Yesterday the team attended the funeral of Ian Surface at St Mary's Church Swanage.
Ian was born in Swanage on the 5th February 1938 and during the service we all learnt some bits about Ian's life.
A carpenter by trade he enrolled in the Coastguard on the 20th March 1968, became the Auxiliary in Charge (now known as the Station Officer) in 1975.
Ian was involved in hundreds of rescues around Swanage, many people owe their lives to Ian's skill and leadership of the team. In 1988 the team received a Chief Coastguard's Commendation for recovering a deceased climber from caves near to Anvil Point, this rescue was lead by Ian who was also the cliff man that day.
After the town flooded Ian lead the other emergency services in helping other people out of their homes, for this and the many years of service to the Coastguard Ian received the British Empire Medal.
After nearly 30 years Ian retired from HM Coastguard in February 1998 and continued his excellent work with the National Coastwatch Institute at Peveril Point.
Personally I owe so much to Ian, without him I don't think I would be the Station Officer today. Yesterday the team carried out their duties so well I was very proud of the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment