FOR THE FIRST TIME the RNLI has awarded a gallantry medal for a rescue from an oil rig. The rig involved, Orion, was on tow from Rotterdam to Brazil when she went aground on the Guernsey coast. The rescue operation was in some respects of a kind not experienced before. The rig, which was drifting at about 6 knots, had huge legs, mounted on a tanker hull, which towered some 250 feet above the water line. The approach presented a problem in manoeuvring which at one time seemed impossible to solve. Coxswain John Petit did manage to bring the St Peter Port lifeboat alongside but a huge wave lifted her into the overhanging helicopter platform. The lifeboat's mast was snapped and crashed on to the wheelhouse. The direction finding loop was carried away by the net, and the radio aerials jammed the radar scanner, which then filled with water.

Nevertheless two men were successfully rescued by the lifeboat and the remaining men on board by Sea King helicopters from Culdrose and efforts of parties on the shore.

John Petit also had the distinction of being the first man to be voted two medals for gallantry for separate services at the same meeting of the Executive Committee of the RNLI. His other award was for the rescue of four people from a yacht in exceptionally severe conditions, which again made the task of bringing the lifeboat alongside a dangerous and difficult one. A great family tradition is being maintained in Guernsey, for the present coxswain's father, Hubert Petit, was one of only five men to win the RNLI's gold medal for gallantry since the end of World War II.

Some days after the rescue which led to the award of John Petit's silver medal the St Peter Port lifeboat took off a number of men who had been put aboard the rig by a salvage company.

Channel Television filmed virtually the whole of this rescue, and through the generosity of two Guernsey residents.

Sir Charles and Lady Hayward, a film of the operation has been made available to the RNLI. Its first showing in London took place on May 30 at the BP cinema in Britannic House.

Blue Peter Silver The first award of the RNLI's silver medal for gallantry to a member of the crew of a Blue Peter inshore lifeboat, has also recently been made. The ILB was Blue Peter IV, which is stationed at St Agnes in Cornwall. This is one of the four stations whose inshore lifeboats were provided by viewers of the famous BBC programme, who collected paperback books to raise the funds. David Bliss at the helm of Blue Peter IV rescued a man from a narrow cove in conditions which onlookers described as 'impossible'. He controlled the boat with extraordinary skill based on experience of operating in surf. Choosing the right moment between waves and the right speed, he managed somehow to avoid all the rocks in his path along the 50 yard length of the cove which he had to enter. The boat filled with water and was seen from the cliffs above to be completely engulfed by the waves.

Coming out of the surf the lifeboat became airborne.

Another first-ever award was that of a medal for a rescue carried out by one of the RNLI's two lifeboats of the Thames class. The casualty was a jack-up barge which was pitching so heavily that its legs were swinging through 30 degrees. Coxswain Arthur West of Falmouth performed a remarkable feat of seamanship and determination in taking off the crew of the barge.

Accounts of these and other rescues for which awards were made appear in 'Lifeboat Services' starting on page 5.

Healthier state of reserves The governors of the Institution were told by the RNLI's chairman, Major- General Farrant, at the annual general meeting held in the Royal Festival Hall on May 16 that a policy decision had been made to bring to an end the pause in the boat-building programme, which was introduced a few years ago, and to step up expenditure. This has been made possible by the extraordinary efforts of the RNLI's fund-raising branches and guilds, by the number of legacies received and through the economies practised. As a result of all these the free reserves of the Institution, which amounted to only 13 weeks' expenditure at the end of 1976, had risen to 19 weeks' expenditure at the end of last year.

The two main aims of the RNLI's present capital programme are ensuring that the whole offshore fleet has a selfrighting capacity and that fast lifeboats, which can lie afloat, are placed at key stations. The cost of completing this programme will exceed £5 million, of which about a quarter will, it is expected, be spent this year.

A brief summary of the accounts for 1976 appears on page 4 and a full report of the annual general meeting and presentation of awards will be published in the autumn edition of THE LIFEBOAT.

Fraserburgh reopened A happy outcome of some eight years of discussion, anxiety and doubt has been the decision to reopen the Fraserburgh lifeboat station on the north-east coast of Scotland. In 1970 the Fraserburgh lifeboat capsized with the loss of five men. Seventeen years earlier another Fraserburgh lifeboat capsized, six men being lost on that occasion, and after the second tragic disaster the station became temporarily non-operational.

In January this year a public meeting was held at Fraserburgh attended by an RNLI delegation, which included the chairman of the Search and Rescue Committee, Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Hezlet. At the meeting it was agreed that the station would man and operate a Solent lifeboat. The first boat to go on station is the 48ft 6in Solent relief lifeboat The Royal British Legion Jubilee. The training of a new crew under the supervision of the divisional inspector for north Scotland, Captain R. M. Dabbs, has already begun.

First RNLI branch in Belgium An historic meeting took place in Bruges on April 21, the first to be held by the Belgian branch of the RNLI.

The central event was a film show, for which more than 150 people bought tickets. A number of the Belgian members had visited the RNLI's stand at the International Boat Show at the beginning of the year, and John Atterton, deputy director of the RNLI, who attended the meeting, reported evident enthusiasm among the Institution's new Belgian supporters. One speaker said that Great Britain had brought a number of good things to the European Economic Community, of which one of the very best was its highly efficient lifeboat service: he might also have mentioned Ireland because the RNLI administers the lifeboat service in two EEC countries.

Plans for visits and for fund-raising events in Belgium on behalf of the RNLI were discussed.

Any Belgians or Britons living in Belgium who wish to join the new branch are asked to communicate with: Monsieur Jan Corveleyn, Zantiende 13, 8320 Bruges 4, Belgium.Second lottery winners COMEDIAN TOM O'CONNOR drew the winning tickets for the second RNLI national lottery at Poole on March 31 in the presence of Major-General Ralph Farrant, chairman of the Committee of Management, John Atterton, deputy director, Cdr Ted Pritchard, appeals secretary, and members of the RNLI headquarters staff. Mr O'Connor, who was accompanied by his wife, children and agent, Billy 'Uke' Scott, one of the elite Water Rats, kept everyone laughing as he drew the tickets and took great interest in all he was shown on a later tour of the RNLI building. The prizewinners were: £1,000: P. F. Tee, Salisbury.

£50; Miss C. E. Dunmore, Redhill; P.

Dowd, Newbury; G. Skinner, London; I. Whittaker, Chester; J. McFadden, Dunstable; Mr Pumpkin, London; B. Parkinson, Harrow; D. W. Smith, Preston; T. A. Jackson, Manchester.

With a sales limit of £40,000, this second lottery raised nearly £35,000.

Some entries which arrived too late for the draw are being transferred to tickets in the third lottery. Additional tickets for the draw to be made on September 29 are available from the Appeals Department, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ.

Winners of the third lottery will be announced in the winter 1978/79 issue Of THE LIFEBOAT.

Lloyd's choir record A STEREO RECORD has been made by Lloyd's of London Male Voice Choir, conducted by David de Warrenne, in conjunction with the RNLI, all proceeds being given to the lifeboat service.

On side A are four carols; on side B four folk songs.

Lloyd's, which began in a London coffee house in about 1688, was already established as a marine insurance market at the beginning of the nineteenth century and in 1802 its underwriters gave £2,000 to 'encourage the building of lifeboats'.

The record is available from the RNLI City Office, 40 St Mary Axe, London EC3, price £1.50 including postage and packing.

Crew Member James Kevin Osborn of Littlehampton has been awarded the Royal Humane Society's certificate of commendation for the rescue last October of a man thrown into the water when a mast collapsed. The man, who was injured badly, had been working at the mast top in a bosun's chair.

R. A. Lister Power Plant Ltd presented a generator worth over £800 to the RNLI at Poole depot on April 11.

The gift results from a visit by HRH The Duke of Kent to the new Lister Power Plant works at Thrupp, near Stroud, which he opened last September.

Asked by the company's directors to nominate a charity to receive a presentation generating set, the Duke, as president of the RNLI, nominated the Institution. The set will be available for any station needing emergency power.

RIGHT WAY UP An exhibition telling the story of the self-righting lifeboat is being staged at the Science Museum, South Kensington, until September 3. It will be open to the public from 1000 to 1800 Mondays to Saturdays and from 1430 to 1800 on Sundays.

Admission free..