A helicopter took off from Sandown on the Isle of Wight during August bank holiday last summer in what should have been a routine flying lesson, taking in views of the beautiful coastline. But onlookers soon spotted it spiralling out of control and emergency services rushed to the scene. The emergency service first to respond was not the ambulance, police or fire. It was the coastguard. Tragically, all three passengers died.

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Most people have never come across coastguard rescue officers (CROs), but when lives are on the line around Britain’s 19,000 miles of coastline, they are often first to answer. They leave their families and day jobs to answer ‘the shout’ – responding to cliff rescues, flood incidents, searches for missing and vulnerable people, suicide attempts and other life-threatening emergencies. They even, on occasion, deal with small boat arrivals. Not every emergency is on the coast. The tragic and fatal helicopter crash on the Isle of Wight was three miles inland.

When Jane and Alan Kelvey found a Russian frigate firing shots within 500 metres of their Bright Future yacht in the Channel off the Isle of Wight, who did the retired British couple call? The coastguard.

Coastguard rescue officers embody public service at its best. Putting in far more than they take out, they serve their community often alongside another job. They’re retired police officers, teachers, medics, engineers, trades people or........

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