New Guernsey RNLI lifeboat honours volunteer killed in WW2

Harold Hobbs was 34 years old when he was shot and killed in World War Two - whilst serving on a Guernsey lifeboat

As the RNLI marks its 200th anniversary, St Peter Port RNLI is set to get a new inshore lifeboat.

The vessel will be named after Harold Hobbs, who was killed by German forces while serving on a Guernsey lifeboat in 1940.

The charity said the vessel had been funded by donations from the people of Guernsey.

The B class lifeboat called an Atlantic 85 is a rigid inflatable boat nearly 8.5m (28ft) in length.

The new boat, the Harold Hobbs, will be the same as one which has been on trial in Guernsey for the past four years

Harold Frederick Hobbs, 34, was a lifeboat crew member and the son of the coxswain of the St Peter Port Lifeboat.

The lifeboat was en route to Jersey on 29 June 1940 - the day before the islands were occupied - to pick up the Jersey lifeboat, because authorities did not want it to fall into the hands of the enemy.

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

When they took a head count, they discovered Harold Hobbs had suffered a direct shot.

The RNLI said there had been 1,666 lifeboat launches from St Peter Port in Guernsey since 1824, and said 612 lives had been saved

Tony Hobbs, 87, said he remembered waving his father goodbye on that fateful day.

He said because he was so young when his father died, he did not have many memories of him - but said his mother had told him all about him.

Mr Hobbs said it was "emotional" when he found out the new lifeboat would be named after his father.

Jason Hobbs, who is Harold's great nephew, is the current volunteer lifeboat operations manager at St Peter Port RNLI.

Jason Hobbs (left) the current volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager at St Peter Port RNLI and Tony Hobbs

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 generosity of our donors never fails to inspire, and we are indebted to our local community for enabling us to have this state-of-the-art lifeboat, which will serve the waters of the Bailiwick for years to come."

Mr Hobbs' story features in an episode of Saving Lives at Sea on BBC Two - airing on 12 March.

The episode, commissioned to mark the charity's 200th anniversary and presented by RNLI ambassador Dermot O'Leary, will take a closer look at RNLI crews' involvement in the World War Two.

O'Leary said it was a "privilege" to uncover the untold stories: "The brave men and women we heard about left a real impression on me, as did the present-day volunteers I was able to meet along the way, who are still saving lives at sea today."

'Lives have been saved'

In Alderney, it has been 40 years since the lifeboat service was reinstated, in 1984.

Declan Gaudion, the coxswain and mechanic for the Alderney Lifeboat, said: "One thing that does underpin it all, is still that it's all run by volunteers, so, that is key to the whole operation and I think something that the RNLI is very, very proud of."

Mr Gaudion said it was "very important" for Alderney to have a lifeboat stationed at the island.

"Up until the time when they re-established the lifeboat, we were fortunate in that there were local people with fishing boats and pleasure boats who provided some sort of service, but also we had cover from Guernsey and France.

The Alderney lifeboat, the Roy Barker I, was developed in the early 1990s and introduced into the RNLI fleet in 1994

"Since the re-establishment here, it's shown that we are quite a busy station, and certainly over the years that I've been involved... there are certainly shouts that we've been on where we have made a difference, and people's lives have been saved."

Carl Bisson, Celia Allen, Jason Norman and Jeanette Ridley from St Peter Port RNLI will be among those at a service of thanksgiving to mark 200 years of the RNLI at Westminster Abbey in London later.

Throughout its bicentenary year, the charity is running events and activities to remember its history and celebrate the lifesaving service, while hoping to inspire generations of future lifesavers and supporters.