IT WAS WITH GREAT SORROW that the people of the Royal National Life-boat Institution heard that their Director, Captain Nigel Dixon had died suddenly in Poole Hospital on Sunday December 3 after a short illness. Captain Dixon had been appointed director of the RNLI in 1970 after serving on the staff since 1967 and in those years of shared dedication he had won the affection and high regard of everyone with whom he had worked. Only a few weeks before his death Captain Dixon had received from Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace the OBE, awarded to him in the 1978 Birthday Honours List in recognition of his work for the lifeboat service.

On Saturday December 16 the Parish Church of St Edward's, Corfe Castle, the RNLI flag flying from its tower, was filled to capacity as family friends and colleagues gathered to attend a memorial service for Captain Dixon.

The Duke and Duchess of Kent were represented by Lt-Cdr Richard Buckley, cvo RN, and there were also representatives from the Committee of Management, the Services, HM Coastguard, Search and Rescue organisations and overseas lifeboat societies.

Lifeboatmen, voluntary workers and staff of the RNLI had travelled from all over the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland to be present.

The service, which began with the pilgrim's hymn "He who would valiant be', was conducted by the Reverend G.

Squarey, Rector of Corfe Castle. The lesson was taken from Psalm 107 and then, after the singing of The Lord's my Shepherd', the following address was given by Major-General Ralph Farrant, CB, Chairman of the Institution: 7 have been asked by Mrs Dixon—Jo to many of her friends—to say a few words about Nigel. I doubt if I knew him as well as did some here today, but I did see a lot of him over the past three years and I am glad to try to fulfil Jo's request.

'I am certain that we are gathered here in Nigel's local church, as friends of him and of Jo, to give thanks for the value and the happiness of his life, so let me start with his boyhood.

'Nigel was born in Cheshire, some 30 miles from the sea, of a family without anv strong seafaring tradition.

Nevertheless, quite early, as a small boy, to go to sea was his ambition and he entered the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in 1933. At the same time his country upbringing gave him a lasting love of the countryside, of sport and of dogs, as many of us know.

' The outbreak of war in 1939 brought early opportunities to Nigel as a sublieutenant for, at the age of 19, he was given the command of a trawler.

Another interesting experience was service in motor gun boats. A much more traumatic one was the sinking of Trinidad when he was serving in her on Arctic convoy.

'Some time later in the warmer climate of Ceylon, when he was in Venerable, he met Jo Collett who was serving in the Wrens. They were married later, in England, and, as we are all aware, the marriage was a most happy one.

'After the war he served on Lord Mountbatten's staff in the Mediterranean Fleet and, later, was the Naval Attache at Ankara, Teheran and Baghdad, in the rank of captain. Before he could take up his next appointment, as captain of Ajax, he had the ill-luck to suffer a severe back injury, but this led to the interesting post of Deputy Director Operational Plans in the Ministry of Defence, from which, after three years, he was retired on health grounds in 1965.

'It was, course, this unfortunate injury, resulting in the curtailment of his naval career, which led to his joining the RNLI in 1967, becoming secretary in 1970. The title of the post was later changed to 'director and secretary' to mark his increased responsibilities consequent upon a major re-organisation of the Institution.

'The next six years were ones with many problems, including as they did, the move of the head office from London to Poole, the economic depression, the 150th anniversary of the Institution, the alarming deficit in the 1975 accounts, and the move of the depot, not to mention the ever increasing cost of our boats. The fact that the RNLI has come through this time so well and is now in such good shape, is an indication of Nigel's ability and character, which included the ability to draw the best out of the many different people who make up the RNLI team. He managed to encourage them to use their individual talents to the limit, whilst, at the same time, fostering the communal spirit which is such an important part of the Institution. He had the ability to come to wise decisions, after due thought, and then convey them to his staff in such a friendly but definite way that even the unpalatable ones were accepted with good grace. It was his easy manner, his unflapabi/ity and his quiet humour which were real assets to him in tackling the many problems of such a wide-ranging job as Director, RNLI.

'In addition to those here today, and to others who could not get here, he will certainly be remembered by the large number of our supporters who come each year to our annual awards meeting.

I refer to his outstanding presentation of the citations for the medallists in the Royal Festival Hall.

'May I sum up his contribution to the RNLI in nautical terms? It is abundantly clear that we are a 'happy ship'; this demonstrates that in Nigel we in the RNLI have been fortunate in having had an excellent captain. Whilst greatly mourning his loss, a great loss to the Institution as well as to his family and friends, we give thanks for his life.' After the final, triumphant hymn, 'Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven', the Blessing was given by the Bishop of Southampton, the Right Reverend John Kingsmill Cavell, MA.

Then, as an epilogue, the congregation went out from the church into the winter afternoon of the Dorset countryside to the organ voluntary, 'Hearts of Oak'..