MARCH Launches 90. Lives rescued 132.

MARCH 2ND. - PLYMOUTH, DEVON. At 4.30 A.M. information was received from the King’s Harbour Master that signals of distress were being shewn in Jennycliffe Bay, and the motor life-boat Robert and Marcella Beck was launched at 5.10 A.M. A gale was blowing, with a rough sea. The life-boat found the motor vessel Houtman, formerly of Rotterdam, with a crew of eight. She had dragged her anchors and gone ashore broadside on.

The lifeboat fired a line to her and, helped by the wind veering W.N.W., she was able to get the vessel off the rocks and to a safe anchorage. One member of the vessel’s crewh a d h i s h and crushed and the life-boat brought him ashore for treatment when she returned to her station at 8.10 A.M. - Rewards, £9 19s. 6d.

MARCH 8TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK. At about 2.30 in the morning the Cromer coastguard reported that an S.O.S. was being flashed one mile N. by W. from the Haisborough coastguard lookout, and the Cromer No. 1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey was launched at 2.30. A moderate S.E. wind was blowing, with a moderate sea. The life-boat found a small boat, with thirteen men on board, close to the breakers on Haisborough beach. They belonged to the 3,600-ton steamer Corduff, of Newcastle-on-Tyne ; she had been sunk by an E-boat ; some of her crew had been lost ; two of them had been taken prisoner to Germany ; and two of those in the small boat were injured. The life-boat took the thirteen men on board as quickly as possible and made at once for Cromer, so that the two injured men might be landed and given treatment without delay, but when she reached the slipway, it was impossible, in the sea that was running, to put them ashore at once. In the end they were put ashore at 7.45. A letter of appreciation was received from the Battery Commander at Happisburgh.

- Rewards, £28 0s. 6d.

MARCH 8TH and 11TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK. While the No . 1 lifeboat H. F. Bailey was still waiting to land the men she had rescued from the S.S. Corduff, news came through the coastguard that a ship was ashore four miles S.E. of Cromer.

As soon as she had landed the Corduff's men at 7.45 A.M. the life-boat refuelled and left again at 8.15 A.M. A moderate S.E.

wind was blowing, with a ground swell. The life-boat found the S.S. Kenton of Newcastle, which had been attacked. There was no one on board. The life-boat found two ship’s boats, both empty and with nothing to show to what vessel they had belonged. She towed them to Cromer, arriving about 10 A.M.

Three days later the naval authorities wished to investigate the wreck of the Kenton, and the No. 2 motor life-boat Harriot Dixon put out at 1 P.M. It was found that the steamer had broken her back. The life-boat brought ashore two Lewis guns, rifles and ammunition, and returned to her station at 3.30 P.M. - Rewards : No. 1, £13 6s. 6d. ; No. 2, Expenses paid by the Admiralty.

MARCH 8TH. - PENLEE, CORNWALL.

At 2.28 P.M. the coastguard called for the life-boat to go out to a steamer to bring off some wounded men. A N.E. gale was blowing, with a rough sea. The motor life-boat W. and S. was launched at 2.45 P.M., and met the S.S. Margo, of Cardiff. When she had anchored in Mounts Bay, the life-boat went alongside, brought off three injured men and one body, and took them to Penzance Harbour, where an ambulance was waiting.

A severely wounded man had been left aboard the Margo, and the life-boat took out a doctor to him. She then brought ashore to Newlyn Harbour the wounded man and the captain of the Margo. A call for a doctor had come from another steamer, the Falkvik, of Sweden. The life-boat took a doctor out to her and brought ashore a man with an injured hand, landing him at 10 P.M. She then took the captain of the Margo back to his ship. As the weather was too bad to rehouse her, the life-boat put into Newlyn at 11 P.M., and returned to her station two days later. - Rewards, £30 9s. 6d.

MARCH 9TH - 29TH. - HARTLEPOOL, DURHAM, AND TEESMOUTH, YORKSHIRE.

At 7.45 in the morning the coastguard reported a vessel aground. She was the S.S. Flimston, of over 4,500 tons, laden with steel and with a crew of 38. She had gone aground S.W. of the south side of the Long Scar Rocks, about two and a half miles south of Hartlepool. The motor life-boat The Princess Royal (Civil Service No. 7) was launched at 10.30 A.M. A strong wind was blowing. The lifeboat found that the steamer’s crew did not wish to leave her, and returned to her station at 12.15 P.M. Two and a half hours later the master sent a message through the coastguard saying that he wished to abandon ship before darkness set in, and the life-boat put out for the second time at 3.20 in the afternoon.

A gale was now blowing from the E.N.E., and very heavy seas were pounding on the steamer. The tide was ebbing and she was lying in the shallow broken water on a lee shore close to the rocks. It was not easy to manoeuvre the life-boat through the broken water and among the rocks, but the oil spray was used with good effect, and the coxswain succeeded in getting her under the steamer’s lee. There she made fast, and a rope ladder was let down. As the opportunity came, the 38 men either came down the rope ladder, or jumped into the life-boat.

They brought the ship’s cat and kitten with them. It took a quarter of an hour to rescue the whole crew, and all that time heavy seas were breaking over the wreck and falling into the life-boat. While she was on her way back to the station a sea broke aboard, and one of the crew was nearly swept away. The master of the Flimston sent a letter of thanks. It was a good service, very skilfully carried out, and the Institution made the following awards : To LIEUT. W. H. BENNISON, R.N.V.R., coxswain, its thanks inscribed on vellum.

To each member of the crew, £1 in addition to the money award on the usual scale.

Standard rewards to the crew and helpers : for the first service, £7 11s. ; for the second service, £11 ; additional rewards to the crew, £9 ; total rewards, £27 11s.

Two days later, March 11th, the weather had improved and the crew of the Flimston wanted to return to her to see if they could salve her and her valuable cargo. A strong wind was still blowing, and the sea was very rough, and the only boat which could take them out was the life-boat. S h e w a s launched at noon, put the men on board the steamer, and brought them ashore again at four in the afternoon. On the 14th she again took them out, going and returning at the same times.The salvage operations were still continuing on March 22nd, and on that day, at the request of the salvage officer of the Admiralty, the life-boat was launched at midday to take men out to the steamer, returning at 1.30 in the afternoon. Next day she was again out for the same purpose from 11.45 A.M. to 2.30 P.M., and on the 28th she went out at 3.55 P.M. to bring off the crew and salvage men, returning at 5.30 P.M. On each occasion the weather was such that no other boat could have been used. The launches from the 11th March to the 28th March were paid by the Admiralty.

During the service on the 28th the Hartlepool life-boat’s engine had not been working satisfactorily and when, just after three in the afternoon of the 29th, she was again asked to go out, the honorary secretary passed on the call to the Teesmouth station.

This time it was a call to rescue the six men still on board the steamer. A strong N.E. wind was blowing, with a rough sea and snow showers. At 5 P.M. the motor lifeboat J. W. Archer was launched and found that an attempt had been made to rescue the six men from the shore by breeches buoy but only one man had been taken off in this way and he was in a very bad state when he was got ashore. The steamer had wires out in several directions and this made it very difficult to get the life-boat alongside. The coxswain succeeded and rescued the five men, but the life-boat’s stern was damaged. The rescued men were landed, and the life-boat returned to her station at 6.55P.M . - Rewards, £14 9s. 6d.

MARCH 13TH - 16TH. - CROMER, AND GREAT YARMOUTH AND GORLESTON, NORFOLK. At about 2.35 P.M. information came to Cromer from the coastguard that a vessel, which seemed to be sinking, was about two and a half miles N.W. of Cromer, and was being towed towards the beach. A moderate E.S.E. breeze was blowing, with a slight ground swell, and the weather was fine.

The No. 1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey was launched at 2.50 P.M. and reached the vessel twenty minutes later. By this time she had been beached. She was the S.S. Essex Lance, of London, of 9,000 tons, laden with wheat and flour, and bound from Hull to London.

The coxswain went on board the steamer, and found that she had been badly damaged by a near miss from an enemy bomber at 8.30 in the evening of 12th March, and that her crew of forty-four had taken to the boats and spent the night on H.M.T. Coventry City.

Some of them had returned to her, and when the Cromer life-boat arrived there were nineteen on board. Tugs, which had been sent out early in the morning to attempt to salve the vessel, were standing by. At about 4.35 P.M. H.M.T. Strathranrock hailed the steamer and told her master that the Essex Lance was to be abandoned and that she would take the crew to Yarmouth. The lifeboat transferred the nineteen men and their personal belongings from the steamer to the trawler, and then returned to her station and was re-housed at 5.45 P.M.

The trawler made for Yarmouth and anchored in the roads, and at 6.20 P.M. the police asked the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston life-boat to bring men ashore from her. A moderate E. by S. wind was blowing, and the sea was rough. The motor life-boat Louise Stephens was launched at 6.45 P.M., and brought ashore two stretcher cases at 8.15 P.M.

On the following day the Admiralty salvage officer asked for the co-operation of the Cromer life-boat in attempting to salve the Essex Lance. She left at 11.45 A.M. with a party to examine the steamer, and returned at 2 P.M. Leaving again at 3.15 P.M., she put an armed military guard on board the steamer, and returned again at 7 P.M., bringing with her a salvage officer. Next day, the 15th March, she put out at 12.35 P.M., with various officials, and returned at 5 P.M. At 6.15 she went off again with a salvage officer and officers of the Essex Lance, and returned at 8.30 P.M. She again took officials to the steamer on the following morning, the 16th, putting out at 10.10 A.M. and returning at 1 P.M. Further trips were made between 5 .30P. M . a n d 7 . 3 0 P .M., and between 10.15 P.M. and 12.30 A.M. on the 17th.

Shortly after the last journey the Essex Lance was towed away by tugs. - Rewards : Cromer, first service, 13th March, £19 18s. 6d. ; for services, 14th-16th March, expenses met by the Admiralty; Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, £14 4s.

MARCH 13TH. - NEW BRIGHTON, CHESHIRE. At 8.55 in the evening the Seacombe Ferry Office sent a message that a vessel had struck a mine off Seacombe Stage, and at 9.15 the No. 1 motor life-boat William and Kate Johnston was launched.

A moderate E.S.E. wind was blowing, and the sea was choppy. A very heavy air attack was being made on the Mersey, particularly at Wallasey, where the life-boat station is, and over three-quarters of the Wallasey houses were made uninhabitable. The lifeboathouse itself escaped, but its telephone was put out of action and the houses of both the honorary secretary and the assistant secretary were badly damaged by high explosive bombs. There was the additional danger for the life-boat of mines coming up the river on the flood tide, and because of them all other shipping had been forbidden to move. The life-boat reached the spot to find that the vessel, the S.S. Ullapool, of West Hartlepool, of about 5,000 tons, had already sunk. Another steamer, the Waldinge, had rescued five of the Ullapool’s crew, and told the life-boat that others had drifted up river in a boat. The life-boat went in search of them as far as Eastham, but could not find them and returned to the Waldinge, took off the five men and brought them to Princes Stage, where she landed them. It was then about midnight. At 12.37 A.M. a message came asking for the life-boat to go to H.M.S.. Virginia which had nine men on board. This the life-boat did, and landed the men at Liverpool. She then returned to her moorings at 1.20, and her crew were back in the boathouse at 1.50. It was then five hours since she had been called out. Allthe time bombs had been dropping in the river. In view of the danger run, and the courage shown by the crew, an increase in the usual money reward on the standard scale was made to each member of the crew.

- Standard rewards to the crew, £14 11s. 3d. ; additional rewards to the crew, £8 ; total rewards, £22 11s. 3d.

MARCH 13TH - 15TH. - CRESSWELL, NORTHUMBERLAND. O n t h e 5 t h February the S.S. Empire Breeze had stranded on the Bondicar Rocks, and the Amble lifeboat had rescued her crew. On the 13th March the Empire Breeze was refloated and taken in tow for Blyth by the tug Bullger for repairs. The weather was fair, with a light S.E. breeze and a moderate swell, but during the evening the tug struck a mine and sank. Her crew lowered her boat and went aboard the Empire Breeze, which then anchored in the bay and signalled by morse lamp to the coastguard. It was now about 8.30 at night. The coxswain was then asked to launch the life-boat and go to the help of the Empire Breeze, but he pointed out that it was impossible owing to the coast defences. A place had been made for the life-boat to go through the barbed wire and concrete blocks a quarter of a mile to the north, but not only had this place been filled in again, but it had been reinforced. This had been done without the station being told.

The coxswain suggested that the only thing was to call out the life-boat from Newbiggin five miles down the coast. There was much telephoning, and the naval authorities in the end decided, owing to the minefields, it must be the Cresswell and not the Newbiggin lifeboat which went out. They then arranged with the army authorities for a breach to be made in the coast defences, and soldiers were sent to do the work.

In the end the pulling and sailing life-boat Martha was launched through this breach at 11.20 P.M., the soldiers helping. An airraid alert had sounded at 8.50 and the “raiders passed” signal at 4.35 next morning.

The life-boat reached the Empire Breeze fifty minutes later, and took off the crew of twelve men of the tug. Four of them were scalded or injured in other ways, and as soon as the life-boat landed them at 1.15 in the morning they were sent to hospital. At 3.10 in the morning the life-boat was asked to go out to stand by the Empire Breeze. In her damaged condition after the stranding, her crew had to be at the pumps all the time, and there was a risk that they might not be able to control the water. The life-boat was to stand by her ready to rescue her crew, if necessary, until tugs arrived to take her in tow, and as she was lying in a minefield, they could not do this until a way had been swept for them. The life-boat went out and stood by for about sixteen hours. It was not until 8.30 that evening, the 14th, that she returned to her station, and then she was kept on the beach in readiness to be launched again at once, The next day, the 15th, she was again needed, and she put out at 1.10 in the afternoon with supplies of oil and petrol. A fog came down in the evening and made signals between the MARCH 1 8TH. - PORTHDINLLAEN, CAERNARVONSHIRE. At 6.14 P.M. information was received from the naval authorities at Holyhead, through the coastguard, that a vessel was on fire. A later message gave her position as 19 miles W.S.W. from Porthdinllaen Point, and at 6.55 P.M. the motor life-boat M.O.Y.E. was launched.

A S.E. breeze was blowing and the sea was smooth. The life-boat found that the vessel was the S.S. Iris, of Amsterdam, bound laden from Belfast for Newport, Mon. She had been bombed and machine-gunned by aeroplanes and one of the crew had been wounded.

A life-boatman was put aboard to pilot her into Porthdinllaen Bay. There the life-boat went alongside again, took off the injured man, and brought him ashore to go to hospital. The life-boat returned to her station at 10.47 A.M. - Rewards, £13 6s.

ships and the shore impossible, so the lifeboat was launched yet again at 10.15 P.M.

to take out a message from the Admiralty to a tug. The life-boat finally returned to her station at midnight on the 15th - Rewards : launches on the 13th and 14th, £84 10s. ; launch on the 15th, paid by the Admiralty.

(See Amble, ” Accounts of Services by Life-boats,” page 25.) MARCH 16TH. - ROSSLARE HARBOUR, C O. WEXFORD. At 10.40P.M. n e w s was received from the civic guard at Carne that a vessel was in distress off Carne Pier.

At 11.10 P.M. the motor life-boat B.A.S.P., on temporary duty at the station, was launched. The weather was calm, but foggy.

The life-boat found the steam trawler Thomas Booth, of Milford. She had stranded on the Wilkeen Rocks, and her crew of eleven had abandoned her and had landed at Carne Pier.

The life-boat went close to the pier, and some of the trawler’s crew came out to her in a small boat. She put them aboard the trawler again, and then fetched the remainder from the shore. She stood by and then took them off again and landed them at Rosslare Harbour at 3.55 A.M. - Partly paid permanent crew. - Rewards, £6 1s. 6d.

MARCH 20TH. - COVERACK, CORNWALL.

During the evening the honorary secretary of the station and the coxswain had under observation a steamer which was approaching from the east, as aeroplanes could be heard in the distance apparently coming from the French coast. Two German aeroplanes appeared, passed over the steamer and dropped five bombs on her. She was then three miles south-east of Dolor Point.

As soon as it was seen that she was hit, the motor life-boat The Three Sisters was launched. It was 7.42 in the evening. A light easterly wind was blowing and the sea was choppy. The vessel was the Polish steamer Cieszyn, of Gdynia, bound from Falmouth to Swansea. She had a crew of 25 and two English armed guards. They left the steamer at once and took to the ship’s boat. The aeroplanes then machine-gunned them. The lifeboat reached the ship’s boat just as the steamer herself sank. It was then 8.15. Some of the steamer’s crew were taken on board the life-boat, and one of the life-boat’s crew was put into the steamer’s boat, and it was taken in tow.

A good many of the 27 men rescued had been in the sea, and when they were landed at 8.42 were suffering from wet and cold. Some of them were also injured, two sufficiently seriously to be taken by ambulance to Helston Cottage Hospital. The rest were supplied with dry clothing by the Shipwrecked Mariners Society and sent the same night to Falmouth. - Rewards, £15 8s. 6d.

MARCH 25TH. - BUCKIE, BANFFSHIRE.

At 1.42 A.M. the coastguard informed the life-boat station that an explosion, apparently from an aeroplane which had crashed into the sea, had been heard at a coast-watching post at Garmouth, and the motor life-boat K.B.M. was launched at 2 A.M. A strong N.N.W. breeze was blowing, and the sea was rough. At 3.30 A.M. the life-boat found a dead airman tied to a float. She brought the body and the float ashore. At daybreak she put out again, found the wreckage of the aeroplane and brought in parts for identification, returning to her station at 9.50 A.M.- Rewards, £11 19s. 6d.

MARCH 26TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

At 12.15 A.M., the Great Yarmouth Naval Base requested the services of a life-boat for a vessel ashore at Walcot Gap, and the No. 1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey was launched at 12.35 A.M. A moderate E.S.E. breeze was blowing, with a moderate sea, and it was raining. The life-boat found the S.S. Kentwood, of London, and stood by to await tugs which were expected at daybreak, but at 5.15 A.M. the steamer refloated on the rising tide. The life-boat put into Great Yarmouth and then returned to Cromer, where she arrived at 1.45 P.M. - Rewards, £42 8s. 6d.

MARCH 26TH . - APPLEDORE, AND ILFRACOMBE, DEVON. At 11.15 in the morning Croyde coastguard reported to Appledore that an aeroplane had crashed into the sea. The same information was given to Ilfracombe by the resident naval officer. The Appledore motor life-boat Violet Armstrong launched at 11.25 A.M., followed at 12.20 P.M. by the Ilfracombe motor life-boat Rosabella. There was a light S.W.

wind, with a moderate sea. A mile off Baggy and Morte Points the life-boats found wreckage, but no survivors. Both life-boats brought back with them some of the wreckage.

Appledore arrived at her station at 3 P.M., and Ilfracombe at 6.15 P.M. - Rewards: Appledore, £7 17s. 9d. ; Ilfracombe, £17 13s.

MARCH 26TH. - ANGLE, PEMBROKESHIRE.

At 8.10 P.M. the St. Anns Head coastguard telephoned that the S.S. Faraday, of London, had been bombed and was on fire one and a half miles W. of St. Anns, and the motor life-boat Elizabeth Elson was launched at 9 P.M. A W.S.W. wind was blowing and the sea was rough. The lifeboat found a Belgian trawler which had some of the Faraday's crew on board and boats in tow. As the trawler was unable to enter harbour in the darkness the life-boat escorted her into smooth water, and then took off from her and landed fifty-six of the Faraday‘s crew. At the request of the naval authorities she put out again and searched from 1.30 A.M. until daylight for another vessel, but she found nothing and returned at 8 A.M. The flag officer in charge of the naval base at Milford Haven thanked the life-boat crew for their work. - Rewards, £24 8s. 6d.

MARCH 27TH . - AMBLE , NORTH-UMBERLAND. At midnight on the 26th March the coxswain was asked by the naval officer commanding the Tyne area to take a sealed message to Coquet Island, and the motor life-boat Elizabefh Newton, on temporary duty at the station, was launched at 12.20 A.M. with a boarding boat in tow for landing on the island. A strong southerly wind was blowing, with a rough sea and rain.

The life-boat delivered the letter and returned at 2.30 A.M. - Expenses paid by the Admiralty.

BRONZE MEDAL SERVICE AT BOULMER MARCH 27TH. - BOULMER , NORTH SUNDERLAND, AND HOLY ISLAND, NORTHUMBERLAND.

During the night of the 26th of March a large steamer was seen to be on fire off the Northumbrian coast.

Early the following morning three motor life-boats went out to her help, the W.R.A., of North Sunderland, the Milburn, of Holy Island, and the Clarissa Langdon, of Boulmer. North Sunderland reached the steamer at five o’clock and Holy Island and Boulmer at 6.30. They found that she was the S.S. Somali, of Glasgow.

She had been burning since nine the previous evening, and her crew had already been taken off by a patrol boat. She was seven miles south-east of North Sunderland Point.

A naval tug had also come out, and at the request of her commander each of the three life-boats put two men on board the Somali to help to make fast cables for towing her. This done they took off their men, and the tow began, with the Somali moving stern first. It was now about 9.30 in the morning. The Holy Island lift-boat returned to her station. The other two stood by to help. At the beginning the tug towed southward, butafter a time she turned north to reach the shelter of the Farne Islands. The salvage vessel Iron Axe, of Aberdeen, now arrivcd on the scene, and the Boulmer life-boat put an officer and two seamen from her on board the Somali. She then made fast to the stern of the Somali to help with the tow.

Until about mid-day the work of towing went went on. Then the Boulmer life-boat took the officer of the salvage vessel off the Somali and put him back on his vessel, leaving on the Somali the two seamen. A strong flood tide was now making, and was slowing down the tug, so the captain of the salvage vessel decided to help with the tow and asked the Boulmer life-boat to bring a wire rope to him which had been got ready on the Somali. The vessels were now off Beadnell, and about a mile and a half from the shore.

All this time the Somali had been burning fiercely from the bridge forward.

As the Boulmer life-boat swung round to go alongside her, the fore part blew up with a terrific explosion.

The Boulmer life-boat was about 70 yards away from her. The explosion, her crew said, lifted the life-boat clean out of the water. It blew the men flat.

It whirled away their caps, which were not seen again, and it emptied the jacket pockets of several of them.

Five miles away, at North Sunderland village, windows were broken. Then pieces of metal, the largest of them two feet by one foot, rained down on the Boulmer life-boat, and also on the Sunderland life-boat (which was 200 yards away), damaging both boats, cutting open the head of the Boulmer bowman, and slightly injuring two of the North Sunderland men.

The stern of the Somali was still afloat, with the two men from the salvage vessel on board. Without hesitation - though there might at any moment have been a second explosion - the Boulmer coxswain went in through the smoke and fumes and took the life-boat alongside. The two men, one of them injured, had already slid down a rope into the sea. They were hauled aboard the life-boat and she made all speed to get clear before another explosion should come, but when she had gone only a few yards, her propeller was fouled by some wreckage. The coxswain set sail, but the North Sunderland life-boat came at once to his help and took the Boulmer boat in tow.

As she was being towed her crew opened the propeller inspection hatch and cleared away the wreckage. The Boulmer life-boat then continued under her own power to Scahouscs, where she arrived at 1.20 in the afternoon.

An ambulance and first-aid parties were waiting, and the two rescued men were given into their care.

It was a rescue carried out with great courage and promptitude, and the Institution made the following awards : To COXSWAIN JAMES CAMPBELL, of Boulmer, the bronze medal for galantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To him and to each member of his crew a special reward of £2 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £1 8s. 6d. ; standard rewards to crew and launchers, £15 6s. 3d. ; additional rewards to crew, £14 ; total rewards, £29 6s. 3d. ; To the coxswain and each member of the North Sunderland crew a special reward of £1 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £2 16s. 6d. ; standard rewards to crew and launchers, £26 11s. 6d. ; additional rewards to crew, £7 ; total rewards, £33 11s. 6d. ; Rewards on the ordinary scale to the crew and launchers at Holy Island, £23 3s.

Total of rewards for the service, £86 0s. 9d.

MARCH 27TH. - BLACKPOOL, LANCASHIRE. At 11.30A.M . the coxswain received a telephone message from the RAF . that a Hurricane aeroplane had crashed into the sea opposite the South Promenade, about five miles west, and the motor life-boat Sarah Ann Austin was launched at 11.50 A.M. A fresh S.W. wind was blowing, but the sea was smooth and it was raining. The life-boat reached the spot, guided by flares dropped by aeroplanes, and found a mass of wreckage. She picked up some of the wreckage, and on her return at 3.30 P.M. handed it over to the R.A.F.- Rewards, £7 14s.

MARCH 28TH. - NEWBURGH, ABERDEENSHIRE.

At 5.1 A.M. the Belhelvie coastguard reported that a vessel was ashoretwo or three miles north of Belhelvie, near the mouth of the Ythan. A strong E. gale was blowing, with a very heavy sea and snow showers, and it was decided to launch the life-boat in the river and go over the bar.

The pulling and sailing life-boat John and Robert C. Mercer was launched at 6.20 A.M., and after a stiff pull found the S.S. Melrose Abbey, of Hull, a vessel of over 1,900 tons, in ballast, with a crew of 49. She was going north in a convoy when she stranded. The life-boat rescued sixteen, landed them, put off again and rescued thirty-one more. The remaining two men, the captain and first officer, were rescued from the shore by the coastguard life-saving apparatus. As the boat was being brought back to her station by a tractor, the tractor failed, and the crew with very great difficulty brought the boat into the river, where she was secured. The crew did not get home again until 10.30 P.M.

A letter received from the Ministry of Shipping spoke of “ the excellent seamanship displayed under very difficult conditions “.

- Rewards, £54 2s.

MARCH 29TH. - TEESMOUTH, YORKSHIRE.

The life-boat rescued five men from the S.S. Flimston. For details see Hartlepool and Teesmouth, March 9th.

MARCH 31ST - FALMOUTH, CORNWALL.

At 5.55 P.M. a steamer was seen to be ashore at Trefusis Point Falmouth Harbour, and at 6.10 P.M. the motor life-boat Crawford and Constance Conybeare was launched. A southerly gale was blowing, with a very heavy sea. The life-boat found the Dutch steamer Vliestroom. She was blowing her siren for a tug. The life-boat took on board a wire hawser from the Vliestroom and brought it to the tug Goliath, which arrived shortly afterwards. The tug towed the Vliestroom clear and took her to Falmouth Docks. The life-boat stood by until 8 P.M.

The Goliath then asked the life-boat to take out the King’s Harbour Master’s assistant and put him on the Dutch steamer Kalso, which had been attacked with bombs by enemy aeroplanes while the Vliestroom was being towed in. On her way to the Kalso a heavy sea struck the life-boat and damaged her port side, but she stood by the Kalso for an hour, and then, as her help was not needed, returned to harbour. News was then received from the naval authorities that the Dutch steamer Karanan was dragging her anchors off Flushing and needed a tug. The life-boat went to the northern arm of the Falmouth Docks, arranged for the tug Northgate Scot to go to the steamer’s help, and returned to her station at 10 P.M. - Rewards, £15 9s.

The following life-boats were launched, but no services were rendered for the reasons given : MARCH 1ST. - ABERDEEN. A ship had been attacked and set on fire, but all survivors were picked up by one of H.M. ships.- Rewards, £15 9s.

MARCH 1ST. - BUCKIE, AND WHITEHILLS, BANFFSHIRE. A German aeroplane had crashed into the sea, but the crew got ashore by rubber dinghy in the darkness, unseen by the life-boats. - Rewards : Buckie, £11 14s. ; Whitehills, £15 12s.

MARCH 1ST. - FRASERBURGH, ABERDEENSHIRE.

A vessel had been reported on fire, but later it was learned that she was going on her way accompanied by a trawler.

-Rewards, £14 9s. 6d.

MARCH 1ST. - THE LIZARD, CORNWALL.

The S.S. Gairsoppa, of Glasgow, 5,000 tons, with a crew of thirty, had been torpedoed and had sunk. At 10.30 A.M. the life-boat motor-mechanic saw a small boat with survivors on board. A strong S.W.

wind was blowing and the sea was rough, with a heavy surf. The boat was being carried inshore and was drifting helplessly.

Realising the need for immediate action, everyone made a great effort. The lifeboatmen did not even wait to put on their life-belts or oilskins before launching and they were drenched when the boat was washed from stem to stern as she left the slipway. The efforts were useless.

Before the life-boat could reach the small boat she was right in the breakers. One of the three men on board was rescued from the shore by a coastguard, but the other two were drowned. An increase in the usual money award on the standard scale was granted to each member of the crew.- Standard rewards to crew and helpers, £12 12s. ; additional rewards to crew, £6.

Total rewards, £18 12s.

MARCH 2ND. - ALDEBURGH, SUFFOLK.

Men in an open boat had been reported off Thorpeness, but the “ boat ” was found to be a barrage balloon. - Rewards, £16 9s. 6d.

MARCH 2ND. - HELVICK HEAD, CO. WATERFORD. A survivor of a bombed steamer who had been landed by a trawler had reported that others were missing, but the life-boat found nothing. - Rewards, £15 18s.

MARCH 2ND. - CROMER, NORFOLK. A British aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but a search of several hours, in which trawlers and aeroplanes took part, found nothing. - Rewards, £19 18s. 6d.

MARCH 3RD. - ST. DAVID’S, PEMBROKESHIRE.

A steamer was on fire, but when the life-boat reached her she found the ship’s boats gone and no one on board.

- Rewards, £16 7s.

MARCH 4TH. - SKEGNESS, LINCOLNSHIRE.

A vessel had been mined, but as other vessels were nearby the life-boat was recalled. - Rewards, £9 17s.

MARCH 4TH. - ANSTRUTHER, FIFESHIRE.

A naval aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but a later message said that all aeroplanes had been accountedfor, and the life-boat was recalled. - Rewards, £8 11s.

MARCH 5TH. - FENIT, CO. KERRY. An aeroplane of unknown nationality had been reported down in the sea three miles south of Skelligs Rocks, but nothing was found except a rubber boat which was picked up by an Irish Lights vessel. - Rewards, £20 9s.

MARCH 6TH. - NEWHAVEN, SUSSEX.

An Admiralty trawler escorting a convoy had struck a mine, but the survivors were picked up by another escort. - Rewards, £8 15s.

MARCH 6TH. - PORTPATRICK, WIGTOWNSHIRE.

A British aeroplane had been reported down at sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £12 16s. 3d.

MARCH 7TH. - POOLBEG, CO. DUBLIN.

An open fishing boat had been reported to be in difficulties, but she made port without help. - Rewards, £10 4s.

MARCH 7TH. - PETERHEAD, ABERDEENSHIRE.

A British Anson aeroplane had crashed at sea, and a destroyer picked up one survivor, but nothing was found of the other three members of the crew.- Rewards, £6 14s. 6d.

(See Cruden Bay, “ Services by Shoreboats,” page 95.) MARCH 7TH. - CULLERCOATS, NORTHUMBERLAND.

A minesweeper had been mined, but was towed into port by another minesweeper. - Rewards, £14 1s.

MARCH 8TH. - FISHGUARD, PEMBROKESHIRE.

It had been reported that the crew of a bombed ship were taking to their boats, but the life-boat found nothing except an empty ship’s boat. - Rewards, £19 13s.

MARCH 8TH. - WELLS, NORFOLK. A British aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £11 8s. 8d.

MARCH 8TH . - MONTROSE , A N D ARBROATH, ANGUS. A steamer had stranded, but her crew were able to scramble on to the rocks, and from there were helped ashore. - Rewards : Montrose, £9 12s. 6d. ; Arbroath, £7 10s. 6d.

MARCH 8TH. - SKEGNESS, LINCOLNSHIRE.

A Spitfire aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing could be found. - Rewards, £10 1s. 6d.

MARCH 8TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

While the No. 2 life-boat was at exercise with the District Inspector aboard, a service call, the third that day, was received. An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea.

The No. 1 life-boat put out and both boats searched but found nothing. - Rewards, £12 5s.

MARCH 9TH. - PETERHEAD, ABERDEENSHIRE.

A message had been received from the coastguard that a heavy explosion had been heard, and a later message said that an S.O.S. had come in from the S.S. Esmond The life-boat Julia Park Barry of Glasgow was launched at 9.20 in the evening and came upon a south-bound convoy. She hailed the last ship but that convoy had suffered no damage. The lifeboat then went southwards and at 2.30 in the morning found the Esmond nine miles south-west of Buchanness. She had been attacked and damaged, and seven of her crew had been seriously injured. They were so seriously injured that they could not be put on board the life-boat. A message had already been sent from a tug asking for a doctor, and the life-boat at once returned to Peterhead to get one. She arrived at 3.45 in the morning, but found that a doctor had already gone out on board one of H.M.

trawlers. - Rewards, £13 3s. 6d.

MARCH 10TH . - HARTLEPOOL , DURHAM. A vessel had grounded on the Longscar Rocks, but with the weather improving the crew decided to remain on board. - Rewards, £10 13s.

MARCH 11TH. - NORTH SUNDERLAND, NORTHUMBERLAND. A drifting object had been reported, and was found to be a paravane. A floating mine was also seen and reported. - Rewards, £16 8s. 9d.

MARCH 11TH. - WICK, CAITHNESSSHIRE.

A motor fishing boat had gone ashore, but the crew clambered up the rocks and got safely ashore. - Rewards, £6 13s.

MARCH 11TH. - BARRA ISLAND, HEBRIDES. An upturned boat had been reported, but was found to be a large log of timber. - Rewards, £7 5s.

MARCH 11TH. - ARRANMORE, CO. DONEGAL. Two ship’s boats, assumed to be from a ship that had been attacked, were reported several miles to the westward of the island, but they could not be found.- Rewards, £19 11s.

MARCH 12TH. - GALWAY BAY. A British aeroplane had crashed in Galway Bay, and the five members of her crew had baled out.

Two of them were found, but the others seemed to have been blown far out to sea, and the motor life-boat K.E.C.F. was called out at 3.15 in the morning. She reached the scene of the crash at 6.30, and there she found pieces of the aeroplane, two service caps, a helmet, a fur coat, a parachute, and oil on the water, but there was no sign of the men, and after searching for five hours the life-boat returned to her station, arriving at one in the afternoon. - Rewards, £19 15s. 6d.

MARCH 13TH. - THE LIZARD, CORNWALL.

An enemy aeroplane was seen to drop a bomb on the stern of a steamer, and although the life-boat arrived on the sceneonly four minutes after the steamer had sunk, she found no sign of the crew. - Rewards, £15 1s.

MARCH 14TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

A steamer had been attacked and set on fire, but when the life-boat arrived her crew had already left her and she could find no trace of them. - Rewards, £28 0S. 6d.

MARCH 14TH. - PORTPATRICK, WIGTOWNSHIRE.

A rubber dinghy, supposed to have come from a crashed aeroplane, had been reported south of Girvan, but nothing could be found. - Rewards, £4 15s.

MARCH 1 6 T H . - BLACKPOOL, AND LYTHAM - ST. ANNES, LANCASHIRE. A British aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but it was found later to be a false alarm. - Rewards, Blackpool, £11 6s. 9d. ; Lytham - St. Annes, £8 6s. 6d.

MARCH 16TH. - PADSTOW, CORNWALL.

An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing could be found.

- Rewards, £12 2s.

MARCH 1 9TH. - PADSTOW, CORNWALL.

An aeroplane had come down in the sea, but the pilot was rescued by a fishing boat. - Rewards, £6 4s.

(See Port Isaac, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 95.) MARCH 20TH. - MOELFRE, ANGLESEY.

A boat with a man clinging to it had been reported, but nothing could be found.- Rewards, £12.

MARCH 22ND. - BUCKIE, BANFF-SHIRE. A motor fishing boat had capsized off Portknockie, but three of her crew were drowned and the remaining man was saved by a small boat from the shore. - Rewards, £9 16s. 6d.

MARCH 24TH. - TENBY, PEMBROKESHIRE.

A flying boat had been reported down in the sea, but nothing could be found by the life-boat, and her crew were picked up by a warship the following day. - Rewards, £23 1s. 9d.

MARCH 26TH. - CLOVELLY, DEVON.

An aeroplane had been reported down S.W.

of Lundy Island, but nothing but quantities of oil was found. - Rewards, £25 8s.

MARCH 26TH. - WICK, CAITHNESSSHIRE.

An aircraft flying low had been seen suddenly to lose height and was presumed to have crashed, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £18 16s.

MARCH 26TH. - PWLLHELI, CAERNARVONSHIRE.

An aeroplane had crashed into the sea, but an R.A.F. launch picked up two of her crew, who died later, and the three others were believed to have been trapped in the aeroplane. - Rewards, £10 6s. 3d.

(See Criccieth, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 97.)MARCH 27TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

The R.A.F. reported that a pilot had been forced to bale out, but a few minutes after putting out the life-boat received a wireless message “No one in parachute. Return to your station “. - Rewards, £13 6s. 6d.

MARCH 27TH. - MOELFRE, ANGLESEY.

An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £23 16s. 6d.

MARCH 28TH. - DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN. - Red flares had been reported to the N.N.E. of Maughold Head, but nothing was seen except flashes which appeared to be coming from the Cumberland coast, and were apparently anti-aircraft defence measures.- Rewards, £13 10s.

MARCH 29TH. - BALLYCOTTON, CO. CORK. At 10.30 in the morning the honorary secretary was on watch on the cliffs above Ballycotton when he saw a steam trawler about eight and a half miles south of Ballycotton. She was blowing off steam, as if she were hauling in her trawl.

Then he saw three aeroplanes circling round, about 60 feet above her. They dropped from six to nine bombs, and the trawler suddenly disappeared. The aeroplanes circled the water once more and then flew away. The honorary secretary at once called out the motor life-boat Mary Stanford, and she was launched at 10.40. A fresh wind was blowing, with a rough sea. She reached the spot where the trawler had sunk at 11.35, but there was no sign of any survivors nor even of any wreckage. She returned to her station, arriving at 2.15 in the afternoon. - Rewards, £6 17s. 6d.

MARCH 30TH. - HOYLAKE, AND NEW BRIGHTON, CHESHIRE. An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing could be found. - Rewards : Hoylake, £9 7s. ; New Brighton, £19 1s.