SILVER MEDAL SERVICE AT SALCOMBE DEC. 7TH. - SALCOMBE, AND PLYMOUTH, DEVON. Early in the morning the Belgian steamer Louis Sheid, of over 6,000 tons, was in the English Channel on her way to Antwerp. She had a crew of forty-six men. She saw the Dutch steamer Tajandoen, of over 8,000 tons, sunk by a German torpedo or mine, and took on board 62 survivors who had got away from the Tajandoen in the ship’s boats.

Early that evening the Louis Sheid went ashore in Bigbury Bay, on the south coast of Devon. She was seen by Mr. J. H. Jarvis, ex-coxswain of Hope Cove life-boat, who telephoned to the Salcombe life-boat station at 7.35. Ten minutes later the motor life-boat Samuel and Marie Parkhouse put out to the rescue. The night was very dark, with heavy squalls of rain.

The tide was at four hours ebb, and heavy seas were breaking on Salcombe Bar. Conditions could not have been more dangerous for crossing the bar, and when the life-boat set out the honorary secretary warned another boat to stand by in case of accidents.Its help was not needed. The lifeboat was splendidly handled by the coxswain. He brought her safely across the bar and out into the open sea. Beyond the shelter of the headlands a strong and increasing wind was blowing from the south, with a rough sea.

Two hours after launching, the lifeboat reached the Louis Sheid. It was then 9.30 at night, and the tide was at low water. The steamer was almost head on to wind and sea. She was about half-a-mile from the shore and had no anchors down, but her engines were going full speed ahead. Seas were breaking heavily round her. The wind had now increased to a gale and there was heavy rain.

RISE AND FALL OF OVER TWENTY FEET The coxswain anchored to windward and veered down to the starboard side of the steamer, but he found it impossible to get alongside her, for there were rocks close by. He lifted anchor and made instead for the port side. Here the steamer gave him a little lee, and he was able to go alongside the port quarter. It was a hazardous business, for the seas were rising and falling between twenty and thirty feet. As the life-boat lay there, rising and falling in the darkness and heavy rain, forty of those who had been rescued from the Tajandoen sixteen hours earlier, jumped into her.

Each one had to be caught by lifeboatmen.

The coxswain then decided to attempt to land the rescued at Hope Cove, and signalled the shore.

Meanwhile there had been much activity on shore. Mr. J. C. Payne, of Salcombe, had volunteered to the honorary secretary at eleven o’clock to go to the scene of the wreck by car with a signalling lamp. This he did and got into touch with the life-boat.

He remained at Hope Cove all the night, got hot drinks and food from the hotel, which he had ready for the life-boatmen when they came ashore, and finally went out in the life-boat with his lamp and got in touch with the signalman on board the Louis Sheid, Three other men were also ready with their help when the life-boat was preparing to land the rescued. They were Mr. J. H. Jarvis, junior, son of the ex-coxswain, Mr. R. E. Hurrell and Mr. H. A. Thornton. In anticipation of the life-boat coming ashore they went in all haste to Hope Cove and put out in their 16-feet pulling boat.

In launching her they had the help of five other men, Mr. P. Jarvis and Mr. F. Jarvis, also sons of the excoxswain, Mr. W. Leggassick, Mr. V.

Leggassick and Mr. N. Thornton. It was very doubtful if the boat could be launched at all, but they brought her safely through the heavy surf.

LIFE-BOAT’s SECOND TRIP Meanwhile the coxswain took the life-boat inside Bolt Tail, to a point off Key Sands, and there the small boat met her. The small boat had room only for eight people on board at a time, so that he had to make five trips to land the forty whom the lifeboat had rescued. Then the life-boat made again for the Louis Sheid, to find that she had shifted a little. She was now dead head-on to the seas and she gave the life-boat no lee.

In spite of this the coxswain again brought the life-boat alongside the steamer’s quarter in the heavy seas, and without loss or damage, took off the remaining twenty-two of those whom the Louis Sheid had rescued in the morning from the Tajandoen.

None of the Louis Sheid’s own crew of forty-five men had so far been rescued.

The twenty-two were landed in the same way by the small boat, and for the third time the life-boat returned to the Louis Sheid, taking with her Mr. J. H. Jarvis, junior, to help the coxswain with his local knowledge.

She found that in the meantime the Louis Sheid had come right over the reef on which she had stranded. She was now close to the cliffs, lying broadside on to them, and the coastguard’s life-saving apparatus had fired a line aboard her. The captain and crew of the steamer decided that they would be taken ashore by the apparatus, but they asked the life-boat to stand by.

The Plymouth motor life-boat wasalso standing by. She had received the news of the wreck about an hour later than Salcombe, and set out at 9.18 in the evening. At 11.15 she found the Louis Sheid, but by that time Salcombe had rescued the sixty- two survivors of the Tajandoen, and there were only the captain and crew of the Louis Sheid on board her.

The Salcombe coxswain, before standing by, returned again to Key Sands, where he landed and telephoned to the honorary secretary at Salcombe.

Then he took the life-boat out again to the Louis Sheid. The honorary secretary had remained up all night, for he thought that the bar was too dangerous for the life-boat to attempt to cross it, At daylight he arrived at Hope Cove, The second coxswain went back with him to Salcombe to examine the bar, and then returned to the life-boat. By that time the bar could be crossed, and the life-boat reached Salcombe at eleven in the morning of the 8th. She had been out for over fifteen hours. The Plymouth life-boat had reached her station again at 9.30 that morning THE REWARDS This was a service in which the coxswain showed magnificent seamanship both in crossing the bar and alongside the steamer. He had been most ably supported by his crew for whom it had been a very exhausting service.

They had had to let go and weigh and house the anchor seven times, and had had sixty-two people to get aboard the life-boat. one by one, in very heavy seas.

The Institution made the following awards to the Salcombe crew : To COXSWAIN E W. DISTIN, the silver medal for gallantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To each of the other seven men, SECOND-COXSWAIN E. CHANT, G. SHEPHERD, bowman, J. ALLEN, motor mechanic, P. CHANT, assistant motor mechanic, J. LAKE, J. FIELD and T. CHEESMAN. life-boatmen, the bronze medal for gallantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To CAPTAIN J. L. AMES, honorary secretary of the station, an inscribed barometer ;To Mr. J. H. JARVIS, junior, a fisherman's inscribed barometer ; To MR. J. C. PAYNE, a letter of thanks ; To the coxswain and each of the seven members of the crew, a reward of £3 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £2 16s. 6d.; To each of the three men who manned the small boat, £3; To each of the five men who helped on shore, £2 ; Standard rewards to crew and launchers, £21 2s. 6d. ; additional rewards to the crew and rewards to the men who helped, £44 ; total rewards, £65 2s. 6d. Standard rewards to Plymouth, £16 19s. Total rewards for the service, £82 1s. 6d..