A PLEA has gone out for former members of Teignmouth lifeboat crew to be included in a history of the RNLI in the town.

Former press officer Tony Watson is compiling a chronicle of the lifeboat station dating back to its foundations in the 1820s.

He hopes to gather enough information in time for the RNLI’s 200th anniversary next year.

His aim is to capture some of the big rescues of the station’s history and its heroes.

He is particularly keen to find out more details about specific lifeboat crew members who were decorated for bravery.

Tony, who has been involved with Teignmouth lifeboat for more than 20 years, explained: ‘I want to try to find family members who are still around of individuals who were all distinguished.

‘We know their names and that some of them got medals but we have never seen those medals or know where they are.

‘We have records of them receiving the medals.’

He is particularly keen to trace any relatives of lifeboatmen Broom, Burden, Gilpin, Rice, Bulkeley, Clarke and Hitchcock to discover if they have any stories and memorabilia from the time.

He would also like to hear from anyone who has images and stories of Teignmouth lifeboats between the 1820 and 1940 or any details of crew of shore helpers prior to 1940.

Tony has been given access to newspaper articles from the Teignmouth Post and its sister papers and has spent many hours collating information.

Anyone who can add any tales of memorabilia he can add to the archive can get in touch by emailing Tony at [email protected]