Richard Rowsell, known to friends and family as Dick, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for voluntary services to Maritime Safety, after more than 56 years as a coastguard.
Dick first joined the Coastguard Rescue Service as a young man in 1969, where he spent six months under supervision before becoming a fully-fledged Auxiliary Coastguard for Bexhill-on-Sea in June 1970. He then spent more than three decades as a Station Officer, where he responded to all manner of callouts, from stranded 50-ton whales to cargo ships aground on the East Sussex coast.
In 1994, Dick was commended for meritorious service after the rescue of two children stuck in mud and in 2004 he and four other coastguards visited Prime Minister Tony Blair for a special reception held in honour of their lifesaving work.
Handing over the reins to a new Station Officer, Dick continued as a Coastguard Rescue Officer while taking part in various volunteering work and coastal-based activities, including working as a powerboat instructor for his local sailing club, and working with RAYNET-UK, a group of volunteers who provide emergency radio communications for national resilience.
Dick also co-founded the Coastguard Association in 1976 and has served as both a committee member and the charity’s chairman. The committed coastguard says that the CRS is often not immediately on people’s minds when they think of the emergency services, but it’s just as vital.
He says: “When I joined, it wasn’t at all unusual for people to spend six months or more serving ‘on probation’. It was ideal because people could show their true colours and commitment. Personally, I’d always had an interest in sailing, and I had distant family links with the Coastguard and Royal Navy, so that’s what got me into it.”
When he joined, Dick says that senior officers and often colleagues were often ex-forces veterans; “tremendous characters” like Captain Richard Emden, who set up the Channel Navigation Information Service (CNIS) in 1972 – forerunner of today’s Vessel Traffic Services in the Dover Strait.
He adds that advances and innovations in technology and engineering over the past fifty years have arguably provided some of the biggest lifesaving benefits; everything from ship radios to AIS and vessel construction. He says: “You've got these amazing kinds of radio communications now with AIS and visibility on the coast through digital.
“In the past, you’d have had shipwrecks where vessels weren’t double hulled – ships would come aground and then break apart rapidly. Nowadays, stronger hulls and builds allow for more time and a better chance of rescue.”
Dick views his role on the coast as educational too: it’s not always about rescues because prevention is crucial. He says: “Our work is as much about educating people on the dangers of the sea, as more people are using the water all year round. We’ve got to continue to get awareness messaging across to people.
“As a powerboat instructor, I see our advice in action. It’s no use taking a lifejacket and sitting on it as a comfy seat. Use it, wear it, and if the worst happens, you’ll be glad. Can you imagine putting one on while in the water? Doing up your crotch straps properly so your jacket works correctly? Try it while in the water – it’s a very practical lesson.”
Of the people he’s most pleased to pay testament to is his late wife, Sue. Dick says: “It would have been good if she’d still been here to share it with. She was a major kingpin during the early hours because I’d quite often sleep through my pager! It was her sharp left elbow that usually got me out of bed.”
Speaking about his MBE, Dick adds: “I’ve not actually received it yet, but there are no doubt plenty of more important people to do before me! I was on cloud nine when I heard – which was through a WhatsApp message from our team. I was travelling across Scotland doing the North Coast 500!”
Divisional Commander for East Anglia and Southeast England Matt Pavitt, who was also awarded an MBE in this year’s honours, said: “Dick’s commitment to saving lives along the East Sussex coast is exemplary. We are incredibly fortunate to have had the pleasure of his service for more than fifty years. With each of those years comes a huge amount of skill and knowledge, earned through experience.
“I’d like to extend our most sincere gratitude to Dick for the ways in which he’s contributed to HM Coastguard and served his local community for the past 56 years. I’m certain that fellow coastguards and emergency responders, community members, and the public, will join me in offering our warmest congratulations.”
