The British War Medal awarded to Lieutenant R. Carron, H.M. Coastguard, late Royal Navy,...

The British War Medal awarded to Lieutenant R. Carron, H.M. Coastguard, late Royal Navy, who dedicated 30 years of service attempting to save life from shipwreck in South West Cornwall British War Medal 1914-20 (Ch. Offr. R. Carron. R.N.) extremely fine £60-£80 --- Robert Carron was born at Devonport on 1 October 1857 and joined the Royal Navy as Boy 2nd Class on 8 October 1873. Raised Able Seaman aboard Defence 1 April 1878, he transferred to the Coastguard Service in 1884 and was initially posted to the Mount’s Bay fishing harbour of Porthleven. Sent to Cadgwith on 8 March 1891 and Coverack on 29 December 1893, Carron was mentioned in the Royal Cornwall Gazette on 28 November 1895: ‘Terrible Shipwreck near Falmouth. Early on Tuesday morning the treacherous Manacle Rocks near Falmouth were again the scene of a terrible disaster, involving the loss of five lives. Had it not been for the prompt and timely assistance rendered by the Coverack Coastguards-men and life saving brigade, the loss of life must have been far more serious... The ill-fated vessel was the three masted Russian barque Anne Elizabeth, 398 tons, Captain Simonsen, bound from Cardiff to Christiana, with 531 tons of coal... The life saving apparatus was placed on a waggon, drawn by three horses. He (A. Jeffers) was accompanied by Coastguards Wills, Carron, Moyse, Guy, Rutter, Love and Sims. Traversing over the roughest roads possible to imagine, steep, zig-zag paths, strewn with huge boulders, having to be traversed at high speed, Wills, Carron, Guy and Love, at great risk, waded into the raging surf and helped the unfortunate man.’ Transferred to Porthallow, Carron was called to the Plymouth Guildhall in March 1899 as witness to the unfortunate condition of the Captain of the ketch Rothiemay. According to Carron: ‘The Captain was either mad or drunk to have run his craft in the position she was in when she stuck’. Advanced Chief Boatman at St Ives and Penzance, Carron ended his service at Wicklow in June 1919, being granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant. He died in 1943 at Heamoor, Penzance.