Orders, Decorations and Medals

LIVERPOOL SHIPWRECK AND HUMANE SOCIETY, 'In Memoriam' Medal, the silver medal framed and glazed, the rim inscribed ('In Memoriam' Presented to Mr. and Mrs. Harold Lancaster, in memory of their son John Kenneth Lancaster, who was drowned when making a gallant attempt to save the lives of others on 26th November, 1939), 58mm diameter, contained within original fitted case, extremely fine and rare, being awarded on only 19 occasions. Sold with an original copy of the official report on the incident in 5 volumes, 500pp.

Extract from Liverpool Daily Post:-
‘Presentation to Parents of Lost Apprentice’

‘An echo of the disaster in which the Mersey Docks and Harbour No. 1 pilot boat, the Charles Livingston, stranded on Ainsdale beach in November, 1939, took place at the Mayor's Parlour, Town Hall, Birkenhead, on Thursday, an oak-framed memorial certificate and cheque being handed by the Mayor (CouncillorW. E. R. Short) to Mr. and Mrs. H. Lancaster, of Bedford-drive, Rock Ferry, parents of John Kenneth Lancaster, one of the apprenticed pilots on the vessel who lost their lives. The presentation was made on behalf of the Carnegie Hero Trust Fund. The Charles Livingston stranded in very rough weather on the morning of November 26th, 1939, on Ainsdale beach, with the loss of 23 lives, seven being pilots of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. There were ten survivors. At the inquiry at St. George's Hall, Liverpool, in April, 1940, it was disclosed that a pulling boat with two men in it was lowered into the water on the leeside of the stranded vessel, but this broke away owing to the violence of the storm. The two occupants were in grave danger and when volunteers were required to man the motor boat which should go and rescue them, Lancaster, who was the senior apprentice pilot, and another apprentice, John S. Tully, of 26 Rocklands-avenue, Lower Bebington, came forward. They set off from the ship and, in fact, succeeded in reaching the other boat. On the return journey the motor of the towing boat broke down, and the two boats were at the mercy of the storm. They were soon swept into the darkness and were lost to sight. Later the boats and the lifeless bodies of the occupants were found on the beach. They had succeeded in getting within sixty yards of the Charles Livingston before the motor failed. When the Court of Inquiry gave it findings in May, 1940, the Wreck Commissioner, Mr. J. G. Trapnell, K.C., made reference to the gallantry of these two young apprentices. He said: 'Tully and Lancaster courageously volunteered to recover it (the other boat) with one of the motor boats, but their fine effort failed when the motor broke down after they had recovered the boat. Both boats then disappeared into the darkness.' Lancaster was 22 years of age and was due to qualify as a pilot in the following March. He had been apprenticed for about four-and-a -half years. His colleague, Tully, was 19, and had been in the pilot service for about two-and-a-half years. The Mayor, before he handed Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster the certificate and cheque, said that the Carnegie Hero Trust Fund had decided to inscribe the names of the four young men on the illuminated Roll of Heroes and to make a grant to their parents. It was a recognition of outstanding bravery and heroism, and they were proud of the way in which all four had acted. In mourning their loss, they recognised that these young men had given their lives in maintaining the highest traditions of the service and of our seafaring nation. It was true bravery in the cause of the country for which all were now fighting. It had been a great loss, but it was encouraging to know that their efforts had received the admiration of all those who heard of them. The oak framed certificate was a memorial to their son and a token of that recognition.’