Henry Blogg 1876-1954 | RNLI History Fridge Magnet | RNLI Gifts

Henry Blogg 1876-1954 | Lifeboat Collectables Fridge Magnet

Henry George Blogg (6 February 1876 – 13 June 1954) was the most decorated lifeboatman in all RNLI history.

This fridge magnet details Henry George Blogg recognised as “The greatest of the lifeboatmen”, and is part of the full commemorative set of fridge magnets from Lifeboat Collectables which includes famous rescues, key events, and people within the RNLI and its 200 years of service.

Henry Blogg

Blogg of the Cromer Lifeboat Station is referred to as “the greatest of the lifeboatmen”. From the rescue of the Pyrin crew and then the Fernebo rescue in 1917, through to his near drowning on service to the SS English Trader in 1941, he was awarded the gold medal of the RNLI three times, the silver medal four times, the George Cross, the British Empire Medal, and a series of other awards throughout his lifesaving career.

Born the son of Ellen Blogg, he was brought up in the family of James Davies, himself coxswain of the Cromer lifeboat. He first went to sea as a lifeboatman in 1894 in the rowing lifeboat Benjamin Bond Cabbell and then served in the Louisa Heartwell as second coxswain under Jimmy ‘Buttons’ Harrison. When coxswain Harrison retired in 1909, Blogg won the vote to take on the leadership role.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century lifeboats around the coast of Britain relied on the strength of the oarsmen and the power of the wind. The Cromer boat was launched from an open beach, and judgement and determination were the prime requirements of the coxswain.

The Pyrin and Fernebo

In the early hours of a fierce January morning in 1917 the Cromer lifeboat was launched to aid a vessel just in sight off Cromer, the Pyrin. The Cromer men rowed their boat through the breakers, succeeding in coming alongside the stricken vessel, and taking off her crew. They rowed back to Cromer, and as they reached the beach the Swedish vessel the Fernebo struck a naval mine and was blown in half. The two-halves drifted towards the beach…

From one half, about 16 men set out in a ship’s boat. As they reached the edge of the breakers onto the beach, their boat was capsized. Teams of men, grasping each other’s arms, had walked into the water, and they were able to help the men from the boat, and aid them ashore. Meanwhile, the lifeboat was rehoused on its trailer and was pushed again into the breakers, to launch to the other half of the Fernebo.

The ferocity of the sea threw the boat back onto the beach. They recarriaged and tried again. This happened at least three times. It was not until midnight, under the light of searchlights from the clifftop, that the lifeboat finally reached the stricken half-vessel and took off its crew. Blogg had led his men for nearly 24 hours of heroic effort.

Awards and Honours

In 1924 Blogg was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal by the King. In 1927, Blogg was awarded a gold watch and his crew a silver watch each after a rescue on the Haisborough Sands.

Henry received a Silver Medal from the RNLI in 1932 for rescuing 30 men and a dog from the steamer Monte Nevoso aground on the Haisborough Sands. The Canine Defence League awarded him their own Silver Medal.

In October 1939 the lifeboat went to the SS Mount Ida. During the long night-time rescue the lifeboat was damaged and the no. 2 boat was required to help.

In 1941 he was awarded the BEM. At around the same time it was announced that the Empire Gallantry Medal he was awarded in 1924 was to be substituted with the George Cross which he was awarded in October that year.

SS English Trader

The call out to the SS English Trader in 1941, aground on Hammond’s Knoll off Happisburgh, nearly led to disaster when the motor lifeboat H.F.Bailey rolled onto her side, throwing five of her crew in the water. Blogg was one of them.

Still on board, crewman William H. Davies grasped the wheel and steered the lifeboat towards the men in the water. One by one they were picked up. Signalman Walter Allen would not survive long; his heart was failing. Blogg turned the lifeboat from the English Trader and headed for the nearest harbour at Great Yarmouth.

At 3 a.m. the next morning, Blogg awoke his crew, ready to try again. They slipped from the wartime harbour and were soon back at the sands. The sea had abated, and forty-four men on the English Trader, who had not expected to live through the night, were saved. Henry was given the Silver medal for that rescue, the rest of the crew receiving Bronzes, Walter Allen posthumously.

Henry Blogg Retires

When Henry Blogg retired in 1947, after 53 years service and at age 71, 11 years past the usual retiring date, the new lifeboat at Cromer was named after him. He had been coxswain for 38 years of his service during which he had launched 387 times and rescued 873 people.

[ REFERENCES ] Wikipedia Image Source: Wikimedia Commons