The RNLI in Salcombe were saddened to share the news of the passing of 54-year-old RNLI volunteer Iain Dundas.

Iain was a part of the RNLI team in Salcombe for 15 years.

Iain first joined the lifesaving charity on April 25, 2003, and immersed himself in the charity, bringing many valuable skills from his Army and Fishing days and willingly sharing them with his volunteer colleagues.

Iain was awarded a rare RNLI Medal for Gallantry for his part in rescuing two people from a grounded yacht in a raging gale in December 2020.

The yacht was in danger of breaking up, stranded on a rocky outcrop in a tight gully. The Coastguard helicopter could not help as conditions were too wild.

It was 4.30 am, and Salcombe's lifeboat could not get close enough to help either. The gully was too shallow, the rocks too jagged, the cliffs too close. But Iain and a fellow volunteer crew member refused to leave the terrified sailors to their fate.

Salcombe lifeboat carries a small inflatable dinghy onboard, and there was a chance to reach them that way.

In the pitch black, big swells and driving rain, it was not an easy job. And if anything were to go wrong in that gully, the crews on the larger lifeboat and in the helicopter would not have been able to help.

Still, Iain Dundas and his colleague volunteered to take the risk - it not being in their nature to leave people alone at sea.

Nigel Blazeby, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: "I was tremendously sad to hear that Iain had died following his brave struggle against cancer.

Iain was extremely proud of his Scottish roots, and it was perhaps fitting that he was on ‘Home Territory’ during his final days.

"We have a large Iain shaped hole at RNLI Salcombe, he will be deeply missed by not only us but his beloved family and all who knew him. Farewell our friend, fair winds to the other side."

Iain is also deeply missed by his beloved children, twin sons Nathan and Isaac and younger son Angus and the rest of his family in both England and Scotland.