Wildfowlers in deep water

Along with three members of Lough Neagh Sailing Club, the police inspector braved the gale-lashed waters of the Lough at Emerson’s Bay to rescue two men trapped by rising waters on a “flat”, where they had spent the day duck-shooting.

A team of Lurgan policemen went to work on the mission of mercy shortly after 6pm when an off-duty policeman raised the alarm. He had been duck-shooting with the men, but when it became dark he realised his friends hadn’t made it back to the mainland.

Local police frantically tried to get a boat and at one stage contacted the Army for assistance, but they had no rescue craft or a helicopter available for the operation.

However, Lough Neagh Sailing Club offered the use of their rescue craft and the police inspector set out with a couple of club members to search for the trapped wildfowlers

“Our job was made more difficult because we did not know which island or flat they were on. We reached one island, but they were not there and all the time the water was rising,” said the inspector.

The two wildfowlers were found in a half-frozen condition.

A police inspector paid tribute to the sailing club members, saying the rescue might not have had a happy ending without their assistance.

On his own part in the rescue he said: “That’s the sort of job that adds variety to the beat. It was a pretty cold and rough experience for a land lubber like myself. I’m glad it had a happy ending.”

The two men had been wildfowling on the Lough since 8:30am. After the rescue the two men were reported to be none the worse off for their ordeal.

They had gone to the flat in a small fibreglass boat, but rough water and darkness had prevented a safe return to the mainland about 250 yards away.