After more than 40 years of exemplary, voluntary service to the Isle of Wight community, Martin Rayner BEM is retiring from His Majesty’s Coastguard today (31st December).
For the past 5 decades, Martin has responded to his pager – both day and night – to assist those in peril at sea and around the Island’s coastline, attending more than 2,000 shouts in every condition imaginable. But at 68 years of age, Martin has decided now is the time to hang up his blue overalls.
Later today Martin will say goodbye to Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Team, where he has been stationed since 1980 – some 42 years. He says that at 68 he feels it has got to the stage where he really has got to retire, to give time back to his family who have lost so much time over the years.
The former wood machinist, who worked for Island firm Morey’s for most of his adult life, could have retired from his Coastguard duties years ago having still provided a respectable and lengthy service. It was 2 years ago that Martin was first going to retire, but when the COVID pandemic hit he decided he needed to remain in post to help the local community.
The stalwart is one of the longest-serving Coastguards in the country, representing both Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. This lengthy service has been recognised with the announcement yesterday (Friday) that Martin has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in The King’s New Year Honours list, as previously reported by Island Echo.
It was Martin’s father, Leslie, who also served as a Coastguard for 28 years from 1952, that inspired him to get involved in search and rescue. At just 14 years old, Martin and 4 or 5 other Coastguard children would go along to the quarterly training sessions to get a taste of what it meant to be a Coastguard. However, it would be another 12 years until Martin could join Ventnor Coastguard to help save the lives of others, as Martin explains:
“I wanted to join the team at 16, but it wasn’t until I was 26 years old that I officially joined HM Coastguard. Back then the team had 24 men and you simply had to wait for people to leave before a new recruit could be taken on. It wasn’t unusual though for 36 people to actually turn up at the station, as people from the town would arrive to help as they knew it was heavy work”.
It was on 17th April 1980 that Martin finally began his service – coincidently the exact same day his dad retired. Today Martin wears his dad’s Long Service Medal with pride, sitting alongside his own medals including a Long Service with 2 bars and medals for the late Queen’s Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees, as well as a commendation medal from the Scouts.
Of course, things were very different back then, as Martin recalls:
“The service is unrecognisable from what it was 42 years ago. If you had said we would have laptops, 2 vehicles etc. you would have been laughed out the service.
“We’ve gone from rescuing 3 or 4 ships aground each year – which we rarely see now – to mainly responding to suicides and animal rescues, as well as manning the landing site for the Coastguard helicopter. When I started the Westland Wessex helicopter was still in use.
“The biggest change has been to paging, going from maroons to mobile phone text messages. A mortar was dropped into a big box and lit like a match. The whole town heard it when it exploded high above the Downs – and so did everywhere else! I’d run to the station, which was then in Kent Road.
“We used to have 45 minutes to get to the station but nowadays we are normally mobile within just 4 or 5 minutes”.
During Island Echo’s interview with Martin, it became clear that he has a real wealth of knowledge and has well and truly seen it all. One of his most memorable shouts was to the Flag Theofano tragedy in 1990 when the ship capsized off St Helens, claiming the lives of 19 people. Martin spent 4 days searching for the crew, but only 4 were ever recovered.
Another shout that Martin recalls is the evacuation of The Undercliff in 2014:
“We were down there for a week. That was quite challenging as we were handling Ming porcelain, antique grandfather clocks and other really old treasures. I remember thinking ‘bloody hell what I am going to do’, but the fire service told us to forget the big furniture and focus on the precious things, like photos and family heirlooms”.
There has been no sitting on the sidelines for the 68-year-old, who has continued to get involved in every aspect of being a Coastguard Rescue Officer, passing on his knowledge and experience to the new generation.
He admits that it can be tough though and recalls 1 day when he called his wife at 05:30 in the morning to request a cooked breakfast, having spent all night out on a shout. Dedicated to both his day job and HM Coastguard, Martin exclaimed that he had to be at work at 07:00 and needed something to keep him going, before going straight out the door!
James Potter, Station Officer at Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Team, has spoken highly of Martin, who he has worked alongside for the past 18 years. James has praised Martin’s incredible record and says the whole team will miss him terribly:
“Martin has seen many changes over the years and has embraced them throughout his Coastguard career.
“He’s always willing to volunteer his time to help with additional tasks, in addition to responding when the pager sounds.
“He’s a Coastguard that many have and do look up to with his experience and professional attitude. Achieving this great milestone is something very special indeed.
“We wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement”.
Martin has served under 6 Station Officers including ‘Bomber’ Harris, Jim Blake, Adrian Barton, Dave Butler, Mike Howell and now James Potter.
Martin’s last shout was on 22nd November to a dog over the cliff at Devil’s Chimney. He now looks forward to focusing on his model railway set that hasn’t been set up for around 30 years, as well as contributing to Ventnor’s community shed and continuing his woodturning.
As his service draws to a close, Martin says:
“Thank you to all the team members, past and present, for helping out and backing us up all the time.
“We really did rely on each other, watching each other’s backs.
“It is with great pride that I have accepted an honour in the New Year Honour list from His Majesty The King”.
