‘It was the first time I’d ever been on a lifeboat at sea’

Holyhead volunteer Graham Drinkwater MBE on helping to save 19 lives at 19-years-old.

Graham Drinkwater’s first ever lifeboat rescue takes some beating. On 2 December 1966, at just 19-years-old, the Holyhead lifeboat volunteer went to the aid of the crew aboard the stricken Nafsiporos Greek cargo ship in a raging storm and 100mph winds.

Now retired from the RNLI, Graham shares his memories of the rescue, being on the lifeboat alongside Harold ‘Hurricane’ Harvey – and bringing the survivors ashore in time for a Christmas party at the local hotel. The rescue earned Graham a Bronze Medal for Gallantry – an award he never expected.