William G. Fleming G.C. (GOSH plaque)

Coxswain Billy Fleming is second only to Henry Blogg as the most decorated Norfolk lifeboatman. Born in Gorleston on 26th July 1865, he married Annie F. Hickman at Great Yarmouth in 1906 and died in Gorleston on 30th September 1954 aged 89 years. Growing up on Lower Cliff Road, Gorleston, he and his father were fishermen working on the East Coast. Billy Fleming first volunteered as a member of the lifeboat crew in the mid-1880s.

Billy and Annie Fleming lived at 11 Boundary Road (now Pavilion Road) most of their married life. Billy Fleming was appointed as Coxswain of the Gorleston Lifeboat in 1922, when he was about 57 years old and held that position until 1934. Over his 50 years of service in the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) lifeboats and in the volunteer boats he assisted in the rescue of 1,188 people.

Awards received by Billy Fleming :

1. RNLI Gold Medal - awarded in 1922 for his part in the rescue, on the 19th to 21st October, of the crew of SS Hopelyn, which was aground on Scroby Sands. A mayday was received by the Gorleston oar-powered lifeboat, Kentwell. Coxswain Fleming received a tow for the lifeboat from a tug and they progressed through 40 foot waves. All that could be seen was a small part of the Hopelyn and there was no sign of life. However, the lifeboat stood off the wreck all night. At daybreak, there was still no sign of survivors, so the Kentwell returned to the shore. An hour later a flag was seen flying from the Hopelyn and the Kentwell made for the wreck again. Near the Hopelyn, the Kentwell was thrown onto Scroby Sands by a large wave and later severe damage was caused to the lifeboat by being hurled against the hull of the Hopelyn. The Lowestoft motor lifeboat Agnes Cross, was launched and the two lifeboats met. Fleming, who had now been at sea for 16 hours, transferred on to the Agnes Cross. The Lowestoft lifeboat now approached the Hopelyn as darkness closed in. After a time the conditions forced the Agnes Cross to return to the shore. The next morning, with a strong gale still blowing, the Agnes Cross returned with a mixture of Lowestoft and Gorleston crewmen, including Fleming. At the wreck of the Hopelyn, the lifeboat was maneuvered alongside it and the crew scrambled down ropes on to the Agnes Cross. The rescue had taken a total of 30 hours, two lifeboats, and one tug, but all 23 crewman, the captain and the ship’s cat were all rescued safely

2. RNLI Silver Medal - awarded in 1927 for his part in the rescue of the crew of the Dutch tanker SS Georgia, which was stranded on Haisborough Sands on the 21st November. Additionally, he was awarded a silver watch, with a letter of thanks to the crew of the lifeboat, from the Queen of the Netherlands.

3. RNLI Bronze Medal - awarded three times: one award was in 1926 for the rescue on the 22nd December in a gale and heavy seas of four seamen from the ketch Henrietta.

Following the Hopelyn rescue, Billy Fleming was awarded the EGM (Empire Gallantry Medal) for which both he and Henry Blogg, the Cromer Lifeboat Coxswain, were gazetted on the 30th June 1924; the EGM was converted to the George Cross in about 1941. 

Wreck of the Hopelyn