Lifeboat to be named after crew member shot in WW2

The boat will be named Harold Hobbs, a lifeboatman who was shot by a German plane during World War Two

St Peter Port RNLI will officially name its new lifeboat after a lifeboatman from Guernsey who was shot while on duty during World War Two, later this month.

The class B inshore lifeboat is due to be officially named the Harold Hobbs during a service at the old lifeboat slip on 28 June.

The 8.5m (28ft) long Atlantic 85 class inflatable boat arrived in Guernsey in March and was funded by donations from local residents.

Mr Hobbs, 34, was killed in June 1940 while serving on the Alfred and Clara Heath ahead of the start of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands.

He was shot as the lifeboat was heading to Jersey on 28 June - two days before the islands were occupied - to pick up the Jersey lifeboat so it did not fall into enemy hands.

Approaching St Aubin's Bay, a German aircraft started to fire at the lifeboat and the crew hid under their seats for safety - Mr Hobbs was the only casualty.

His great nephew, Jason Hobbs, is the station's current volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager, while several other members of the family have served with the RNLI.

He said: "It is an incredibly moving tribute to my great uncle's memory that our new lifeboat will bear his name, honouring his incredible sacrifice and inspiring our generation to continue doing all we can to save lives at sea, like the generations before us did."

The event is invitation only, but members of the public can watch from a distance.