Ordinary Heroes

In praise of the men and women of the RNLI

RNLI ‘Spirit of Guernsey’ ‘Severn’-class lifeboat (Acad Ronin Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Britain is, of course, an island nation. Taken all together, including the mainland, all of Ireland (including the RoI), the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, there is close to 30 000km of coastline. This includes deepwater harbours, sheltered coves, gently-sloping sandy beaches, windswept peninsulas, jagged ship-killing rocks, stark cliffs, shifting sandbanks, tidal estuaries and treacherous tidal mud-flats. There are tides, currents and the ever-unpredictable British weather to deal with.

But the Sea draws us. Whether for work or for leisure, thousands of us venture out there every day. The typical concept of the Englishman as stoic, unflappable and cheerful in the face of disaster is born in part out of our constant dealings with this whimsical, temperamental and unpredictable mistress. Sometimes, of course, she gets the better of us, and we get into trouble. That is when the ordinary heroes of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution step in.

Sir William Hillary

For years, if not centuries, the only hope for ‘those in peril on the sea’ was that a nearby ship, or someone on shore, would spot them and come to help. Often, the inhabitants of coastal villages would set out in such boats as they had to reach foundering ships. Sometimes, they would rescue the…