where she had 53 service launches at 16 stations and rescued a further 19 lives. She was one of the 19 lifeboats that went to Dunkirk in 1940.

Getting back to the sponsored marathon row, on the way down the River Thames, while keeping an eye on the last few rowing boats, Dowager went to the assistance of two other escort boats which had broken down, taking them in tow as far as Gravesend Reach. So this fine ex-Royal National lifeboat is still doing a good service for the RNLI even in her retirement.— PETER H. w. BOYD, box secretary, Gravesend branch, 11 Gatwick Road, Gravesend, Kent.

Foreign coins I am pleased to see that the RNLI is doing something about the very large amount of foreign coins coming into this country each year. Even in this area, which is not ideally situated to collect foreign coins, not being near a main point of entry or exit, I manage to make about £50 yearly and at the moment have another £50 or so in actual coin.

In the past I have been finding people going abroad on holiday and selling them small change.

This week I tried out a new angle. I have always kept a coin box on my souvenir stall at Westward Ho! but only sold the more exotic currencies in it, such as odd Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Malay and African coins—from places where people are not likely to visit. These naturally do not last long as I soon run out. Yesterday I put out low value European, Commonwealth and US coins in four boxes (Ip, 2p, 3p and 5p).

This turned out to be the most popular part of the stall and was never empty. I managed to sell a few old halfpennies, pennies and 12-sided threepenny pieces for 2p, 3p and 5p respectively; naturally these were coins in fine condition.

I can thoroughly recommend this ploy to any branch running a stall. It takes up very little room and will not blow away (a great boon on the front at Westward Ho!). You will get a good return for low value coins and can still send the high value coins to the headquarters at Poole.—c. c. LOWRY, Captain, RN, chairman, Appledore branch Buckleigh House, Westward Ho!, Devon.

Marine service of the RAF I have just taken up a new appointment which includes among other things the task of writing the official history of the marine service of the Royal Air Force. The history began on April 1, 1918, with the formation of the RAF itself when some 200 marine craft were taken over from the RNAS. It continued through to the second world war when some 4,000 RAF seamen were eventually deployed in 300 sea-going craft. Over 13,000 allied and enemy lives were saved by air sea rescue services of which RAF craft were a substantial component.

Today albeit a fraction of its original size the Marine Branch continues to play an important role in training and weapon recovery.

With almost 60 years of service to research there is a wealth of history waiting to be written about the men, the rescue launches and the marine organisation that has served the RAF for so long. I would be very pleased to hear from any readers who would like to contribute to the writing of that history.—R. j. M. MANSON, MNI, Squadron Leader, RAF, Lacon House, Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8R Y.

Parties of schoolchildren are regular and welcome visitors to Poole HQ, where they are shown round the museum and sometimes visit the depot or see a film. It is always a pleasure to receive their letters of thanks: sometimes a 'round robin', sometimes separate letters from each child—and sometimes accompanied by paintings of lifesaving scenes. The letter reproduced here came from class 8 of Baden-Powell Middle School, Parkstone, one member of which is the young son, Bobby, of the coxswain of Poole lifeboat, Frank Ide. Schools wishing to arrange visits should write to Charles Collis at headquarters..