In October 1973, airmen and their families in the then West Germany pledged to raise funds for a B class lifeboat

Young Allen Stevens was a primary school student at RAF Wildenrath, where his dad was stationed, and he remembers the contribution his classmates and their parents made to the £6,000 cost of the Atlantic 21 Wildenrath Wizzer: ‘We arranged cake bakes, sponsored walks, a run around the perimeter track of the airfield … I even remember some of the men towing the squadron leader around the perimeter in a bomb trolley. And my class came up with the name.’

Almost 40 years later, Allen is a Senior Engineering Designer at the RNLI, working on safety equipment for lifeboat crews, including flares (meaning pyrotechnics, rather than the groovy trousers that were all the rage in his Wildenrath days!), casualty care kit and lifejackets. ‘I’ve always wanted to work with boats,’ he says. ‘Ever since I was about 6 years old, I can’t remember ever wanting to do anything else.’

The Wildenrath Wizzer went on to save 164 lives, in 429 services. She was stationed in Appledore from 1974–85, and at Redcar, North Yorkshire, from 1986–89. In 1991 she was used for trials of 60hp engines, before being retired.

But the lifeboat that piqued Allen’s interest all those years ago had a special auf wiedersehen in store: ‘A couple of years ago, I came into work and walked into the workshop. They’d just scrapped the Wildenrath Wizzer and I realised: “That’s the boat I raised funds for as a kid!”

‘I managed to recover the nameboards. They’re very dusty and dirty, but I’m going to restore them. One’s going on my wall, and the other’s for my dad.’