Lifeboat Gallantry: The Complete Record of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Gallantry Medals and How They Were Won 1824‐1996

Having once watched a ship sink (not a common sight for a landsman in peacetime) I have good reason to appreciate the services provided by our lifeboat crews, who, unlike many others abroad, are all volunteers under the auspices of a charitable organisation. Since the foundation of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1824, their deeds of bravery must have been uncountable: but the bravest of all have been rewarded by gold, silver or bronze medals. The present volume, compiled by the RNLI’s Honorary Librarian, who had the duty of cataloguing the archives on which he has based the book,...