Lifeboats at Dunkirk With reference to the letter in the Summer issue regarding the Poole lifeboat Thomas Kirk Wright and her work during the Dunkirk evacuation in May/June 1940.

A total of 19 RNLI lifeboats took part in the evacuation and, apart from the Margate and Ramsgate lifeboats which were already at sea on their way direct to Dunkirk, the first to set out for Dover from their stations were the two Aldeburgh lifeboats.

They were followed shortly afterwards by the Walmer lifeboat and then the Southend, Hastings and Newhaven boats. The lifeboats from Poole and Bournemouth, Southwold, Hythe, Dungeness, Gorleston, Lowestoft, Walton, Clacton, Eastbourne and Shoreham, all followed on very quickly, the other lifeboat being the new Cadgwith boat which went to Dover direct from her builders.

Of the work done by the Poole and Bournemouthlifeboat at Dunkirk, very little is known, apart from the fact that together with the lifeboats from Newhaven, Walton, Clacton and Lowestoft, she worked in Dunkirk harbour itself, helping to ferry men out to the larger ships waiting outside the harbour.

On one occasion, while loaded with French soldiers, she came under fire from German soldiers on the shore, less than 40 yards away, but no-one was hurt.

Jeff Morris, Honorary Archivist, Lifeboat Enthusiasts' SocietyMemorabilia Please I am an avid collector of lifeboat memorabilia.

Could I please, through THE LIFEBOAT, ask stations that produce their own souvenirs, ie station mugs, cups, plates, spoons, thimbles etc to send me a list of items available and the cost (including P&P).

T. Beckwith, 11 Netley Close, New Addington, Croydon, Surrey CRO OQRI get a good many magazines - too many! But there is none that I look forward to and enjoy as much as THE LIFEBOAT.

Your Summer 1994 issue was no exception. For a complete landlubber like me, 82 plus, it gives a marvellous idea of what the RNLI is all about, and what is being continuously achieved.

My experience of dealing with hostileweather has been mainly in the air (RAF pilot 1941-46) but I know that the sea can be much more formidable.

So please accept warmest congratulations on your magazine, and thanks for making it such a good read.

J.A. Gatehouse, Rogate, West Sussex.Thanks to Hastings On or about 17 May I was making passage from Brighton towards the Thames when the worst happened - we fouled the propeller of our boat with the unmarked line of an fisherman just off the coast near Rye. As soon as the vessel was immobilised I became very ill with seasickness, In fact of the three passengers and a dog only my wife and dog were sufficiently capable of being any help.

My wife hung over the stern of the boat to attempt to free the prop from the line, which she almost managed.

There was one length of line that was not going to give way unless one was able to get beneath the boat - totally out of the question as we were drifting and the sea was not exactly calm.

The Coastguard was contacted who in turn reported to the Hastings lifeboat. We had no radar and hence no way of reporting our exact position other than a heading and verbal reports of identified landmarks. The lifeboat crew were obstructed by another similar vessel apparently on the same course and with similar objects to those we had reported surrounding it.

Having realised that it was not our craft the lifeboat put to searching for us.

Within a few minutes of listening to the radio and realising the difficulty encountered by the lifeboat it was upon us and again within minutes we were all safe on board and making haste to land where an ambulance awaited for my transportation to Hastings and hospital.

Other than slight damage to the starboard side of our boat, guardrail (unavoidable) and canvas hood, which can all be replaced, unlike our lives, we are none the worse for our escapade and eternally grateful to those wonderful men who man the lifeboats.

Monetary thanks are inadequate but all that one can offer, and a suitable donation from my wife and I, together with any other funds that I can 'scrounge' will, I can assure you, be forwarded to RNLI headquarters to which I have often been known to support.

Once again thank you for your fantastic response to a call for assistance which without your voluntary support could quite easily have been fatal.

Maria and Dennis Feenery, Rugeley, Staffs.

...and to Swanage I would like to thank you and all your volunteers for their help in rescuing my divers on the night of 23 May.

I am truly grateful that there were no casualties. My thanks to all of you.

B. Eaton ...and to Appledore I would just like to say a big thank you to all at the Appledore lifeboat station in Devon which we visited whilst on holiday in July. All were very friendly and chatty.

We spent a very enjoyable day in this idyllic, picturesque town, although the children were rather worried at first by the lack of beach! And we just had to search out the RNLI station - although it was quite a walk, it was a very pleasant walk past pretty charming cottages down several narrow streets.

The boats were moored a little way out at sea so could not be viewed too closely.

Thanks again for a memorable day.

Sheila Lez (Shoreline member), Gareth (13), Stephanie (11) and Georgina (7) (all Storm Force members), ReadingLynmouth Still Afloat Further to the mystery photograph in the Summer 1993 issue which turned out to be the Lynmouth lifeboat Prichard Frederick Gainer.

I have owned that boat for the last 34 years and a very pretty conversion she is. I understand she was bought out of service by a Mr Nixon, a De Havilands staff member, and I was told that he was a director who designed the Mosquito airplane of World War II.

I have used her as a pleasure boat since I purchased her in 1960 and she is still going strong. She has just had a survey for insurance purposes and the original hull pronounced in excellent condition. She is now twin screwed and has most modern conveniences and, until, my wife passed away in 1989, was used practically every weekend. She is moored at the Cambridge Motor Boat Club at Waterbeach on the Great Ouse of which I am a member I have various photographs of her in her working days and a photo of, I am told, her last crew. I have a complete list of all her services and she saved 44 lives. She is now called Lynmouth after negotiations with that place who were delighted to agree to me using that name. She is known all over the Great Ouse system and is constantly photographed. If anybody is interested I would be delighted to let them have copies of photographs and the services she carried out. I am an old man now but am still very proud to own her and marvel at the workmanship put into her which has lasted all these years.

W.S. Sexton, Cambridge.

Rye Remembered Someone passed on to me THE LIFEBOAT as, having been brought up by the sea at Jury's Gap, they knew I would be interested. On reading through it I came across the bit about the Rye Harbour lifeboat disaster which happened when I was quite young -1 am now nearly 74.

My father was the one who guarded the lifeboat until it was moved, and I found this photo and thought you might be interested - he is the one on the right.

I remember it so well as my mother and I used to go along the beach to see what had washed up, and at that time I used to say 'you go first and look over the groyne'. I was afraid, 'till they found all the poor fellows, that there might be a body over the other side.

Thank goodness there never was.

Walking by the rough sea was always exciting, happy days to look back on.

By the way my father's name was John Southerden, and being tall he was known as 'Long John' by folk around.

Mrs Dorothy Parsons, London SW19 Great Day at St Ives On behalf of the Civil Service Motoring Association and Frizzell Financial Services, may I express through your magazine our appreciation to the RNLI for inviting representatives from both organisations to attend the opening ceremony of the St Ives lifeboat station on Saturday 16 July.

The planning and work of local craftsmen has produced a truly magnificent building to house the Mersey class lifeboat The Princess Royal and the C class inshore lifeboat and we are proud that our contribution to the project has helped to provide extra facilities for the crewroom which will help all concerned to continue the excellent service currently provided.

It was a marvellous day which was enjoyed by all of us and we were very pleased to be able to talk to numerous local officials and members of the crew.

Once again our thanks to all concerned.

T.R. Richardson, director and charity co-ordinator, CSMA, Wheathampstead, Herts.Richardson, ordinator, Herts.

Last Word on the Queen I believe the mystery of the New Brighton lifeboat Queen's association with West Africa has been finally solved. This results from a considerable exchange of letters from your readers and research by Barry Cox, your honorary librarian.

It seems certain that there were two steam lifeboats involved. The Queen built in 1897 with turbine propulsion driven by a conventional reciprocating engine. She was sold in 1926 for service at Secondi on the Gold Coast. I have no information after this.

Meantime a new lifeboat similar in specification but with conventional twin screw propulsion was ordered by the Crown Agents for the Colonies in 1905 for service in Lagos, Nigeria. This is obviously the Lagos pilot boat which those of your readers who lived in Lagos will recall seeing daily at least until 1960. She was originally named Molesey and I do not know what finally became of her.

R.G. Price, Lymington, Hants.

St Agnes Mystery When we were on holiday in the Isles of Scilly in June this year we visited St Agnes and saw what appeared to be an old lifeboat in the partially ruined lifeboat house. There were signs of some repair work to the building but the boat did not seem to have been touched recently. It was not mentioned in any of the guidebooks we bought, and we had no opportunity to ask anyone local about it.

We wonder if any of the readers of THE LIFEBOAT know anything about this boat. Is it the old St Agnes boat, or another one brought there by someone who has bought it? Are there any plans to restore it, or has it simply been abandoned in the old shed? We would be interested in any information that might be available.

Keith and Janet Morris, Cambridge.

Readers' letters on all aspects of lifeboats and the lifeboat service are always welcome.

Please mark your letter 'for publication' and address it to: The Editor, The Lifeboat, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH151 HZ..