Paul ‘Bud’ White has retired from Hastings Coastguard Rescue Team at the age of 72, ending more than five decades of service that followed in the footsteps of his family and for which he was made an MBE in 2010.
Bud started his time with HM Coastguard as a 17-year-old auxiliary, as the volunteer title was then, and went on to become Station Officer. His grandfather, father, uncle, brother and son have also served.
“There was a lot of satisfaction, I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Bud, who will keep up his work with the Coastguard Association support charity, where he is Vice-Chair of the National Committee. “I am proud but I’m not one to make a fuss.”
His teammates had other ideas, however, and held a farewell reception at Hastings Coastguard Station. A valedictory certificate and letter from the Chief Coastguard were presented by Divisional Commander Matt Pavitt and Assistant Chief Coastguard Channel Operations John Craig.
• For more information about how to enrol as a Coastguard Rescue Officer, visit https://hmcoastguard.uk/volunteer-as-a-coastguard
Rewind to Bud’s first day on 20 March 1970, and he remembers the team mainly being trained in the use of Breaches Buoys – rope systems fired by rocket to connect rescuers to people in distress, such as between land and a stricken vessel.
Bud said: “I remember when we were training and one of the coastguards fired the launcher but it hit some railings by mistake and went flying. Twenty coastguard auxiliaries hit the ground. He did not live that one down!
“Now – you name it, we do it. That’s what I have told people for the last few years. We get involved in everything you can imagine. We are trained far more regularly than we ever were years ago.”
Two incidents stand out for Bud. The first was when his intuition prompted him to keep a search going: “I can’t remember any details but for some reason I was convinced he was alive and there to be found. I said, I want to carry on searching – and we found the bloke. It was a success.”
The second involved a terrifying experience for a couple who had taken their young son on a walk under the cliffs.
“He was three or four years old and he got his head stuck in the rocks,” explained Bud. “The tide was gradually reaching him but, with my local knowledge, I could tell him he was only in danger of getting his feet wet – that relieved the tension.” 
The boy was eventually given a sedative which caused him to relax and he was safely eased out of the hole.
Bud, a retired fisherman, said: “I pass on my share of the local knowledge. If I’m quite honest, I do not give it a second thought. I do not think afterwards, what a great job I have done. We were told it was just part of the job.
“HM Coastguard is one of the most important services there is. They are on a par with all the other emergency services. The job we do is very specific – no one else does it; no one else can do it. It the specific job of being a coastguard. If an incident happens on our patch, the chances are that it’s the coastguard that can do it.
“What the public does not know is that it’s often HM Coastguard running the show. The lifeboat goes out but it’s the coastguard on the cliff with the radio, or the officer at the maritime rescue coordination centre, who is running the show. That suited me – I did not want the fuss!
“When you’re on a job every team is a true team. You get to know each other, there’s bonding – you’re a professional team.”
Bud is now a regular gym-goer to make up for the activity he’s retired from, including searches that sometimes involved walking up to 20 miles in a day.
But there’s one thing he definitely won’t lament: “I will not miss the pager going off at 2am in the morning!”
• For more information about how to enrol as a Coastguard Rescue Officer, visit https://hmcoastguard.uk/volunteer-as-a-coastguard
Main photo: Paul 'Bud' White (centre) with Divisional Commander Matt Pavitt (left) and Assistant Chief Coastguard Channel Operations John Craig (right)
