SILVER MEDAL SERVICE AT SOUTHEND - ON - SEA DECEMBER 6-11TH. - SOUTHEND - ON - SEA, ESSEX. The gale of the 5th of December, in which the motor life-boat Greater London (Civil Service No. 3) had been out for five hours and had towed in a barge, with its crew of two men, was still blowing next morning.

It was then from the south-west, with a very heavy sea running, and at 9.45 the life-boat was called out to the help of a barge. That launch was followed by seven others to the help of six other barges, and a steamer’s crew. The life-boat was out in the gale almost continuously for nearly 36 hours, until nine at night on the 7th them. Both had their anchors down of December, rescued twelve men, and and their cables stretching to windtowed in two of the barges. For the ward. The position of the barges, and first four of these eight. launches, she their cables, close together, made the had only six men instead of her usual rescue much more difficult.

crew of eight, and two of the services carried out by the six men were of LIFE-BOAT'S PROPELLERS FOULED exceptional difficulty and danger.

The first of the barges to which the The wind was on shore, and the life-boat went out on the 6th of Decemlife- boat, anchoring further out, dropber was the Glencoe, of London, with ped down on her cable, stern first, to the barge which was nearer the shore.

two men on board. She was in distress half a mile west of the West Shoebury This took her very close to the shore herself. She went. alongside the barge, Buoy, but her captain refused to leave and took off the two men. Then she her. He asked for a tow, but the lifeboat was unable to give it, in the moved sea-wards again, bow first, very heavy sea, and she returned to picking up her cable as she went, to her station at 10.30 that morning.

go to the second barge. While she Quarter of an hour later she put out.

was doing this the cable got to the for the second time; to the barge wrong side of her, passed under her, as she moved forward, and fouled one Mistley, of Ipswich, which was a of the propellers. With the other quarter of a mile west of the West Shoebury Buoy and driving towards propeller working she managed to go the sands. When the life-boat reached alongside the second barge and rescued the two men. Then the cable fouled her she had sunk. Her crew of two the second propeller. This swung her were clinging to the mast. Heavy stern on to the seas. She was helpless, seas were breaking over them. At any moment they might have washed held by the cable round her propellers, the men away.

and unable to move, with the seas breaking right into her after cockpit.

The life-boat anchored and dropped Her coxswain signalled for a tug, but in that sea no tug could come to his help. The bowman at once offered down on her cable to the barge. The water was so shallow that she was hitting the bottom all the time. With great difficulty she went alongside and rescued the two men. They were exhausted and could not have held on for much longer. The life-boat was back at her station again at. 12.15.

to go over the side and attempt to clear the propellers, but this the coxswain would not allow him to attempt.

He would have been drowned. Instead the coxswain set some of his men to the oars, and others to haul on the cable. It was now that they most felt the need of the other two men. But by rowing hard they were able to take the strain off the cable and then, by tremendous hauling, to get some of it on board. They then made fast to it a strong rope from the bows, and, this done, cut the cable where it was attached to the propellers. The lifeboat was now again held by her anchor from the bows and swung head to wind. But she had still to get away.

Quarter of an hour later she put out for the third service, which was to prove the most difficult and dangerous of the day. Again it was to barges, the Cambria and Decima, both of London. They had driven on to the sand to the westward of the pier, and sunk. There were two men in each barge. They were clinging to the masts. The barges had been carried on to the sands and had sunk so quickly that the men had not even been able to hoist distress signals before they struck, and then they dared not move from the masts as they would have been swept overboard at once by the terrible seas.

One barge was closer to the shore than the other, and nearly behind it.

Only the length of a barge separated This life-boat carried no sails. She had only a light yacht’s mast, used for the steaming lights and not strong enough to take a sail. But she had her after canopy covered with rope, as a protection against bomb splinters, and under this rope, to keep it from rubbing the paint, was a piece of canvas,14 feet by 7 feet. The rope was taken off the canopy, to get at the canvas, extra ropes were put on the mast to strengthen it, and this small piece of canvas was set as a sail.

By hauling on the cable, and by rowing, the crew got the life-boat clear of the shore, but they could not lift the anchor. They cut the cable and recovered the anchor three days later.

The flood tide, which was on the lifeboat’s lee bow, helped to keep her from being blown back on to the shore, and by means of the improvised sail, the coxswain brought her to the pier. There a rope was thrown to him. and the lifeboat was taken round the pier to her slipway. Other vessels were in distress.

The life-boat was needed at once.

But her propellers had to be cleared first. Eight times she was washed off the slipway before her crew could haul her up - this alone was a very fine piece of seamanship - and they could cut away the rope from the propellers.

By now the crew were wet through and very tired, but there was no rest for them, and within half an hour the life-boat was launched for the fourth time It was now four in the afternoon TO TWO MORE BARGES Again two London barges were in distress, the Glencoe, whose captain had refused to leave her, when the life-boat went to his help in the morning.

and the Nelson, The Glencoe was two miles south east of the pier. Her crew were at the pumps, but the captain again refused to leave and again asked for a tow. This the coxswain had to refuse for a second time, as the Nelson was waiting for his help.

The life-boat then went to the Nelson and found her crew standing in the rigging, wet and cold. She took them off and, for the third time, went to the Glencoe. The captain once more refused to leave, but this time the coxswain said that he would try to tow the barge. He put life-boatmen aboard her. They lifted her anchor and the tow started. An attempt was made to set some of her sails, but they were soon blown to ribbons. Then the mate of the barge was washed overboard.

Luckily he caught hold of a chain, but he was injured. The lifeboatmen hauled him aboard.

When the life-boat came inshore, the coxswain ordered the barge’s anchors to be dropped and went aboard her.

He told the captain that he would have to take him off. The captain replied that the injured mate might go, but he would stay. He and the coxswain then went down into the cabin. There was a foot of water on the floor. Then at last the captain consented to leave her. He and his mate were taken into the life-boat, and she landed the four rescued men. Half an hour later the Glencoe sank.

THE FIFTH LAUNCH It was now 8.30 in the evening. The life-boat had been out almost continuously for nearly eleven hours. But an hour later she put out for the fifth time. The Cambria, from which the life-boat had rescued the crew early in the afternoon, had been carried against the pier. She was loaded with timber and full of water. The life-boat went out to try and prevent her breaking through the pier, but found it impossible to move her. She returned to her station, re-filled her petrol tanks and at four o’clock next morning made another attempt. She failed again, returned ashore, borrowed a pump from the fire brigade, and, after pumping out the barge, was able to tow her round the pier. She did not get back to her station until 11.30 that morning, the 7th of December.

Even then she had not finished.

Quarter of an hour later, she was launched to the help of a shipwrecked steamer, the Houston City, but her crew had already been taken off by another steamer. From this launch she returned at 3.45 in the afternoon, and quarter of an hour after that she put out again, for the eighth time, to yet another barge, the Verona, of London. The barge was half a mile west of Jenkin Buoy. Her sails had blown away ; her top mast and sprit were broken. The gale was now moderating, and the life-boat towed in the barge with her two men on board. It was nine in the evening when she was back in her boathouse.

She had then been out, almostcontinuously, for nearly thirty-six hours.

She had still not finished with the barges. Next day she went out and brought in the Glencoe, after pumping out the water with the fire pump and throwing overboard a good deal of her deck cargo. On the 9th she towed in the Cambria, and on the 11th, after again using the fire pump, she brought in the Decima.

THE REWARDS For this long and exhausting succession of services, in which great skill, resource and gallantry were shown, the Institution made the following awards : For the services to the Cambria, Decima, Glencoe and Nelson : To COXSWAIN SIDNEY H. B. PAGE, the silver medal for gallantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To WILLIAM A. DEER, the secondcoxswain, H. G. MYALL, bowman, SAMUEL H. G. THOMAS, boat signalman, FRANK A. JURGENSON, motormechanic, and REGINALD H. SANDERS, assistant motor-mechanic, the bronze medal for gallantry, accompanied by a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To the coxswain and each member of the crew a reward of £2 each, in addition to the ordinary scale reward of 19s. each for the service to the Cambria and Decima and the ordinary scale reward of £2 7s. each for the service to the Glencoe and Nelson, making a reward of £5 6s. each.

Standard rewards to crew and helpers for the service to the Cambria and Decima, £5 12s. ; standard rewards to crew and helpers for the service to the Glencoe and Nelson, £12 15s. 6d. ; additional rewards to crew £12 ; total rewards, £30 7s. 6d. ; For the first launch to the Glencoe, £5 3s. ; For the service to the Mistley, £4 18s. 6d. ; For the launch to the Houston City, £4 14s.

The service to the Nelson on the 5th, the second and third services to the Cambria, on the 6th and 7th, the service to the Verona on the 7th, and the services to the Glencoe on the 8th, to the Cambria on the 9th and to theDecima on the 11th were property salvage cases. - Total of money rewards, £45 3s.