大象传媒

My father worked mainly on rescue boats in the North Sea and the English Channel during the war, and on at least one occasion was involved in landing a spy on the coast of France. All did not, however, go to plan. It was a night-time landing and the boat ran aground. To make matters MUCH worse, they were then joined by two German boats, one on either side. The captain ordered all documents to be destroyed and some equipment thrown overboard. They then 'spliced the main-brace'before turning on full power to try to disloge the boat. They were successful in freeing the boat, and also getting away without the Germans reacting at all. This caused no little surprise, and the crew put it down to the possibility that the Germans would think that a boat making so much noise nearby could not be in any way suspicious.

My father was awarded the BEM during his call-up period with the Navy. He died 5 years ago, and the only time I asked him about it was when I was quite young myself. He told me that he did not know exactly what he got it for, - the citation accompanying the medal states 'for zeal and wholehearted devotion to duty'. He did, however, tell me of an occasion when a sailor was isolated at the front of the boat and was too frightened to move because the sea was sweeping over the deck. My father had gone forward, presumably at great danger to his own life - got hold of the sailor and brought him to safety. He thought he might have got it for that.

I'm about to do a project on WW2 towards my university degree, and thought I would like to do it on the rescue boats and landing spies for obvious reasons. I'd love to hear from anyone with information or stories on these two subjects, and perhaps advice on where to find lots of information.

Frances McDonnell

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