The American chap who was on an exchange with RNAS at Culdrose, and who participated in the rescue said this;
Lt Cdr Smith USN, the pilot of the rescue helicopter later reported that:
"The greatest act of courage that I have ever seen, and am ever likely to see, was the penultimate courage and dedication shown by the Penlee [crew] when it manoeuvred back alongside the casualty in over 60 ft breakers and rescuing four people shortly after the Penlee had been bashed on top of the casualty's hatch covers. They were truly the bravest eight men I've ever seen who were also totally dedicated to upholding the highest standards of the RNLI."
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
I'd happily pull the lever on the bastard who stole this.
A gold medal posthumously awarded to the coxswain of a lifeboat which lost all eight crewmen in a 1981 rescue is thought to have been stolen.
It was given to William Trevelyan Richards who died when the Solomon Browne went to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in December 1981.
A total of 16 people died from the coaster and the Penlee lifeboat.
The gallantry medal, the highest award for bravery, is missing from the RNLI's head office in Poole, Dorset.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Just finished watching that, fascinating and heartbreaking story. I ! As you said, the documentary is very well-made, I was very impressed by the production.
Thanks for sharing I would never have seen it otherwise!
eta: the sea IS cruel, but that is a breathtakingly beautiful coast!
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Similar to a situation that occurred here (off Cape Cod actually) which was the subject of the 2016 film The Finest Hours and how our Coast Guard rescued 33 people off of an oil tanker that split in two in a big nor'easter with 70 mph winds and huge seas. They also rescued them in a lifeboat. Much of the movie was filmed in my town and surrounding towns, one scene even filmed at the end of my street!
We are also a designated Coast Guard Town, for the long history of lifesaving here. One of the original lifesaving stations in the country was here, now a fascinating museum. A long time head of the station, Captain Joshua James, is credited with saving over 200 lives. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_ ... lifesaver)
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
I spent my military career in the US Army. A significant part of that time was spent painting vehicles with yet another coat of unneeded paint and walking around picking up cigarette butts, or spit-shining leather equipment. I was never around flying bullets.
I have much respect for Navy personnel who are never away from the enemy--the sea itself.
! As you said, the documentary is very well-made, I was very impressed by the production.
