RNLI flag stolen 56 years ago is returned to lifeboat station with apology
A flag that once flew above a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station is back where it belongs after being returned along with an apology letter and donation - 56 years after it was stolen.
RNLI volunteers at Trearddur Bay in Wales, turned up for routine training on Sunday (6 April) to find a box outside the station.
Upon opening the box the volunteers were bemused to find a RNLI flag inside with a handwritten confession and a £20 donation.
The apology note was written by a 73-year-old man who confessed, that he and two friends had taken the flag while on a camping trip as teenagers.
The note read: 'In 1969 me and two friends were camping up the road from you, one night on the way back to the tent we passed your station and flag pole, one of us climbed up the pole and took the flag!! Wrong of us. We were only 17 at the time, but that’s no excuse!! Just found the flag again, forgot all about it, I was having a sort out and there it was. After all these years hope it gets back to you. Very sorry.'
The flag is now flying proudly above the station once again.
Lifeboat Operations Manager Paul Moffett said: 'It is great to have a piece of station history returned after so many years. Thank you to the culprits for the kind donation and for putting a smile on the crews faces. All is forgiven.
‘Any donation, even if it is 56 years later is always greatly received and will help us save lives and our lifesaving work is only possible due to the generosity of the public.’
Last year, RNLI volunteers launched over 9,000 times across the UK and Ireland saving 437 lives and helping more than 17,000 people back to safety.
To support the RNLI's Mayday campaign, visit RNLI.org/supportMayday
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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