ONE day in the mid 1940s, crewmen of the RAF rescue boat Flying Norseman posed proudly by the home-made wooden nameplate of their vessel.

The location was probably the sweltering Strait of Malacca, between what is now Malaysia and the island of Sumatra, but may have been the South China Sea on the other side of Malaysia.

The men’s duties during World War Two had included plucking downed Allied airmen from the sea and spiriting them from under the noses of the patrolling Japanese.

More than 60 years on, the nameplate is cherished by the daughter of one of ship’s company, a man who took the secrets of his heroism to his grave.

Earlier this month, we told you about a collection of wartime Christmas cards sent to the late Monica Lewis by friends and family, and discovered by her daughter, Josie Lewis.

Josie’s finds also included a stash of papers and ephemera belonging to her late father, Joseph Richard Lewis, who was born in 1924 and lived to be 81.

“He grew up in Beatrice Street and later lived in Tiverton Road in Gorse Hill,” said Josie, who works at the Wyvern Theatre and now lives at the Tiverton Road house.

“He worked at Wills’s for all of his life apart from his service years. He was called up. During the war years he served in Egypt and Madras.”

Joseph also served in the Far East, including a long stint near the island of Penang, off the coast of what was then a British colony called the Straits Settlements but is now Malaysia.

The ephemera discovered by Rosie includes not just the nameplate and photographs but also Joseph’s RAF service book and a terse diary he occasionally kept in 1944.

Entries in the latter are enigmatic. “Recuperating from the trip,” reads one. “We shot up a duck pond – what a show,” reads another. “Never borrow what you cannot repay,” says still another.

Whether these words describe ordinary events or allude to military action will never be known.

The service book lists him as Leading Aircraftman 1850537 Lewis, who served from January 10, 1942 until July 6, 1947. His character is listed as “very good”, his proficency as “satisfactory” and his decorations as the War Medal, the 1939-45 Star, the Defence Medal and the Burma Star.

“He would never speak about his service,” said Josie. “He would say he never did much, just rescued people off Penang.”

In fact, the rescue boat crews had a highly dangerous role, and were almost constantly at risk of being killed or captured by the Japanese. Imperial Japan’s utter disregard for prisoners’ human rights meant many Allied personnel saw death as the better option.

At the end of his service, Joseph sailed home aboard a ship called the Queen of Bermuda, and was finally demobbed after docking at Liverpool.

“Dad brought the nameplate home with him,” said Rosie. “It was in the garage for donkeys’ years.”