Dedication of the St Helier lifeboat station mural

The mural was dedicated by Commodore Andy Jordan, Chair of the Operations Committee, who was in attendance in Jersey as part of the RNLI’s Coastal Review of the two RNLI Jersey stations. The Coastal Review is the periodic assessment of the operational needs for each region’s coastline and how those are met. Also present at the dedication was the artist, Ben Robertson, who signed the mural, and Tom Stephenson, the grandson of Coxswain Tommy King, and his family.

As has been previously reported, the mural depicts Thomas James King, who was a Coxswain of the St Helier lifeboat and was awarded a gold medal in 1949 for his bravery as part of a crew that rescued the yacht from a reef to the northeast of the Demie de Pas lighthouse.

Tommy King and his crew had just returned to port, late at night on 13 September 1949 after a fruitless nine-hour search for a crashed Wellington aircraft that had come down on a flight between Cherbourg and Boulogne. As the relief St Helier lifeboat, the Hearts of Oak, pulled in to St Helier a distress signal was spotted and the crew quickly turned the lifeboat around and set off to investigate.

When they found the source of the signal, they discovered the Maurice Georges, a 10-ton yacht that had drifted among the treacherous rocks of La Sambue Reef. The lifeboat took off three of the passengers, leaving one aboard to make sure everything was alright as they towed it into port.

For this service, Cox’n Thomas King was awarded a Gold Medal and his seven crew were each awarded a Bronze Medal.

Cox’n Thomas King was selected for the mural in recognition of the ‘Commemorate’ theme, which is one of the three themes of the RNLI’s 200th Anniversary celebrations, along with ‘Celebrate’ and ‘Inspire’.

Nigel Sweeny, MBE Lifeboat Operations Manager for RNLI Jersey said: “We are thrilled that Ben has painted this fantastic mural as part of the RNLI’s 200th anniversary celebrations and the public response has been overwhelming. The mural is a very visible commemoration of a decorated lifeboatman and will serve to remind us of all those volunteers who have come before us. That we have been able to use our lifeboat station for such a public and poignant piece of art fills the crew with a sense of pride and renewed purpose and hopefully will inspire others to follow”.