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Description
Coxswain Richard Evans of the Moelfre lifeboat crew was one of the few lifeboatmen to have been awarded two RNLI gold medals for gallantry, known as 'the lifeboatman's VC'. He joined the lifeboat crew at Moelfre at the age of 16 in 1921 and, after two promotions to bowman and second coxswain, he was appointed coxswain in April 1954. Between 1921 and his retirement in 1970, the lifeboat was launched 179 times and 281 lives were saved.
The first of his medals was awarded for the rescue of eight men in October 1959, during which he brought the lifeboat alongside a shipwrecked motor vessel ten times in gales that reached 104mph. The second medal was awarded for a rescue in winds reaching 127mph in December 1966. Coxswain Evans spent over twelve hours in extreme conditions in order to rescue ten men from a Greek motor vessel.
Richard Evans was 'Man of the Year' in 1967 and was awarded the Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service (BEM) in 1969.
This statue of Richard Evans was made by sculptor Sam Holland.
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