For many people, December 29 is merely part of a period of confusion between the revelries of Christmas and New Year. Yet for the relatives of those lost onboard a ship off the coast of The Lizard, and those who risked their lives to search for them, the date marks a far more poignant time in history.

It was 8.30pm on that Saturday in 1962 that The Lizard lifeboat the Duke of Cornwall launched, with eight crew onboard, following reports of coastal trading vessel the MV Ardgarry getting into distress as she made her way from Swansea to Rouen in France.

Bob Roberts, who spent 12 years on the Lizard Lifeboat before a further 23 years with the Lizard Auxilliary Coastguard (now Mullion Coastguard) was 27 at the time.

Now 83, he is one of only two surviving crew members involved in the search, along with mechanic Peter Mitchell who went on to become lifeboat coxswain.

He remembers the night well - although it was almost doomed before it even started, when upon launching the lifeboat almost flipped over due to the size of the waves.

Mr Roberts told the Packet: "When we went down the slipway we went into the air. We had doubts if we were going to come back. It was touch and go. As it happened she dropped and off we went."

Onboard were coxswain George Mitchell, George Stephens, Dickie Roberts, Maurice 'Bunny' Legge, David Step, Bert Jane, Mr Mitchell and Mr Roberts.

 

All eight of the crew onboard the Duke of Cornwall

Thus began one of the longest nights ever experienced for all crewmen, involving a search lasting more than 14 hours, with no radio contact out and only limited supplies onboard.

As is typical of many of his generation of lifesavers, Mr Roberts is matter of fact about the episode, although he acknowledged: "It was a long old night."

The lifeboat could receive messages but could not transmit, leaving them cut off from the outside world. Nobody knew where they were until 2.30am, six hours after launching, when they were spotted by a Dutch tug. Their families heard no news until 8am.

With little information as to where they were to look, the crew were forced to search up and down methodically from Ardgarry's rough location of three miles off The Lizard.

"All we were told is, 'There's a boat in trouble', but they didn't exactly know her position at the time, so we did a box search all night. We ended up about 18 miles south west of The Lizard when we finished," remembered Mr Roberts.

"It was a rough, cold night. There was snow and hail. We had gales and nasty winds for a month or more; it's what gave the big seas."

 

The Duke of Cornwall and her crew back in the 1960s

Back at home he had left his young daughter Sandra and his wife Chris, who was pregnant with their other daughter, Alison. The other men were all in similar positions.

Yet he said: "It's one of those things you volunteer for and that was it. You never knew what was coming."

After a fruitless night of searching and unable to return to The Lizard station due to the conditions remaining too dangerous, the lifeboat crew were forced to divert to Falmouth.

The 12 crew onboard the Ardgarry were never discovered and the only remnants found were a couple of lifeboats, one of which was picked up on the Penzance coast a couple of days later and the other ending up on the Isles of Scilly.

In 2008, relatives of those lost onboard met up with Mr Roberts and Mr Mitchell at The Lizard, and Mr Mitchell told the Packet he still receives cards and letters from one of the families, as recently as this Christmas.

 

Peter Mitchell (left) and Bob Roberts at the memorial stone at The Lizard, ten years ago