Why do I support the RNLI? Two accounts follow of contrasting, unusual experiences on a lifeboat in answer to this question During the Second World War I served for a time in an RNLI boat The Sir William Hillary, ex Dover station. I was 19 then; now I am 80 and my wife and I celebrate our diamond wedding in August.

Built in 1929 by John Thorneycrofts, His Majesty's Vessel BO18 was the largest and fastest in the RNLI fleet and named after the founder of the RNLI. It was stationed at Dover as a fast rescue vessel, partly in case any of the old Imperial Airways planes came down in the Channel. The boat was 70ft long, with the inside of the hull lined with buoyancy tanks. It was also the only boat where the engines were controlled by telegraph from the wheelhouse to the two mechanics battened down in the engine room.

The RNLI coxswain was Sid Hills and the 1st mechanic Kitchener Pegg. There was a crew of nine: one leading seaman, one seaman gunner, and four seamen, the coxswain and Kitch, with me as second mechanic, rated then Stoker 1st class. We had a lot of RNLI kit, including their bulky cork-filled lifejackets - impossible to wear in the engine room. The boat was based at the end of the pier, together with an RAF rescue launch. They were faster than us in fine weather but couldn't cope with the rough seas that we could.

When I joined, the decks were painted orange! A big mistake, the wrong people spotted us, so back to Pompey, the deck painted grey and we were armed - well sort of! The cox had a revolver, then there was a strip Lewis, twin Lewis for'ard and an old vlckers aft. This sufficed until things hotted up a bit. So back to Pompey and fitted with two pairs of twin Brownings, complete with shields! (Wow!!) As a rescue vessel we were on call 24 hours a day. 'Third degree' meant that we were at a state of readiness; 'second degree' we cruised around the Needles; 'first degree' there was a big air raid crossing to France and we hung around in the Channel awaiting any SOS. Once, we were in the cinema at Newport, Isle of Wight, when a message was flashed onto the screen that we were to report to the foyer. There the manager gave us free tickets for another time and a Wren driver was there to drive us back to base. We all arrived with trembling legs! Kitch Pegg left the boat in 1944 and was commissioned as an Engineer Lieutenant, winning the DSO during the invasion. The last time I saw him, he was conducting the Salvation Army Band at Sheringham.

I left the boat in 1944 for advancement and a trip to warmer climes, but was happier saving lives than taking them. After the war I joined Shoreline and am still with this, at present in Governor grade. I cannot speak highly enough of the two RNLI men I served under. I do know that what they taught me stood me in good stead all of my life.

Denis Tite Wigston Harcourt, LeicestershireI have long admired the RNLI and the commitment and bravery of the volunteer lifeboat crews.

In August 1997 the value of the RNLI touched our family. Our elder daughter was living on the Isle of Mull and her first baby was due. She was taken by the Mora Edith MacDonatd lifeboat from Craigmore to Oban... and our first grandchild was born on the lifeboat. A treasured memory and her name is inscribed on the lifeboat bell. Thanks to the various medical services involved, and gratitude to the RNLI.

In June 1999 the RNLI touched the lives of our family yet again. Whilst visiting the Isle of Mull our younger daughter was taken seriously ill. Thanks to the accurate diagnosis by the Ross of Mull GP, a speedy transfer to the Scottish mainland by the same Oban lifeboat and the skill of medical services in Glasgow, our daughter's life was saved.

How could I not become a Shoreline member of the RNLI?! I also sponsor our two Scottish grandchildren in Storm Force and I would encourage all of us to remember the RNLI in our wills.

The lives of three of our family are indebted to the service of the RNLI. Thank you all.

Patricia McBeth Mansfield, Nottinghamshire Thank you for sending me the guff for a new Shoreline membership; also for the Storm Force package subsequently received with joy by my seven-year-old grandson. With the immediate cooperation of Accutecc, some of my acquaintances are now supplied with little bags for recycling toner cartridges, all in the cause - and gentlemen, what a cause! The effect of your winter 2003/2004 magazine, please believe, on someone who had known little about lifeboats was profound. He laid it down, thinking, 'so long as this quality survives, the nation will be safe'...

Mr MV Murphy Stevenage, HertfordshireWe live in a society where the words 'hero' and 'bravery' have been so devalued by inappropriate usage as to make them virtually meaningless.

Footballers are described as heroes for kicking a ball around a field in return for vast sums of money; people are described as brave for being in a situation that they had no option to avoid, when 'fortitude', 'stoicism' or 'dignity' would be better words. I wonder that such people can go through life with these undeserved tags so proudly displayed about their demeanour, rather than the acute embarrassment they should feel by trying to gatecrash the positions rightly occupied by the true heroes that this nation has produced.

The lifeboatmen and women of the RNLI perform their services unpaid and without any desire for publicity. They have no need to be in the situations that they put themselves in in the first place.

Whilst performing a service, they could be more cautious, thinking of their own safety, of their families, even deciding not to attempt a rescue due to the risk.

Despite all, lifeboatmen and women continue to put to sea and rescue people whilst putting themselves in extreme danger. They seem to do so without hesitation and perform incredible feats of bravery in the process; feats rightly described as brave as there is usually time to assess the risk, experience available to recognise the danger and always the option to stand off.

Assessing these acts in comparison with thousands of others along the years is an experienced panel who fully appreciate the risks taken. Medals for services are rare - they are not thrown around like confetti and so are not devalued. A medal holder can rightly wear theirs with extreme pride.

Those are the reasons why I support the RNLI. In a world where there are so few people worth looking up to, so few examples worth taking on board, the words 'hero' and 'bravery' sit rightly with the Institution and its crews. You would do well to champion it more in your search for a new generation of supporters as you are often too modest about this, your defining feature amongst the clamour of charities vying for the public's attention.

Best wishes Andy Overton, by email Doncaster, South YorkshireAn invitation I am the director of the Prince of Wales Sea Training School Society. We represent the Merchant Navy Seamen who were trained at the sea school throughout its history. The PWSTS was founded in 1920 at Limehouse in London and was used to train boys for service as deck ratings in the Merchant Navy and was operated by the British Sailors Society. The school moved to Stalham in 1940 and eventually transferred to Dover in 1953 until its closure in 1976. Our aim is to reunite Merchant Navy seamen and to establish a museum to commemorate the school, its staff and those who died during the Second World War.

As such we will be holding a reunion sometime in 2005.1 would therefore be most grateful if I could please appeal through your magazine for'old Prince of Wales boys' to come forward and register with us at www.pwsts.org.uk or via email at [email protected]. Alternatively please contact us at the address/telephone numbers below.

I thank you for your time in reading this request.

Yours sincerely Andy Gale Director PWSTS Society 6 Coniston Close Boscombe Down Amesbury Wiltshire SP4 7QJ Telephone: 01980 624248 or 07789 865678Thank you for my recent copy of the Lifeboat magazine. I have seen the second appeal for members to help other members and their collections and I was wondering if you could help me and my Lledo lifeboat model collection. I would make a donation to the RNLI for models received that have not got in my collection of 54 boats.

The models I am looking for are: Sheringham (Red Hull), Wick, Amble, Great Yarmouth, Lytham St Annes (White Hull), Poole (Red and White Hulls) London Boat Show 1995. Thank you.

Mr MJ Holmes Chepstow, Monmouthshire any readers can help Mr Holmes, please write c/o the Lifeboat. See page 1 for contact details..