RNLI lifeboat volunteer retires after 54 years

A lifeboat volunteer has retired after spending more than 50 years serving with the RNLI in East Yorkshire.

Captain David Freeman joined the charity's Flamborough station in 1972 and has worked in a number of roles, including crew member, coxswain and launch tractor driver, as well as latterly managing lifeboat operations.

During his decades-long career he has been involved in many rescues, including saving the lives of local fishermen caught in a winter storm in 1983.

Freeman said: "The RNLI has been a huge part of my life and I have met so many great people through the station."

He added: "There have been some difficult calls and some very challenging weather, but there have also been many good memories.

"The biggest thing for me has always been... the crews you work alongside and the people you are able to help."

He remembers being called out when a number of local fishing boats, known as cobles, were caught in a gale in 1983.

Freeman said the lifeboat crew rescued more than 100 people during the incident.

"The weather was extremely bad, with a strong south-easterly gale around Flamborough Head," he said.

"We worked our way through them, getting them to Scarborough and then coming back for the others.

"It was a long operation in difficult conditions, but everyone knew what needed to be done. When you are out there, you are focused on getting people home safely."

Over the years he said the biggest change had been the introduction of technology.

"The type of boats for one, I mean that before they were like what everybody imagines a lifeboat would look like - traditional wooden double-ended lifeboats," Freeman said.

"They've changed from them to high speed, a lot faster boats, different paging systems. Then it was just maroons, you set them up and you got two loud bangs and you went running, now it's all done on mobile phone and pager.

"The equipment has changed, there's a lot more electronics now. I mean before it was just watching compass and a radio now we have GPS track plotters, echo sounders."

He said he intended to spend his retirement on his hobby of building and repairing model boats.

RNLI Area Operations Manager David Scott thanked Freeman for his "lifetime of dedication to our charity".

"It's difficult to comprehend the reach and impact of his 54 years volunteering and how many generations of families have been affected by his actions and by his leadership of Flamborough Lifeboat Station," he added.

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