Medal in memory

Several Medals have been awarded posthumously – in all two Gold, four Silver and 27 Bronze Medals.

The first was to Captain JM Boyd RN who lost his life in a service in 1861 when he was swept to his death off East Pier in Kingstown, Co Dublin, Ireland trying to save the crew from the brigantine Neptune.

The last posthumous awards were made to the crew of the Penlee lifeboat so tragically lost in 1981.

On 19 December hurricane force winds had blown the cargo ship Union Star off course after it suffered engine failure.

The lifeboat Solomon Browne launched into very difficult waters, so rough that the crew of the Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from RNAS Culdrose were unable to lift any of the eight crew from Union Star.

Coxswain William Richards made several attempts to get alongside and managed to rescue four people who jumped from the Union Star's wheelhouse onto the lifeboat.

The lifeboat made a further attempt to rescue the remaining four when radio contact was lost. Her last message was: ‘We’ve got four off at the moment’. Ten minutes later her lights disappeared.

The lifeboat had been completely wrecked with the loss of her crew of eight. The coaster was also lost. There were no survivors.

Coxswain William Trevelyan Richards was posthumously awarded the RNLI’s Gold Medal.

Bronze Medals were awarded posthumously to the remainder of the crew: Second Coxswain/Mechanic James Stephen Madron, Assistant Mechanic Nigel Brockman, Emergency Mechanic John Robert Blewett, Crew Members Charles Thomas Greenhaugh, Kevin Smith, Barrie Robertson Torrie and Gary Lee Wallis.