Dermot O’Leary recounts the remarkable history of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution during the Second World War, a period when its crews faced extraordinary danger in their tireless work to save lives – a feat that resulted in the res…

Off the coast of Dungeness, the crew responded to reports of a vessel adrift within the busy shipping lanes. They soon learned the small boat they found was connected to a widespread search.

A fisherman was pulled from the sea, lifeless, by those who witnessed the event in Porthcawl. As the news spread, the lifeboat crew hurried to the shore and joined the frantic efforts to revive him.

In Castletownbere, Donagh, a new hand aboard, finds himself thrust into a demanding situation during his first emergency call. The crew execute a dramatic rescue of a fisherman believed to have suffered a stroke.

The visitor, an American, found himself in peril in Queensferry, a coastal town on Scotland's east shore. Overwhelmed by the rising tide, he slipped beneath the surface, losing consciousness. It was only through the swift action of the RNLI…

At Humber, the crew faces a demanding task: a perilous medical evacuation of a fisherman sustaining a spinal injury. Close collaboration is essential to successfully complete the operation.

In Walmer, the crew received reports of a significant incident concerning a small vessel in the Channel. Upon reaching the scene, they found themselves confronted with numerous casualties struggling in the frigid water.

The search began in Mudeford, a village on the Dorset coast, for a kayaker who had vanished. But the urgency of the situation grew rapidly when it became clear that six other kayaks were also missing.

Along the North Somerset coast, the Minehead lifeboat crew faced peril during a demanding rescue operation. They responded to a call for help from two walkers who had been stranded by the rising tide.

Off the southwest coast of Wales, in the seaside town of Porthcawl, the crew responded to a call: a swimmer caught in a rip current, watched over by a distraught wife and son.