Rotary Lecture 2026

In February 2026 the Rotary Club held its second annual lecture at St Mary's Church Watton. Our subject this year was 'Search and Rescue Through The Ages' delivered by Watton Rotarian Keith Thomas, who served in the RAF as a helicopter pilot, including several years undertaking Search and Rescue.

Besides drawing on his own experiences as a rescue pilot, Keith gave us a detailed history of Search and Rescue in all its forms, including the RNLI, Air Ambulance, Fire Service, Ambulance Service, Mountain Rescue and St John's Ambulance. He began with the famous story of Grace Darling, a Northumberland lighthouse keeper's daughter, who, at the age of 23 courageously participated in the rescue of the crew of The Forfarshire, which had been wrecked during a terrible storm on the Farne Islands in 1838.

In a wide ranging and thought provoking talk, Keith told us about the bravery of lifeboat crews, particularly in the 19th and early 20th Century, when their boats were propelled through stormy seas using oars, in fact shortened oars were used to enable the lifeboat to get close to the stricken vessel.

He also spoke about Mountain Rescue and how as an RAF pilot he would co-ordinate rescues with them, in cases where for example, somebody was trapped on a cliff face, where to use a helicopter could be dangerous.

Keith served around the world as a pilot, including Cyprus, Hong Kong and Oman, and he had many interesting stories to tell about his experiences, including a time when he had to ditch his helicopter off Hong Kong in shark infested waters, and needed to be rescued himself.

At the end of the evening Keith was joined on stage by representatives from East Anglia Air Ambulance and RNLI to answer questions from the audience.

It was a successful evening for the Rotary Club, where some £1,000 was raised, much of which will be donated to the East Anglia Air Ambulance and to rhe RNLI.