SILVER MEDAL SERVICE AT NEWBIGGIN FEBRUARY 4TH. - NEWBIGGIN, NORTHUMBERLAND. On the night of the 3rd of February, 1940, the Belgian motor vessel Eminent, of Antwerp, with a crew of nine men, was on her way to Newcastle-on-Tyne.

She arrived off the port to find that it was closed to shipping on account of the bad weather. She had to remain at sea. A gale was blowing and she was driven ashore half a mile north of Newbiggin Point.

The news of the wreck reached the Newbiggin life-boat station at 4.30 in the morning of the 4th. Twenty minutes later the motor life-boat Augustus and Laura was launched.

The coxswain was ill and the secondcoxswain took command. The Newbiggin boat was of the light surf type, 32 feet long and weighing just over four tons. The gale was from the south-east and the seas were breaking heavily in the bay. The night was very dark, and intensely cold, with hard squalls of rain and sleet. The life-boat station is on the south side of Newbiggin Point. The wreck lay on the north side. As the life-boat rounded the point she met very high breaking seas, for the tide was running out against the gale. The seas kept breaking over her bows, filling her completely, washing the crew off their feet. One man was washed from one end of the life-boat to the other.

The crew were in danger of being swept right out of the life-boat, and if her head had fallen off the sea, and she had been struck on the beam, she would have been overwhelmed. The coxswain wisely decided to put about, and ran back to the beach, using his drogue. Twice heavy seas broke right over the life-boat’s stern. It was a hazardous journey in the darkness, with no lights showing on shore, for on either side of the bay are rocks,but the acting coxswain brought her safely in. She was hauled up, and put on her carriage again. It was then 6.30 in the morning. As soon as it was light, the honorary secretary and the acting coxswain went to the north side of the point, where the wreck lay; and found her on the rocks. They decided that the only way to reach her was by taking the life-boat across the point by land. Just after 7.30 she set out, with forty-five launchers hauling her. Between twenty and thirty of them were women. They took her up the cliff, over the town moor, and across sand dunes to the shore opposite the wreck. They had to contend with the gale, with driving sleet, and, worst of all, with blowing sand. This journey of a mile took about an hour, and at 8.10 the lifeboat was launched for the second time.

The only possible launching place was made difficult by rock and stones, but the life-boat got safely away. She had only a short run through broken water to the wreck, which was lying inside the heavy breakers. Her chief risk was striking a rock.

As the wreck lay she gave a lee, and the life-boat was able to get alongside her. Lines were thrown aboard and the rescue began. The life-boat’s crew had to tend the ropes carefully, and haul on them each time a run of water came round the stern of the wreck, and carried the life-boat away.

It took half an hour for the eleven men of the Eminent, watching their opportunity, to jump aboard. The life-boat then made for the shore, but when within a few yards of it, she struck a submerged rock, and the helpers had to wade out to carry the rescued men ashore, and to refloat the life-boat.

She was safely beached and dragged back to Newbiggin where she was in her house again at 10.45 in the morning.

The life-boat. was most skilfully handled by the acting coxswain in very dangerous conditions, and the Institution made the following awards: To ACTING-COXSWAIN ( SECOND COXSWAIN) GEORGE R. TAYLOR, the silver medal for gallantry and a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To ACTING-SECOND-COXSWAIN (BOWMAN) THOMAS McL. DENT, G. R.

ARMSTRONG, assistant motor-mechanic acting as mechanic, and J. WAKE, acting assistant motor-mechanic, each the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum To the WOMEN OF NEWBIGGIN, the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum ; To MR. J. F. GIBSON, the honorary secretary, a letter of thanks ; To the acting-coxswain, the actingsecond- coxswain, and the two mechanics, who all took part in both launches. a reward of £2 each in addition to the ordinary scale rewards of £2 16s 6d. each for the two launches; To the other three members of the crew who took part in the first launch only, a reward of £2 each in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £1 17s. 6d; To the other three members of the crew who took part in the second launch only, a reward of £1 each in addition to the ordinary scale reward of 19s. each ; To each of twenty-six of the helpers in the second launch who waded out well over their waists both in launching and beaching the life-boat, 10s., in addition to the reward on the ordinary scale of 4s. 6d.

Standard rewards to crew and launchers for the first launch, £28 2s. ; for the second launch £18 1s. 6d. ; additional rewards to the crew for the first launch, £14 ; to crew and launchers for the second launch, £16.

Total rewards, £76 3s. 6d.

This is the second time that a vellum of thanks has been awarded to the women of Newbiggin. The first time they won it was on the 26th of January, 1927, when the fishing fleet was at sea and a sudden gale sprang up.

Nearly all the regular members of the crew were out with the fishing boats, but the coxswain got together a scratch crew, and twenty-five women helped to launch the life-boat. Without their help it could never have been launched through the heavy surf.