Merchant Navy day
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This morning I went to the annual Merchant Navy Day Service. The difference this year was that a memorial was unveiled to commemorate the sacrifice of this service to the nation. Many former serving officers and others as well as representatives from Local Government and the other services came to participate in this act of worship.
The memorial was unveiled by a grandson of Britain's wartime Leader and he used excerpts from some of his grandfather's speeches to acknowledge the cost and the value of these people not only to Britain but to the wider eurpoean continent.
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Keith Greenway
(Homepage)
on 04 September 2008 at 18:29
They Bore the BruntBy Captain Joe Earl
They Bore the Brunt
They sailed the seas to bear the brunt,
They steamed the courses laid,
Ten thousand miles their battle front,
Unbacked and undismayed.
Fine seamen these of our great race,
From your seaport or town,
They risked their lives with danger faced
Until their ship went down.
Remember them - they held the line,
Won freedom on the way,
Remember them - their life was thine -
On merchant navy day.
J.Earl
MERCHANT NAVY DAY - September 3rd
Take a little care this day and glance above the tiles,
Perchance to see a flagpole visible for miles,
Atop of it a red flag proudly whipping tight,
A Merchant Navy ensign flying there by right.
From important buildings as well as from the sea.
It’s flown to honour mariners and shipping history,
Sailing through the years, transporting all the freight,
Conserving of the lifelines keeping Britain great.
If you glance aloft and see with knowing eye,
A `duster` at the masthead when you're passing by,
Please inform your offspring while going on to say,
A debt is owed to seamen under colours flown today.
Joe Earl
Although we applaud the work of the Commonwealth War Grave Commission and all bodies and individuals that attempt to remember, there is a failing that is not widely known. There are many names at Tower Hill, listed on plaques by ships name and crew. These are in both WWI and WWII sections and there is also a Falklands Memorial.
Nothing wrong with that, it is sad to see the names of the recorded lost Merchant Seamen that perished to save us all. The sad fact is that there are thousands of names and when we say "LEST WE FORGET" we are led to believe that this means all. Tower Hill would have to be enlarged immensely if this were to be the case.
The CWGC etc remembers and cares for the memorials and graves (if by chance there is / was a grave above the waves). However, unlike the armed forces, whom are remembered / commemorated regardless of event, the Merchant Navy has to meet strict criteria to be included.
An airman that died in a car crash would be commemorated, an RN sailor on home leave perhaps the same, a soldier in similar circumstances. But, a Merchant Seaman, had to perish in or due to a war time act, or have been involved in a wartime activity and died from the result etc of such enemy action to receive the same honour.
There are many, very many seamen, not commemorated at Tower Hill or by the CWGC etc. It may not be a failing of the organizations, whom I am certain, would like to remember all and not just some. But, a change in Government policy would have to be sought to remember all of our MN losses..
We shall remember them "LEST WE FORGET" should mean all of them. Over 40,000 seamen lost their lives in WWII. Men whose wages were stopped the moment a torpedo struck their ship. Men who still vividly remember the horrors of watching their shipmates drown or horribly burn to death when ships carrying high octane blew up in a fiery ball. Men who survived and returned home only to sign on and ship out yet again to face the enemy with guts and determination to make their heroic contribution to the war effort.
No matter what enemy action they faced, or medals won, in both World Wars, to die in port would not fit the criteria to be commemorated even today and the brave young men of the forgotten service remain forgotten. Some survived the First World War and much action, survived attacks in the Second World War and experiences that may have led to an early loss of life. But, without a direct hit from an Heinkel or a U.boat torpedo for example, they simply do not fit the official criteria.
Even today bereaved families struggle to gain commemoration for loved ones, frankly those that do not meet the criteria stand little chance of such commemoration. If by chance you can prove the case, there is now a delay in adjudication. An official presides over RN, RAF and Army claims to commemoration, although apparently there is no official to decide on the fate of an MN claim. We fear you will find that as a Nation, WE DO NOT REMEMBER ALL THAT SERVED and that is a National disgrace. I will be at Tower Hill again this year and attempt in my own way to remember all, Criteria met or not.
Not much respect still for brave men that put their lives on the line to feed a beleaguered country desperate for food and a war machine hungry for supplies. One survivor told how they even had to pay for the tiny MN badge that was the only recognition they had that they were part of the serving manpower. Yet another survivor told me how giggling girls would approach them on leave and present them with a white feather. They would be asked if MN stood for Maternity Nurse.
It has been said that if anyone was to see a “Silver Badge” with MN in an antique shop or a car boot sale – buy it. It would have been worn by a Merchant Navy Veteran who will sadly never be known. Perhaps thrown out by house clearance with not a thought, or, perhaps given away by a distant relative who did not know the significance of the letter MN. (Today most people would not know what those letters mean ! )