# Coxswain George C.Davidson DSM, BEM



## King Ratt

George Cossar Davidson crossed the bar this morning , 19 Nov, at the ripe old age of 87.
During distinguished wartime Naval service he was awarded the British Empire Medal for saving a man from a burning building in Plymouth during an air raid, later receiving the Distinguished Service Medal for his part in the raid on St Nazaire, where he was captured and became a P.o.W. until 1945.
Post war he returned to his home town of Kirkcudbright and rejoined the Lifeboat crew. In 1950 he was appointed coxwain and at that time was the youngest coxwain in Scotland. On retiral he was the most senior coxwain in the post. 
A quiet and unassuming person and a first class seaman, he was held in high regard by his fellow crewmen.
He will be missed by his family and many friends.


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## 6639

may god bless him and his family, and may he have calm and peaceful sailings in eternal life.
A giant amongst men, he deserves eternal peace.
RIP coxs'n Davidson, i am sure you'll be constanly missed.


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## King Ratt

Thanks NHP651. I will pass your posting onto the family.


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## billyboy

Condolences to his relatives. Long may he rest in peace


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## 6639

I once read a book called "Lifeboat VC" about the life of Richard "Dicky" Evans coxs'n of Molfre Lifeboat, a truely inspiring book, and in the back cover some previous reader had written into the hardback 

"Thank god for men like these".

From what I have been told, George C Davidson was another of these very brave men.

Thank god indeed.


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## King Ratt

George Davidson penned a lot of poetry and this is one of my favourites called "DEDICATION"

Two falling stars of green, the wisps of smoke
Shredded and scattered by the South East gale
The whispered bangs and half the town awoke
And men came tumbling out prepared to sail.

The youngest lad, half-clad but undeterred
Bareheaded, breathless, brash and first away
And then his elders stormrigged, booted,, spurred
Full battle order, ready for the fray.

The heavy doors were wrestled back and pinned
While someone laid the bow preventer clear.
By now the strident voices of the wind
Were drowned by engines revving out of gear.

And then the shout “Let go”, away she sped
Into the black dark wilderness of night;
The coxwain fought the wheel to fetch her head
Close to the wind to stem the friendly light.

One flash, a heartbeat long, then black as pitch
That seemed to last forever-how she yawed
And staggered, veered and slewed, the wayward *****
And then the lighthouse flashed again, thank God.

Threequarters ebb and wind against the tide,
The bar was shallow now and hissing white
With foam in streaks like brushstrokes, side to side
Across the wild dark canvas of the night.

Black walls of water from God knows how far,
Seas that were spawned a hundred miles away,
Unbalanced, burst in turmoil on the bar
And disappeared astern in sheets of spray.

But now we’re clear and squared away Sou’west,
The graveyard watch and still two hours to steam;
No comfort now, no warmth, no bloody rest
As long’s we have this weather on the beam.

The hourglass fettered now, no longer free;
The cold that thicks the blood has slowed the sand.
An hour to go D.R. before we see
The even darker darkness of the land.

The driving rain has turned to searing sleet
That blinds the eyes but never slacks the pace
The diesels drumming never missed a beat
Such music keeps the smile on *Selwyn’s face.

And then the Coastguard crackled on the air,
“The casualty is safe now-making way.
Return to station-when will you be there?”
Later we’d call and give our ETA.

The flame that spurred us out no longer burned
Cheated of worthwhile deeds that might have been
Wet cold and weary as for home we turned
And still that bloody bar is in between.

Three hours at least to dodge and wait for tide
With “Captain Cauld” on board and “Mal de Mer”;
Poor shipmates these, who tempt us on inside
But wait we must for there’s no room to err.

At last, at last, the run for home is on
Streaming the drogue in case she tries to broach
Grey faces in the grey half light of dawn
See boathouse lights come on at our approach.

The breasting rope is rove, the shoreline caught
By freezing fingers, throbbing now with pain.
The heel is on, the span is rigged and taut
The job is over now-she’s home again.

Rehoused, refuelled, fit once more for sea!
The boat at least, but what about the men?
No shame on them-the choice is always free-
If someone failed to turn out again.

Two falling stars of green lit up the sky,
Bangs to arouse the dead awoke the men,
The same old faces-Christ! I wonder why
And how that bloody boy was first again.


(Selwyn was the RNLI Engineer Inspector - I was the bloody boy)

Poem written by retd Kirkcudbright Lifeboat Coxwain G C Davidson circa 1958


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## Watson47

Well done *King Ratt *... Great Post .. Great Poem ..


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## billyboy

Nice one King Ratt. many thanks for posting it.


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## King Ratt

For Billyboy and Watson47..tks for comments.here is one more of George's RNLI poems. He called it "A Cautionary Tale"

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,this is "Annie", "Annie", "Annie",
Mayday, one mile South of Brandy More.
There's a rope in my propeller and the bloomin' anchor's dragging
And the wind and tide are setting me on shore.

I should have veered more cable, but now I'm quite unable
For reasons you could never hope to guess.
I find it hard to say how things came to be this way
But I've never ever been in such a mess.

When the rope went in the screw, there was nothing I could do;
I knocked her out of gear and tried astern;
But even as I tried, the bloomin' engine died
And the shaft is quite impossible to turn.

The gland is leaking badly and I tried the pump but sadly
There wasn't any water coming through.
I took the pipes asunder and found the fault - no wonder
For the valve was jammed wide open by a screw.

I tried to shift the thing with a wire and then with string
It wouldn't budge and desperate at last
I poked it with my finger, and now till death I linger
With my index digit in the pump and FAST!

I've got communication for I'm trapped in a location
By the wheelhouse and the window's open wide
The VHF is handy but the hacksaw and the brandy
Are miles away across the other side.

In utter desperation I've considered amputation
But with 'Martell' anaesthetic out of reach
And the saw I need is too, there's nothing I can do
But pray that I'll be washed up on the beach.

In the bilge the level's rising at a rate that's quite surprising
I can feel her lurch and wallow in the swell
And should poor Annie sink - the thought I dread to think -
When Annie goes Yours truly goes as well.

I've never shot an albatross - don't even have a gun
Yet 'Lady Luck's' abandoned me, but why?
The only slightly wicked thing I know that I have done
Was to make the Lifeboat Lady pass me by.

I saw that Lifeboat Lady with collecting box and flags
Her eyes alight - I knew that I'd been spied;
I hesitated, feigning I was fumbling for my ****
Then altered course across the other side.

Forgive me God, I realise the move I made was mean -
Not like me - I recall it with dismay.
If you could find it possible to scrub my record clean
I'll keep it thus for ever and a day.

I hear the lifeboat coming, I recognise the drumming
Of the diesels when they're running out of synch.
Any moment now I know, they'll board and rig a tow;
How they'll free me from this pump I dread to think.

'Silence Fini', now its past. On the harbour wall at last,
I'm waiting to beach 'Annie' on the tide.
'Mong the faces on the quay, there's one that frightens me
Her eyes alight - I know that I've been spied.

At sea I wasn't queasy, but now I'm damned uneasy;
Not the trauma nor the prospect of a wreck,
Nor the very narrow shave - its the look THAT lady gave
And conscience like a millstone round my neck.


Penned by retired Kirkcudbright Coxwain George C Davidson

“Silence Fini” - Radio procedure for end of distress communications.


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## Watson47

Bravo encore .. George Davidson RIP .. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
... & thanks again *King Ratt*. 

These are worthy of inclusion in an Anthology of Lifeboat Poetry, if one exists & if one doesn't it should be put together.


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