DOGWOOD PRODUCTIONS
STORIES OF COURAGE
Dogwood is collaborating with the RNLI as part of the RNLI 1939-45: Stories of Courage project that explores and commemorates the charity's Second World War story. The RNLI played a vital role in the war effort, with lifeboats launching 3,760 times, coming to the aid of those in need from ships and aeroplanes, saving a total of 6,376 lives.
Dora’s memories of the wreck of the SS Charles are the starting point for our new research. This includes speaking with descendants of the crew from that night and will inspire a new ballad for The Quiet Work. We will retell the story through workshops in local schools, showing how tales from the past can be brought to life and commemorated. There will also be a public event in November 2026, sharing more about the Whitby crew and the Belgian sailors they tried to rescue.
Stories of Courage has been made possible through the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
At 9pm on 3rd February 1940, in a south-easterly gale, the Whitby lifeboat crew was called out to the Belgian vessel off Saltwick Nab, below the cliffs east of Whitby, where it was being battered by heavy seas. The crew included John R. Dryden and Christopher Wale, both retired from lifeboat service, but back on duty because younger men had been called up for war service. John’s son William was also in the crew.
Huge seas and shallow water made the rescue extremely dangerous. A large wave “rose at her out of nowhere” and smashed into the port side of the Mary Ann Hepworth lifeboat. Coxswain James Murfield was thrown overboard, but managed to drag himself back aboard by clinging to the ship’s wheel.
With a head wound and an injured arm, Murfield checked the crew and realised Dryden and Wale were missing. the others having to stop William Dryden from diving into the water to save his father. The two men were the first RNLI crew members to die in the Second World War.
Three rescue attempts by the lifeboat were made and four of the SS Charles’ crew were eventually rescued by a rocket-fired line from the cliff top. Six others died and their bodies now rest in the town cemetery.
