MAY MEETING GRIMNESS, ORKNEYS. About 2 in the afternoon of the 30th January, 1940, a ship’s boat, which had got away from the S.S.

Giralda, of Leith, after she had been bombed by German aeroplanes, was seen drifting ashore towards Water Sound. A S.E. gale was blowing. The boat struck Rumblie Point and capsized, and one man was carried up Water Sound with the tide.

Two men put out in a motor boat and picked up the man’s body. - Rewards, £1 5s., also 3s. 6d. for fuel used.

EXMOUTH, DEVON. At about 11 in the morning of the 19th March, 1940, a boatman was ferrying three men, with their tools and some corrugated iron, across the river mouth.

There was a nasty cross sea, and a squallywind. It was too rough for the boat, and the boatman tried to turn back but the boat was swamped and sank. A pilot motor boat, manned by three men, put out to her help, and rescued one of the four men. The other three were drowned. Two of the rescuers were sons of the boatman who was lost.

One of them dived into the sea in a last attempt to save him. - Rewards, £1 10s., and a letter of appreciation to the man who dived overboard.

ABERDARON, CAERNARVONSHIRE. About noon on the 26th March, 1940, an aeroplane made a forced landing on the sea in Aberdaron Bay, and her crew of four took to their rubber boat. A strong N.N.E. breeze was blowing, with a rough sea, and the tide was ebbing strongly. Four men put out in a rowing boat and rescued the airmen, but rescuers and rescued were then in danger of being swept through Bardsey Sound by the strong tide. They were saved by an R.A.F. launch from Pwllheli. which took them all on board. But for the prompt help of the Aberdaron men, who ran a great risk in their rowing boat in that rough sea, the airmen would have been lost.

Three men also put off in a motor boat from Bardsey Island. It arrived after the R.A.F. launch had taken on board the airmen and their rescuers, but it towed in the rescuers’ boat. The eight men were landed at Pwllheli at 5.30 P.M. - Rewards, £6 5s.

SHEERNESS, KENT. At about 6 in the evening of 1st April, 1940, three soldiers took an old boat that was lying on the beach at Scrapsgate Minster. The boat was leaking and without gear, but the soldiers thought that they could use shovels as paddles. A fresh S.W. breeze quickly blew the boat seawards. The sea was moderately rough and the men were in a dangerous plight. A fisherman, returning to Sheerness in his motor boat, came to their rescue.- Rewards, 10s.

(See Southend-on-Sea, “ Accounts of Services by Life-boats,” page 65.) PORT ERIN, ISLE OF MAN. At about 7.30 in the evening of the 5th April, 1940, the coastguard reported several objects floating about two miles S.W. of the lookout. Mr.

T. A. Coole, the honorary secretary of the life-boat station, obtained the services of a motor boat and put out to investigate. He found that the objects were large patches of seaweed, which had the appearance of wreckage. - Rewards, 12s. 6d.

BANFF, BANFFSHIRE. On the morning of the 6th April, 1940, a report was received that a boat was on fire two miles N.W. of Gardenstown. The sea was fairly smooth, with a moderate S.W. wind. Two motor boats, the Choice, with a crew of three, and the Foxglove, with a crew of ten, put out from Gardenstown and found that the boat, the Sprig, was not on fire, but that she had a leak and her engine was giving trouble.

They helped her, and later she was towed to Macduff by another motor boat. - Rewards, £1 12s. 6d., and 7s. 6d. for fuel used.SCARBOROUGH, YORKSHIRE. At 5.50 in the afternoon of the 30th April, 1940, a small rowing boat with four boys on board was capsized about 300 yards from the pier, throwing the boys into the sea. Two motor boats, which were already out, at once went to the rescue. The motor boat Sceptre picked up two of the boys from the bottom of the small boat and the motor boat Constance picked up the other two from the water, one of the rescuers jumping overboard to their help. - Rewards. £1 to the man who jumped overboard, and 5s. to each of the other seven men : £2 15s. in all.

STAITHES, YORKSHIRE. At about 8.15 A.M.

on the 6th May, 1940, the coastguard saw a distress signal flying from the motor fishing coble Silver Line, of Whitby, which was about one mile away. Her engine had broken down, her anchors would not hold, and a strong N.W. wind was carrying her on to a rocky shore. Another coble, the Star of Hope, which had just arrived in harbour, at once went out to her help.- Rewards, £1 2s. 6d.