Fall from cliff INFORMATION that a man had fallen over the cliff near the Western Carricks was given to St Ives station honorary secretary by Land's End Coastguard at 1351 on Wednesday August 26, 1981, and he was asked to launch the D class inflatable lifeboat. Knowing that a crew was available within the immediate harbour area, the honorary secretary sounded the klaxon at the boathouse.

St Ives D class inflatable lifeboat launched at 1357, manned by Helmsman Philip Allen and Crew Members Ian Tanner and Ian Lowe, and set out for the casualty. It was a fine, sunny day with a light variable wind. With only one hour to go before high tide. Helmsman Allen was able to keep close inshore, sometimes passing between the land and the rockheads. The 3'/t miles to the reported position of the casualty was covered in the shortest possible time, and the lifeboat arrived at 1409.

From radio reports received from the Coastguard, Helmsman Allen knew that a man walking along the Coastal Path had seen another man, in swimming trunks, stumble down a steep, grassy slope and then disappear from sight. The inflatable lifeboat searched from east to west, then back eastwards, stopping once to consult a man on the shore, but he had seen nothing.

The lifeboat was again sweeping west when a Wessex helicopter from RNAS Culdrose arrived overhead. Both lifeboat and helicopter continued the search and then the helicopter asked the lifeboat to follow her into a cove. The man had fallen down a blow hole, at Trevail Bottoms, into which water from a stream was flowing and the entrance of which was obscured by large rocks.

Only a helicopter could have seen the man, but although she hovered off the entrance and lowered her winchman and stretcher, the blow hole was too narrow to accommodate either, and they had to be lowered outside.

The lifeboat followed the helicopter into the rock-strewn cove. Helmsman Allen put Crew Members Tanner and Lowe ashore as close to the entrance of the blow hole as he could without endangering the boat, and then waited in the lee of a large rock.

Within the cove, a low ground swell was creating four to five feet waves, which demanded great care on the part of the two lifeboatmen and slowed down their progress. Seeing that the winchman needed immediate help.

Helmsman Allen secured the inflatable lifeboat in the lee of the large rock andthen swam to the entrance of the blow hole.

The casualty, a heavy man, had massive head injuries as he had fallen and tumbled a total of 80 feet, landing on rock. Winchman and helmsman placed him in the stretcher and secured him carefully. Crew Members Tanner and Lowe, by a combination of climbing, scrambling and swimming, now arrived to help the winchman. so Helmsman Allen swam back out to the lifeboat to prepare, if necessary, for embarking the stretcher.

The helicopter, meanwhile, returned to the entrance of the blow hole, hovering very close indeed to the rock face. The winch wire was lowered, then manoeuvred so that it could be reached and hooked on to the stretcher. The two lifeboat crew and the winchman guided the stretcher some eight feet to seaward and then winchman and stretcher were lifted in one rapid movement. The helicopter set off immediately to Trellisk Hospital, Truro.

Helmsman Allen brought the lifeboat towards the entrance of the blow hole and Crew Members Tanner and Lowe loaded the helicopter strop, blanket and first aid kit and climbed back on board.

At 1425 the lifeboat cleared the cove.

She returned to station at 1445 and was once again ready for service at 1500.

The hospital staff needed to identify the casualty so that next of kin could be asked whether there were any medical characteristics or allergies about which they should know. A cliff rescue team had searched the cliff path for anything belonging to the man, but nothing could be found. As it was a matter of vital importance, at 1646 St Ives was asked to launch the D class lifeboat again.

Helmsman Allen was in command as before but this time with Anthony Carter and James Stevens as crew.

At 1700 the three men landed at Trevail Bottoms and searched extensively both in the gully and along the surrounding shoreline. Then, after estimating the set and drift of the tidal stream since the man fell over the cliff, the lifeboat started a sweeping search seawards. Despite the chop which had now developed on the sea, the lifeboatmen found a shirt and a camera case awash some six or seven cables north of Trevail Bottoms. A tiny tube of ointment bearing a dispenser's label was found in the camera case from which the Police were able to gain a full identification of the casualty.

The D class lifeboat returned to St Ives at 1820 and was rehoused by 1830.

It had been a rescue which neither the helicopter nor the lifeboat could have achieved alone, but working together they had been able to bring a difficult task to a successful conclusion.

For this service a framed letter of thanks signed by the Duke of Atholl, chairman of the Institution, was presented to Helmsman Philip Allen and letters of appreciation signed by Rear Admiral W. J Graham, director, weresent to Crew Members Ian Lowe and Ian J. Tanner. A letter signed by Admiral Graham was also sent to Captain R. C. Dimmock, commanding officer of RNAS Culdrose, expressing the Institution's appreciation to the helicopter pilot, Lt K. Wyman, and the winchman, Petty Officer Aircrewman M. Cockerill..