The memorial service for the Mary Stanford lifeboat crew took place on Sunday November 17. It is ninety-six years since the tragedy in which RNLI Rye Harbour lost seventeen brave men from the village who were following our founder’s vision of saving lives at sea, giving their lives in return. RNLI Rye Harbour paid its respects alongside flank stations RNLI Dungeness and RNLI Hastings and representatives from Pett Independent Level Rescue Boat.
It was a poignant and moving service and the courage and selflessness of these brave men will never be forgotten.
| Herbert Head | coxswain, aged 47 |
| Joseph Stonham | second coxswain, aged 43 |
| Henry Cutting | bowman, aged 39 |
| William Thomas Albert Clark | crew, aged 27 |
| Leslie George Clark | crew, aged 24 |
| Robert Redvers Cutting | crew, aged 28 |
| Albert Ernest Cutting | crew, aged 26 |
| Arthur William Downey | crew, aged 25 |
| Morriss James Downey | crew, aged 23 |
| James Alfred Head | crew, aged 19 |
| John Stanley Head | crew, aged 17 |
| Walter Igglesden | crew, aged 38 |
| Charles Frederick Pope | crew, aged 28 |
| Robert Henry Pope | crew, aged 23 |
| Lewis Alexander Pope | crew, aged 21 |
| Charles Southerden | crew, aged 22 |
| Albert Ernest Smith | crew, aged 44 |
Stuart Clark, helm at RNLI Rye Harbour, honours the memory of his grandad’s brothers every year and finds the service very moving. He said afterwards: “Virtually the entire current station’s complement came together as ‘one crew’ to pay its deepest respects to the memory of predecessors who selflessly paid the ultimate price, answering a distress call to complete strangers from another nation, and did ‘that which was their duty to do.’
There are two moments that are heartrending for me: the lighting of the candle and the laying of the roses on the memorial whilst hearing the last post. I am proud to be honouring their memory and keeping it alive.”
This year there were fewer members in the congregation, perhaps partly because the family descendants of the Mary Stanford crew are getting older and more frail.
The service was videoed so that those who could not attend could view it at home and feel part of it.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .
Thank you so much Kt and Martin for the video. It was inspiring to see the current shore and boat crews and the family members paying tribute to the courage of the seventeen men and boys who lost their lives doing their duty. As an incomer, I’m constantly struck by the sense of community such ceremonies uphold.