Dermot O'Leary backs lifeboat heroes for refusing to bow to Farage migrants dig
Dermot O’Leary has praised the RNLI for remaining independent from political pressure - as he explores how its lifeboatmen saved Nazis from the sea during World War 2 in a new show.
The star said how it was “inspiring” that the organisation rescued the lives of everyone at sea regardless of where they are from, both then and now. And it comes as the RNLI has previously come under pressure by right-wing commentators for saving migrants in the channel.
But Dermot says: “It’s so important that the RNLI isn’t politicised and is free from interference. They rescued people no matter of nationality or ethnicity, and that’s what the RNLI is about, and should be protected.”
Dermot with Chris Sandwell on historic lifeboat (BBC/Blast Films/Tim Knight)Dermot is fronting a Saving Lives at Sea special to commemorate the 2024 bicentenary of the RNLI and the institution’s heroic efforts in the Second World War. And in the show Dermot finds out how crew from the Margate station of the RNLI saved eight Luftwaffe pilots downed in the Battle of Britain.
He meets Chris Sandwell whose grandfather Harry was part of the crew, and learns how there were “mixed reactions” to the Nazis being saved. Dermot says: “As hardy as they were, it can’t have been easy for them to be dragging people from the sea irrespective of whether they were German or allied with these horrific injuries. It’s pretty inspiring stuff, I’ve got to be honest with you.”
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Mr Samuels said that the efforts of the RNLI were questioned at the time but their ethos to save anybody at sea remained firm. He said: “Some were in favour, some would be anti but that wouldn't affect how the lifeboat crew reacted. They had a job to do. They didn't ask questions. It's still the same today. You're given the job. You go into it. It was just a humanitarian act.
“And the principles of the RNLI is saving lives at sea saved without fear or favour. It’s a very important principle and it still holds true to this day.” The RNLI found itself at the centre of a row in 2021 after inflammatory comments from Nigel Farage three years ago when he claimed they were running a “migrant taxi service”.
Their chief executive Mark Dowie hit back at the time saying they had a moral and legal duty to rescue migrants in danger - and donations soared to the charity as a result. They raised a staggering £200,000 in a day after Farage’s comments.
Dermot adds: “At the end of the day there’s a human in the water, and they wanted to save that human in the water.” The programme also touches upon this theme as it features the fate of the S.S. Magdapur which was sunk by a U-boat off Aldeburgh.
Dermot O'Leary said it is important that the RNLI isn't politicised (BBC/Blast Films/Tim Knight)Heroic lifeboatmen rescued 56 lascars, who were the sailors from the Indian subcontinent. All were smothered from head to foot in black oil. Despite their foreign ethnicity, they were welcomed by the locals, which also moved Dermot.
“It was really moving hearing about the Lascars and the warmth that people felt towards them and how they treated them as their own,” he says. Dermot said how he had long been a huge fan of the RNLI after growing up in Colchester, which is not far from the sea.
“My auntie was also a fundraiser for the RNLI in Kilburn, north-west London,” he says, adding that he often remembered seeing the RNLI distinctive lifeboat stations on trips to the seaside. Dermot said he was particularly drawn to the stories in the show because of the fact that crew manning the lifeboats were all volunteers, bar the engineers.
“They are effectively a dads army and everyday men, but also great heroes at the same time,” he says. “It’s a fantastic voluntary organisation….thousands of them are all out at christmas volunteering. But it’s just the way it is. It’s an incredible charity.”
And he said they were due extra praise as they out themselves in considerable danger doing so. “It can be so rough and you can’t begin to imagine how deep it is being in those waves,” he says.
Saving Lives at Sea: in World War II, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer is on Tuesday, at 21:00pm
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