying to take off an injured man from a yacht aground in the same area.

At 2220 Calshot lifeboat Ernest William and Elizabeth Ellen Hinde set out towing her 16' boarding boat. The wind was gale force 9 and the air temperature sub zero. Using the boarding boat Crew Members Peter King, Christopher Smith and John Street took off and landed the yachtsman. After a further search the Hamble rescue boat was sighted some 300 yards from the main channel.

Taking it in turns, the three crew members dragged the boarding boat through the marsh and brought the two survivors back to the lifeboat.

Acting Coxswain Charles Begg, Aberdeen: bronze medal At 1845 on March 12,1976, Aberdeen lifeboat Ramsey Dyce set out to the help of MFV Karemma, broken down in Aberdeen Bay. The wind was force 7 with very heavy seas. Karemma was drifting towards the beach and a tug had already been damaged in an unsuccessful attempt to take her in tow.

Acting Coxswain Charles Begg had to take the lifeboat alongside through steep, rolling seas three times to take off the casualty's crew of five.

Coxswain/Mechanic Stephen Whittle, Dunmore East: bar to his bronze medal At 0300 on July 9, 1976, Dunmore East lifeboat St Patrick set out to the help of an 18' open boat wrecked near Falskirt Rock. The wind was fresh force 5, with driving rain and a heavy swell breaking on the rock. The search and approach to the casualty were made difficult by the large number of salmon nets and lobster pots in the area.

Coxswain/Mechanic Stephen Whittle brought the lifeboat into the very narrow and shallow inner channel. A buoy was thrown to one survivor and he was hauled on board the lifeboat before she had to go rapidly astern from the rocky shore. No sign of the other crew member was found in a five-hour search.

Crew Member John Dew, Torbay: bronze medal Torbay lifeboat Princess Alexandra of Kent launched at 1441 on August 23, 1976, to help survivors from a wrecked speed boat in Forest Cove. A fresh breeze was producing rough seas in the cove where six adults, eight children and a dog were stranded. Crew Member John Dew volunteered to swim ashore with a line. Pairing one adult with a child in the breeches buoy, swimming alongside them to the lifeboat and then returning to the beach, John Dew brought off all the survivors in seven exhausting trips through the surf.

Crew Member Glyn Roberts, Porthdinllaen: bronze medal At 2315 on August 31, 1976, Porthdinllaen lifeboat Charles Henry Ashley set out, towing a boarding boat, to go to the help of a boy trapped about 80' up on the cliff at Porth-y-Nant. Crew Member Glyn Roberts was landed. He climbed the near vertical cliff and persuaded the boy to climb down; when about 30' from the bottom Glyn Roberts fell to the beach, but managed to climb back again to bring the boy down safely.

Coxswain Ronald Hardy, Swanage: bar to his bronze medal Second Coxswain/Mechanic Victor Marsh, Swanage: bronze medal At 1300 on October 14,1976, Swanage lifeboat /. Reginald Corah launched in a storm force 10 wind and very rough sea to take over the tow of the French yacht Campscharles from a Russian trawler. The two yachtsmen from the casualty were on board the trawler, so Coxswain Ronald Hardy brought the lifeboat alongside to take them off.

When the tow lines were cast off, one of them fouled the lifeboat's rudder and starboard propeller. The rudder was soon cleared, but both engines had to be stopped while Second Coxswain/ Mechanic Victor Marsh, despite the violent motion and appalling conditions, tried to clear the propeller. Coxswain Hardy decided to close the drifting yacht using the port engine only, a crew member was transferred and a tow line secured.

Crew Member Alan Blair, Aberystwyth: bronze medal MFV Western Seas, cover for Aberystwyth ILB while the latter was temporarily off service, set off at 1153 on February 22, 1976, to help a motor cruiser capsized in heavy surf near the harbour entrance; Crew Member Alan Blair volunteered to swim on a line to attempt an underwater search to see if anyone was trapped underneath.

Coxswain/Mechanic Thomas Knott, Lowestoft: bar to his bronze medal Michael Knott: framed letter of appreciation Pilot cutter coxswain, Michael Knott, was in Lowestoft Bridge Control station when, at 0825 on August 16, 1976, a radio message was heard that the harbour tug Barkis had overturned. He ran to his 16 knot cutter and, with his father, Coxswain/Mechanic Thomas Knott as crew, immediately put to sea.

Three of the tug's crew were saved.

Although Coxswain Knott entered the sea in the attempt, it was not possible to save a fourth man.

Frank Hendy: bronze medal Passing inside the buoys marking the rocks off the end of Howth East Pier on the evening of August 28, 1976, a 32' yacht grounded heavily. Frank Hendy, formerly a Howth lifeboat motor mechanic, and Tony Brown put out in Howth YC 18' launch. A force 6 wind was causing a very heavy and confused sea on the rocks but Frank Hendy took the launch alongside the yacht and Tony Brown boarded her to hoist sail so that she would lay over thus reducing her draught. Both boats were bumping badly, but the launch managed to tow the yacht clear and into harbour.

Joseph Jordan: bronze medal On the evening of September 25,1976, two duck shooters walked out on a shingle track across Stiffkey Marsh.

When fog reduced visibility and they tried to return to the mainland they became lost; the tide was rising to the forecast danger level. With water up to their chests, they signalled with torch and shot gun. Joseph Jordan, a warden on the nature reserve who knew the area well, was alerted and felt his way along the now submerged path to board an 11' dinghy. After a difficult row, taking 25 minutes each way, he brought the two men back and led them along the submerged path to safety.

Coxswain William Jones, Holyhead: silver medal At 1329 on September 11, 1976, Holyhead lifeboat St Cybi (Civil Service No. 9) launched to assist a yacht with her sails blown out and without power 23 miles south west of Skerries Lighthouse.

The wind was force 9 to 10 with very rough seas and heavy rain. A merchant vessel had already tried to put a line on board and take off the crew of four. As, in winds gusting to force 11, the lifeboat approached, a line streamed from the yacht fouled the lifeboat's port propeller. Coxswain William Jones made an approach on one engine. The crew were taken off, and the return passage begun. Following the report of a red flare, a search close inshore was made for about 90 minutes, but nothing was found, and the lifeboat finally reached harbour after nine hours in storm force winds.

Coxswain Robert Allen, Whitby: silver medal Helmsman Richard Robinson, Whitby: bronze medal At 0326 on September 30, 1976, Whitby offshore lifeboat William and Mary Durham launched to help MFV Admiral Van Tromp aground under the cliff. There was a heavy onshore swell and fog reduced visibility making it impossible to see the build up at sea.

The MFV was heeled to port, being swept by heavy breaking seas. Three attempts were made by the lifeboat to take off the survivors, without success, and enormous seas breaking over her caused injuries to two crew members.

By daylight two survivors had been recovered ashore, two men were missing and one was seen on a rock in danger of being washed away.

In the meantime, Whitby ILB had been launched and was on the scene.

Helmsman Richard Robinson drove on to the rock at full speed and the man was hauled on board safely.

Acting Coxswain Victor Pitman, Weymouth: silver medal On October 14, 1976, Weymouth lifeboat Tony Vandervell launched at 1728 in response to a distress call from the yacht Latifa, off Portland Bill with sails, mast, main boom and rigging badly damaged and with fuel running low. HMS Ariadne was escorting the yacht, but the frigate was unable to manoeuvre to take anyone off in the prevailing conditions. The wind was storm force 10 increasing to hurricane force 12 against a 3 knot tide, and the lifeboat was thrown over almost on to her beam ends several times. Despite the difficulty and danger, a line was successfully passed at the third attempt and Acting Coxswain Victor Pitman skilfully manoeuvred to begin the tow back to Weymouth. Wave heights during this operation were up to 50 feet and at times the yacht disappeared from view, even though a light was burning at the top of her mast.

Acting Coxswain Keith Bower, Torbay: gold medal Motor Mechanic Stephen Bower, Assistant Mechanic William Hunkin and Crew Members Michael Mills, Nicholas Davies and Richard Brown, Torbay: bronze medal Crew Member John Dew, Torbay: bar to his bronze medal On December 6, 1976, Torbay lifeboat Edward Bridges (Civil Service No.

37) launched at 0115 to help motor vessel Lyrma, six miles off Start Point, listing heavily to starboard with her steering gear out of action. The wind was force 9 to 10 increasing to force 11 and the lifeboat encountered head on seas of up to 40 feet. Attempts to take off the survivors by helicopter proved impossible, so Acting Coxswain Keith Bower closed the casualty's starboard quarter. Four survivors were safely taken off on the first five approaches.

As the lifeboat came alongside for the sixth approach Lyrma rolled heavily to starboard, crushing most of the lifeboat's port guardrail and sending the two men forward leaping to safety. The lifeboat was trapped momentarily under Lyrnufs gunwales and a ship's boat in its davits swung within a few feet of Acting Coxswain Bower and another crew member on the upper deck.

However, two more survivors were taken off and with both engines going full astern the lifeboat manoeuvred clear. Another man was taken off on the seventh run in, the captain was taken aboard on the ninth, and the last two men were picked up from a liferaft.

General Farrant then introduced The Right Honourable The Earl of Inchcape, Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and President of the General Council of British Shipping, and called upon him to move the Resolution.

'To be asked to be the guest speaker at the Royal National Life-boat Institution's Annual Presentation of Awards meeting is a great honour', Lord Inchcape began, 'and I am proud to be associated in this way with a service whose name is rightly famous throughout the world and where bravery of the service seems inexhaustible. There can hardly be anybody in the United Kingdom who has been more interested and thrilled with the history and records of the RNLI than I have been since a boy, for I have had a great interest in the RNLI through my family connections with Arbroath, a shipping and industrial borough on the east coast of Scotland, who have had a long association with the lifeboat service and its dramatic history.' It was, in fact, Lord Inchcape said, as a result of the wrecks on Bell of Inchcape Rock, as well as all along the Angus and Kincardine coasts, in the tremendous storm of 1799, that the people of Arbroath and Montrose joined forces in 1803 to establish the first lifeboat in that area. He recalled the two major disasters at Arbroath: '... the first in 1925, when I was a boy, but the second in more recent years when in October 1953 six of the seven crew were drowned. And I well remember what a terrible effect this had on the town where there was hardly a family of the so many fishing families who had not lost a relative in this disaster. The tale is still told of how the sole survivor after being detained for a day or two in the local infirmary called on the way home at the honorary secretary's office to sign on for the next crew. That is the tradition of the service . . .

'The traditional resolution which you have asked me to move is indeed something rather special, coming as it does year by year on this great occasion which is, I suppose, the culmination of your Institution's work throughout the year, whether on land or at sea. The terms of the resolution are indeed somewhat moving in their simplicity and yet in their deep significance . . .Its twin themes of service, whether ashore or afloat, and of voluntary effort, are themes which run very deeply in this country, and long may they remain so. For they do really count, and we would be a different and a very much poorer country in the real sense of that word if this resolution were to cease, for some reason or another, to be appropriate.

'Whether we are in the shipping industry, or whether we are in the lifeboat services, the element which unites us all is that of the sea. It is a hard master to serve and indeed Conrad referred again and again to what he described as "the implacable hostility of the sea". To face that, day after day and year after year, imposes a discipline . . . Certainly it calls up the very highest qualities in a man when needs be—and needs must all too often be, as the record of today's gallantry awards demonstrates all too clearly.

'And this is the common bond between the Merchant Navy and the lifeboat service. The feats of seamanship and the devotion, skill and courage in the face of the perils of the sea of the one service can be matched in the other. So, too, can the needs.' Lord Inchcape spoke of the shipping industry's own charitable responsibility towards, in their old age, men who had devoted their lives to sea service, and he went on to say that people in the continued on page 64.