British Skipper Honored for Rescuing Dutch Crew on Christmas Day After 70 Years

amsterdam - A British skipper who saved a Dutch crew on Christmas Day after 70 years finally gets honored for his brave act.

A 53-year-old man at the time, Will Carder, a volunteer at Exmouth's lifeboat station, rescued the crew of the stranded Dutch ship Minerva on Christmas Day but was washed overboard himself during a storm.

According to the BBC, the coastguard alerted the Exmouth lifeboat shortly before 5 pm on Christmas Day in 1956, reporting that the Dutch ship, MV Minerva, had fired burning red flares 4 miles - approximately 6.4 kilometers - southeast of Orcombe Point.

The crew of the Maria Noble, Exmouth's lifeboat, set out from the waters of the River Exe. Severe conditions, including a southeast storm, persistent rain, and high water levels in the river, made the operation dangerous. Carder and another crew member, Jack Phillips, were washed overboard.

The ship's mate, Harold Bradford, continued to the Minerva and radioed the shore that men were overboard. He decided it was too risky to go back for them.

The Minerva crew was rescued. Volunteer Carder, who ironically ran the local pub The Volunteer, was found unconscious in the water and resuscitation attempts failed.

He will be commemorated with his name on the side of Exmouth's newest lifeboat. Ian Taylor from the rescue service said, 'We are a close-knit crew and can hardly imagine how our colleagues must have felt in 1956 when they lost one of their own crew members - especially during the Christmas period.'

Carder is the only member of Exmouth's lifeboat crew to have died in the line of duty in the boat's 200-year history.