LIFE SAVING AWARDS 1306
LIVERPOOL SHIPWRECK AND HUMANE SOCIETY, Marine Medal, 3rd type, bronze (To Joseph D. Martin, for Gallant Service. 30/10/39.) with integral top riband bar, in fitted case of issue, extremely fine
£70-90 1307
MEDAL FOR THE RESCUE OF THE BERTHON 1882, silver maltese cross, 45mm, with oars in the angles, the obverse inscribed ‘The Crew of the Berthon Rescued Nov. 14 1882’, the reverse inscribed, ‘J. Kittle’, ring suspension, good very fine, rare
£300-400
‘Throughout yesterday a scene of excitement prevailed in the vicinity of Lowestoft Harbour. A tremendous East wind had blown on Monday night and the seas were very heavy and choppy, showing unbroken foam as far as the eye could reach. In the morning several vessels were in difficulty. A barque seen, appeared beyond control. At 8 o’clock she was seen to strike Holm Sand and the lifeboat crew with [Bob] Hook as coxswain quickly mustered. The boat [the Samuel Plimsoll] was in the harbour, and 32 brave beachmen manifested their anxiety to go by jumping into her. That number was too great and seven unwillingly got out. That left 25, being 6 more than the usual compliment. The two large harbour steam tugs were out in the roads, and the small tug in the harbour was not adapted for towing the lifeboat. Captain Massingham, Harbour Master, was the right man in the right place at the right time, and equal to the emergency - sent out the small tug with orders to the Despatch to return immediately. This she did and took out the lifeboat, and their movements were watched closely by hundreds of onlookers. The lifeboat was seen to take the crew off the barque and return towards the harbour, and when she came inside the piers, lusty cheers poured forth. The vessel was the Berthon, of Norway, 296 tons, timber for Sheerness, and a crew of eight. The crew were taken off about 3 hours after she struck and about one and a half hours after the lifeboat left the harbour. She went to pieces 15 minutes after the crew had been taken off. ...’ (Eastern Daily Press, 15 November 1882).
On 22 November 1882, the Rev. T. A. Nash, Rector of Lowestoft, chaired a meeting, attended by the lifeboat crew, Captain Porter, master of the Despatch and Captain Massingham, Harbour Master. The Rev. Nash spoke of the bravery of the lifeboat crew and said that some recognition of it was called for. Donations had been given and collections made in respect of the rescue and with the funds raised medals were produced and issued to Captains Porter and Massingham and to Coxswain Bob Hook and the crew of the lifeboat. ‘J. Kittle’ is listed as one of the lifeboat crew.
Sold together with the booklet The Story of Lowestoft Lifeboats, part 2: 1877-1924, by Mitchley, Jones & Keith - this containing an account of the rescue, and photographs of Coxswain Hook, the Samuel Plimsoll and the above medal; additional typescripts bearing extracts from the Eastern Daily Press and other newspapers regarding the rescue and awards; and two copied photographs.
1308
ORDER OF ST. JOHN LIFESAVING MEDAL, 2nd type, silver (hallmarks for Birmingham 1961), unnamed specimen, on 3rd type riband, light scratch marks, very fine
£70-90
1309
An R.S.P.C.A. Life Saving Medal group of five awarded to Chief Inspector A. E. Watts, who in the course of his career rescued 24 sheep, 5 cats, 3 dogs, 3 horses, 1 pig, and 1 swan from danger
R.S.P.C.A. LIFE SAVING MEDAL, silver (Insp. A. E. watts. 1955.) with integral top ‘For Humanity’ riband bar; 1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS 1939-45, good very fine (5)
£200-240
Albert Edward Watts was born in Cove, Hampshire, on 3 August 1916, and attested for the Royal Army Service Corps at Aldershot on 18 October 1939. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France from 26 November 1939, and after spending a week in No 1 General Hospital in April 1940 was evacuated from north-west France on 23 June 1940. Posted to Egypt on 3 February 1941, he transferred to the Corps of Military Police on 1 August 1941, and was seconded to the police force of the British Military Administration in Eritrea on 3 May 1943. He was finally demobilised on 18 January 1946.
On 20 October 1947 he was appointed an R.S.P.C.A. Probationer, and was advanced to 4th Class Inspector on 28 June the following year, being posted to Merthyr Tydfil on 26 July 1948. A very ebullient man, well over 6 feet tall, he threw himself with enthusiasm into rescuing various animals from difficult and dangerous places. He was awarded the R.S.P.C.A. Bronze Medal for the rescue of a sheep on the river Taff on 10 February 1950, and received additional award bars to that medal for the rescue of two sheep from an island in the river Taff at Pontypridd on 22 February 1951; for the rescue of a dog from an air vent at Heolgerrig Mountain, Merthyr, and for the rescue of a lamb from a crevice on Gilfach Goch Mountain, Rhondda, both on 25 June 1953; and for the rescue of a pig from a crevice on Llandraw Mountain, Pontypridd, on 20 March 1954. His busiest day, for which he was awarded the R.S.P.C.A. Silver Medal, was for the rescue of a sheep from a quarry ledge at Ynyshir, for releasing a horse from a cattle grid at Bargoed Golf Course, and for rescuing a sheep from a quarry ledge at Pontypridd, all on 7 December 1955.
Promoted to Sub-Inspector on 31 December 1956, his last Welsh rescue was rescuing a sheep from a disused quarry at Penderyn on 25 June 1959, for four days later he was transferred to Loughborough. There he rescued nine sheep trapped on an island in the river Soar, at Barrow-on-Soar, on 26 January 1960. On 1 October 1962 he transferred to Brighton, and on 31 December of that year was promoted Chief Inspector. Despite now having a desk job, he found time for one further rescue, rescuing a swan that had a fishing hook and float attached to its beak at Falmer, Sussex, on Christmas Day 1969. He retired soon after, and died in Hove in 1981.
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