A NEW RNLI memorial has made public record of six Lyme Regis crew members who lost their lives at sea, but the stories behind their deaths are not so well known.

The men have been honoured on the charity’s first memorial, paying tribute to those who gave their lives while trying to help others. The national memorial bearing 778 names was unveiled by HRH The Duke of Kent at RNLI headquarters in Poole.

Among the hundreds of names are those of six Lyme Regis men who died at sea in the last two centuries.

Four of those men – Henry Cox, W Harvey, H Hearne and T Black – died together, on Boxing Day, in 1852.

John Martyn died soon after in January, 1854.

The only crew member whose story comes within living memory is Robert Jefford, who died in January, 1969—the last serviceman to die on duty at Lyme Regis.

The circumstances surrounding the 1852 deaths may not be in living memory, but are still very much in the minds of the people of the town today, according to former lifeboat station chief David Manners.

He said: “In 1992, the wreck of the ship was discovered sunken into the sea-bed by divers from Swindon Sub-Aqua club in Wiltshire.

“It is thanks to this team of enthusiasts and fisherman John Walker, that so much detail of the incident has been clarified.”

Building bricks salvaged from the wreck are actually in the wall of the lifeboat station today.

Mr Manners has written a book about the history of the Lyme Regis station, called Difficulties Do Not Daunt Us, in which he traces the events surrounding those fateful call-outs.

There was no lifeboat in operation at the time, as the improvised life vessel used for 11 years at Lyme Regis was no longer in use.

Some form of rescue craft was used on that disastrous Boxing Day in 1852 to go to the aid of the barque Heroine, a 250-tonne vessel built in Whitby in 1832.

The barque left East India Dock in London on September 29, 1852, bound for Port Philip, Australia, with emigrants ‘of the poorer class’, plus 3,000 fire-bricks as cargo in place of ballast.

Mrs Manners said: “Within a few days she was in trouble when she sprung a leak off the Kent coast.

“She limped westwards and eventually reached Portsmouth for repairs.

“The fact that during her stay in Portsmouth her master was replaced perhaps suggests some discord on the vessel to add to, or because of, the structural problems of the ship.”

Once repaired, the Heroine continued westwards but met further problems in Torbay on Christmas Eve, crashing against a rock off ‘Hope’s Nose’ during a fierce gale.

Her rudder disabled, the barque drifted helplessly eastwards and a day and a half later the first reports of her distress were noticed off Beer Head.

The Heroine carried two carronades (iron cannons), and Mr Manners explains how observers at the time say they were used as well as distress signals.

Mr Manners said: “As the stricken vessel continued to be blown violently and uncontrollably across Lyme Bay and shipping water, the master, Captain Lerick, made the decision to abandon ship. All onboard took to the boats, and in true seafaring tradition, the master was the last to leave.

“The people of Lyme Regis were by now aware that they were witnessing a probable disaster. “One commented that the ship ‘sank three or four miles out, nearly opposite the town in 13 fathoms of water’.

“For those standing on the Cobb, there must have been a feeling of helplessness.”

Undaunted, three men from the revenue cutter Frances and two other mariners strapped cork to their waists as improvised lifejackets and launched the ship’s pinnace (a light boat) as a lifeboat to go to assist.

Sadly, the pinnace got no further than just outside the harbour mouth when it was overwhelmed by the huge seas and overturned.

Four of the five men were drowned – Henry Cox, mate of the Honiton Packet, and W Harvey, H Hearne and T Black.

One man, William Bridle, master of the Primrose, survived.

Mr Manners said: “Many on the Cobb witnessed the deaths of the men and an observer commented that the tragedy had ‘cast a deep gloom over the town’.

“Within a short time attention was drawn from despondency to jubilation as the entire complement of the Heroine (43 in total) reached Lyme Regis safely at Church Beach, east of the Cobb. Mr Manners said: “There were, ironically, no casualties other than the Heroine’s master who had broken a leg while abandoning ship. It was soon realised that not only were the emigrants shipwrecked, but destitute.”

The efforts of the four courageous men were in vain.

To recognise his bravery, William Bridle was awarded a silver medal and the RNLI donated £20 to a local fund for the dependants of the drowned men.

The charity also agreed to pay a third of the cost of a lifeboat to be stationed in Lyme, and in 1853 ordered a 27-foot boat, which arrived in September of that year.

It was manned mainly by coastguards, who lived in the Coastguard Cottages (Cobb Terrace).

Within three months of arriving, the unnamed Lyme Regis RNLI Lifeboat saw her first action, on January 7, 1854.

It was during this rescue that John Martyn lost his life, but 20 people were saved in the same incident.

The lifeboat was launched to assist the Bayonne-registered French brigantine (a vessel with two masts) Jeune Rose, on passage from Dunkirk to Bordeaux with a cargo of wine.

She went to answer the brig’s calls for help after being seen flying her distress flags, floundering helplessly five miles south of the town in a south-westerly gale.

Mr Manners said: “The effort needed to row a heavy boat in very rough seas for any distance is difficult for us to comprehend in today’s world of outboard motors and powerful diesel engines. “Similarly, the thought of going to sea during a cold January gale with inadequate protective clothing and poor personal buoyancy in a very cold sea can only inspire us to recognise the sheer courage and determination of the lifeboatmen of the last century.”

On January 10, shipping news journal Lloyd’s List reported: “Having left Dunkirk 20 days previously, she encountered south-westerly force nine wind conditions and made for the shelter of the English coast. “The lifeboat was launched at 1am after the ship had gone ashore and been thrown on her beam ends.

“As the lifeboat approached, the wreck of her main boom and sail struck the lifeboat overturning it. “Fortunately it righted, recovered its crew and shipwrecked mariners and returned to Lyme Regis.

“One coastguard officer, Mr Martyn lost his life when the lifeboat overturned. “The vessel carried 60 hogsheads of wine on deck.”

The final story is that of Robert Jefford, who tragically died, aged 25, while on a rescue in 1969.

He lost his life on January 17 when the inshore rescue boat went out to chase an unoccupied drifting vessel.

According to the 1992 book RNLI Lifeboat Lyme Regis, by TK Faragher – published to mark the 25th anniversary of the re-opening of the RNLI station in Lyme Regis – the lifeboat capsized while helping the catamaran Karuna during storm conditions.

The two other crew members survived and according to the book, Robert’s widowed wife and mother were pensioned by the RNLI.

Robert Jefford, known to his friends as Nimmer, was every inch a lifeboatman and his death at the age of just 25 was felt by men of the sea throughout the district.

Nimmer came from a seafaring family and was said to be a ‘courageous young man, quick to answer the call to adventure and to accept a challenge’.

Indeed, Robert was awarded the thanks of the institution for his part with fellow crewman Lionel Fisher in rescuing the survivors of a capsized cabin cruiser.

These brave men and others like them will be remembered always on the new memorial and to mark its unveiling, lifeboat crews and supporters observed a one-minute silence and flags at stations across the south west flew at half mast.

The last two maroons to be used at the Lyme station were launched that day as crew and supporters stood in silence at the harbour side simultaneously with the ceremony at Poole.

The maroons – which are no longer used to announce the launching of RNLI lifeboats – were launched at the beginning and end of the minute’s silence.

Lyme Regis lifeboat operations manager Rob Fossett explained: “On grounds of cost – around £35 each – and because we all have better communications, such as pagers, maroons are thought to be outdated and unnecessary.

“We had just two left and it seemed appropriate to use them on this special occasion.”