Community spirit The residents of the tranquil island of Alderney in the Channel Islands are reknowned for being laid back, but with three lives in danger, the community sprang into actionA 13-year-old girl was knocked off her feet and swept into the sea when playing on the water-covered causeway at Fort Clonque on 9 August. When her 16-yearold friend and a passer-by tried to help her, they also got washed off the causeway.

Gone 10pm, the evening was drawing in and rain made visibility poor, but people staying in the fort could see two of the casualties clinging to a rock close to the causeway. Breaking water surrounded the pair, and the rock was often awash.

When Station Honorary Secretary David McAllister heard of the disaster from the Harbour Office, he authorised the launch of the station's D class and Trent class lifeboats and rushed to the scene. Mechanic Phil Murray was celebrating his wife's birthday in a restaurant when his pager went off. Phil ran to the station and put on inshore lifeboat kit and was soon on his way with Francois Jean and Wayne Chandler.

Both lifeboats battled through rough sea conditions with the wind of force 5-6 blowing across the tide. Drizzle and spray along with fading light meant that visibility was poor. The area is also rocky, but Phil at the helm of the D class knew that seconds could make the difference between life and death and took the shortest route possible through the rocks.

As Phil commented after the rescue, they just got on with the job in hand: 'It's visors down and away you go.' The Spirit of Alderney reached the scene within 10 minutes of launching, just before the all-weather lifeboat. The D class lifeboat crew spotted the first girl clinging onto a rock. The area was illuminated by police landrovers on shore with spotlights and white parachute rockets from shore and the all-weather lifeboat positioned to the south of the causeway. There was now no sign of the other two casualties. Phil decided to try to reach the casualty in the D class, despite the surf and the precarious rocks.

Phil commented: 'If we'd have got it wrong, we could have capsized the boat in breaking waves.' But time was crucial: if the young girl lost her grip or tried to swim for shore, it is likely that her life would be lost. The all-weather lifeboat repositioned herself at the north side of the causeway to act as a safety boat in case the Spirit of Atdemey got into difficulty in the surf.

At one point they were within 3m of the girl, but despite many attempts to reach her, the D class could not get close enough. The boat was grounding on the rocks in 1-2m swell and the propeller kept touching the bottom,damaging all three blades.

From the shore David McAllister and Crew Member Mark Gaudion could see that the lifeboat was struggling to reach the casualty. David acted quickly. He requested ropes and lifejackets be sent to the causeway from the station and advised others not to risk their lives wading out. Recalling the moment, David said he did not want someone who 'wasn't a lifeboat person' to risk their lives as this was 'not the right thing to do'.

When the equipment arrived they quickly donned lifejackets and tied themselves together with a rope from the station.

Policemen and two shore helpers tended the end of the rope as they waded out.

Mark and David risked serious injury if they lost their footing, but they were well aware that they didn't have much time.

They didn't know how long the 13 year old could hold on for.

The men were only 9m from shore when strength of tide made progress difficult, with around 80m to go. David had the presence of mind to place the rope on the upside of a wooden post next to the causeway. This eased their progress towards the girl and also ensured that they would not be swept quite so far out if they did lose their footing.

Phil on the D class knew that the boat would be inoperable if it suffered more damage to the propeller. As it was, he described it as being: 'Like a little cauliflower'. With David and Mark getting closer to the girl, Phil made the difficult decision to leave the girl to them.

He decided to change his damaged propeller in the lee of Fort Clonque and look for the other casualties.

Spirit ofAlderney moved around the fort to Hannaine Bay on the south side of the causeway to change the propeller. The conditions in the bay were not much calmer, and before they had a chance to change the propeller, they spotted the two other casualties.

By the light of the flares they saw that the second girl was on rocks very close to the fort. She would soon be taken to safety by the group at Fort Clonque. But the man was on a large rock north of the causeway. Despite the problems with the propeller in horrendous conditions, the crew decided to attempt to rescue the man without delay.

Meanwhile David and Mark battled their way to the first girl on the rock.

Mark commented that despite the pressure of the situation: 'Everybody was very calm, controlled and focussed on the job in hand.'They reached the exhausted casualty and Mark hoisted her onto his shoulder and started back to the shore.

Soon, both girls were back on dry land. As predicted, the second girl was recovered by the group at the fort. The police vehicle crossed the causeway to pick up the girl.

The D class pushed through waves of 1-2m towards the remaining casualty.

They drew close to the man, put the nose of the lifeboat jammed up on the rock and helped him on board. The casualty was then transferred quickly onto the allweather lifeboat where the crew treated him with first aid, for shock and mild hypothermia. Phil spoke of the 'great relief to get the fellow on the boat.' The all-weather lifeboat watched over the damaged D class on the way back to the station where an ambulance crew took the man to hospital and where the propeller was finally changed on the D class. Everybody was safe and tranquility returned to the island. Phil went back to the restaurant, Bump's eating house, with Francois, where the owners treated the men to a well-deserved big steak.

Phil received a bronze medal for his actions in the D class and Mark and David were awarded the Thanks of the Institution on Vellum for their bravery.

Surprised, but proud of their awards, the three play down their heroism. Phil claimed: 'We weren't really brave. We had the best kit money could buy. We do what anybody would do.'The three holidaymakers had been saved by the bravery of individuals and a community effort. The rescue was well coordinated by the Harbour Office and it involved not only the island's two lifeboats, but also David and Mark from the shore, the police and St John Ambulance.THE LIFEBOATS D class lifeboat 0-551 Spirit ofAlderney Funding: Miss EM Brook Trent class lifeboat ON-1199 Roy Barker I Funding: Legacy of Frederick Roy Barker D CLASS CREW Helmsman Philip Murray Crew members Francois Jean, Wayne Chandler TRENT CLASS CREW Coxswain Declan Caudion Crew members Martin Harwood, Ivan Randall, William Watt James Walker, Andy Joyce SHORE HELPERS David McAllister, Mark Caudion ALDERNEY LIFEBOAT STATION Established: First established in 1869, closed in 1884.

Re-established 1985 Previous RNLI medals: 1 silver, 4 bronze THE CASUALTY Three holidaymakers THE CONDITIONS Weather: Rain Visibility: Fair visibility, fading light and darkness Wind: Force 6 Sea state: Rough, tidal current and heavy swell.