Miniature Medals

Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Sir William Hillary obverse, bronze (George J. Lake, Voted 8th February 1940) complete with original suspension brooch, good very fine £300-350

George John Lake, Crew Member, Salcombe Lifeboat. 7-8 December 1939: When the 8,159 ton Dutch motor ship Tajandoen was torpedoed 40 miles north of Ile d’Ouissant (Ushant), France, 62 survivors were picked up by the Belgian S.S. Louis Sheid (6,000 tons) which in turn went ashore, early in the evening, at Bigbury Bay, Devon, in dark, squally weather. The Watson class motor lifeboat Samuel and Marie Parkhouse put out at 7.45 p.m. safely negotiating the heavy seas breaking over Salcombe Bar, only to find an increasing southerly wind and a rough sea when she left the shelter of the headlands. Reaching the wreck at 9.30 p.m. Coxswain Distin found her half a mile from the shore with no anchors down, head on to the wind and sea, and with her engines going full ahead. Seas were breaking heavily around her in a full gale with heavy rain. His first attempt was aborted but, in the second attempt, 40 of the Dutch survivors were rescued and landed in Hope Cove inside Bolt Tail; a small pulling boat took then from the lifeboat eight at a time. The other 22 survivors were saved in the same manner. The 45 man Belgian crew were then landed by rocket apparatus. After waiting for conditions on Salcombe Bar to improve, the Coxswain brought his boat back to its station at 11 a.m.’ Silver medal to Coxswain Distin and bronze medals to the 2nd Coxswain and six crew of the Salcombe libeboat.