Our New President – Captain Jack Boddington, K.St.J.

 

As members will be aware, Jack Boddington was elected as our new President at the Society’s 21^st Birthday celebrations.  Jack has had a long and varied career and the following notes give just a flavour of his many awards and achievements.

 

Jack was born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1926 and later joined the Army, serving in India during the partition years of 1946-7 with both the Manchester Regiment and the Lancashire Fusiliers.  After some time in Egypt he was hospitalised back to the UK suffering from typhoid fever.

 

Discharged from the Army as a Lieutenant he emigrated to Canada in 1956 and, in addition to his profession in the health and recreation field, served in the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Canadian Militia, taking his discharge into the Canadian Army Reserve, as a Captain, in 1962.  He has been associated, in one way or another, with many organisations dealing with life saving and has accumulated an enviable record of service:

 

The Royal Life Saving Society:  Honoured in 1999 with the highest designation for service that the RLSS can offer, Commonwealth Vice President, personally presented by the President of the Society, His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, KCVO; awarded the Service Cross in 1962 with a further five bars 1964, 1968, 1975, 1981 and 1988 (a Commonwealth record); for proficiency, the Diploma 1962; the Alberta & Northwest Territories Branch Honorary Life Governor 1980.

 

The Canadian Red Cross Society:  Created a Member of the Order of the Red Cross (Canada) 1993

 

St. John Ambulance: Admitted to the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem as Serving Brother 1966, Officer Brother 1978, Commander Brother 1982, Knight of Grace 1992.

 

Canadian Lifeboat Institution:  Awarded Patron’s Gold Medal 2000

 

Royal National Lifeboat Institution:  Governor 1998

 

Royal Humane Society:  Governor 1970 to present

 

Jack is a member of the Life Saving Awards Research Society (No.13); the Orders & Medals Research Society (No.478 – Silver Award of Merit 1992); the Orders & Medals Society of America (Distinguished Member No.15) and the Military Collectors’ Club of Canada (Founding Life Member No.1)

 

In addition to many articles published by these organisations, Jack has authored several privately published books and monographs on life saving medals:

 

• Canadian Life Saving Medals & other awards, 1982
• A Medallic History of the Royal Life Saving Society, 1983
• That Others May Live (Life Saving Medals of the Life Insurance Co. of Alberta), 1989
• A Conquered Sea (an illustrated record of the United States Presidential Life Saving Medal and Related Awards), 1990
• Whomsoever You See in Distress (The Mountbatten Medal of the Royal Life Saving Society), 1991
• Women and Children First (Medals for Specific Life Saving Incidents), 1991
• Canadian Life Saving & Other Awards, Update 1991
• The Entombed (British Mining Disasters & the Rescuers Medals), 1992
• Courage of the Highest Order (The Stanhope Medal of the Royal Humane Society 1873-1994), 1998.

 

As regards actual life saving awards to Jack, among others, he holds Our Dumb Friends League Silver Medal (Wales 1946) for rescuing a sheep from the River Dee floods, and the Silver Medal of the Royal Canadian Humane Association (Saskatchewan 1975) for a rescue from a vehicle fire.

 

Jack has always been a keen swimmer and still competes in the Masters Swimming in the 80 plus class.  In 2006 he took four gold medals in the Canadian Championships (breaking a couple of Canadian records in the process) and then went on to the World Championships in Palo Alto, California and came home with an 8^th place medal for the 50m backstroke. 

 

2007 was a blank year due to a stay in hospital, but he was swimming again this year at the 2008 Canadian Masters Swimming Championships in Quebec City, and yes – bionic Jack came home with two Gold and three Silver medals.

 

As Jack says, “All this swimming keeps me clean“, but the Editor prefers “There’s still life in the old dog yet!”

 

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