Post by KG on Sept 5, 2009 15:11:10 GMT
Red Ensign flies as Merchant Navy Day turns ten
The Red Ensign will fly for the very first time ever on Tower Bridge on Sunday 6 September to mark Merchant Navy Day.
The Red Ensign will be flying while a Merchant Navy Day Commemorative Service takes place at nearby Trinity Gardens, Tower Hill, London.
Merchant Navy Day has been held every year since 2000, on September 3.
The date marks the first shipping casualty of the Second World War in 1939, which occurred with the sinking of the Donaldson Line passenger ship, Athenia, and the loss of 112 passengers and crew.
In honour of the sacrifices made during the two World Wars, the Merchant Navy lays wreaths of remembrance alongside the armed forces during the annual Remembrance Day service on 11 November. Following many years of lobbying to bring about official recognition of the sacrifices made by merchant seaman in two world wars and since, Merchant Navy Day became an official day of remembrance on 3 September 2000.
The decision to hold a Merchant Navy Day was announced by former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in September 1999. The purpose was to raise the profile of British shipping as a career option and to increase the number of British seafarers.
Ten years after it was introduced, Merchant Navy Day continues to celebrate the British shipping industry as well as providing an opportunity to remember the sacrifices made by merchant seamen over the years.
Second World War 70th anniversary:
At 11.15am on September 3, 1939, through crackling airwaves, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made the grave announcement that, despite his efforts to ensure peace, Britain was at war with Germany.
Millions of people listened to his words that day: “This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
“I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and consequently this country is at war with Germany.”
The first shot
The Second World War began with the sinking of the British passenger ship SS Athenia.
A torpedo fired by a German U-boat struck the liner – in the first hostile act of the Second World War between Britain and Germany.
On the morning of September 3, Britain declared war on Germany after an ultimatum to withdraw from Poland was ignored. The SS Athenia, having been warned about the danger of U-boat attack, began to zigzag in an attempt to avoid the feared torpedoes.
However, on board U-30, Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp mistakenly interpreted the evasive manoeuvring as a sign that this was an armoured merchant cruiser and, after tracking the liner for three hours, opened fire at 7.40pm. One torpedo misfired, the other did not.
KG.
A LETTER TO PRESS AND MEDIA:
Forgotten heroes of the Merchant Navy
You shamefully overlook the contribution made to Britain's war effort by the Merchant Navy ("The day we went to war, 70 years on", 3 September). The worse as 3 September is celebrated by merchant seamen as Merchant Navy Day, in recognition of the fact that merchant seafarers were among the first British casualties of the war with the sinking of the liner Athenia on that date in 1939.
The British Merchant Navy lost a greater proportion of its number – some 30,000 men – than any of the armed services, yet is routinely ignored by the media who apparently forget that without the dedication of these volunteer, civilian seamen the war would surely have been lost. There would have been no raw materials to build armaments, no fuel to drive industry and the war machine, and, most importantly of all, no food supplies for Britain to feed her people.
T. Smith
They Bore the Brunt
By Joe Earl
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
The Red Ensign will fly for the very first time ever on Tower Bridge on Sunday 6 September to mark Merchant Navy Day.
The Red Ensign will be flying while a Merchant Navy Day Commemorative Service takes place at nearby Trinity Gardens, Tower Hill, London.
Merchant Navy Day has been held every year since 2000, on September 3.
The date marks the first shipping casualty of the Second World War in 1939, which occurred with the sinking of the Donaldson Line passenger ship, Athenia, and the loss of 112 passengers and crew.
In honour of the sacrifices made during the two World Wars, the Merchant Navy lays wreaths of remembrance alongside the armed forces during the annual Remembrance Day service on 11 November. Following many years of lobbying to bring about official recognition of the sacrifices made by merchant seaman in two world wars and since, Merchant Navy Day became an official day of remembrance on 3 September 2000.
The decision to hold a Merchant Navy Day was announced by former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in September 1999. The purpose was to raise the profile of British shipping as a career option and to increase the number of British seafarers.
Ten years after it was introduced, Merchant Navy Day continues to celebrate the British shipping industry as well as providing an opportunity to remember the sacrifices made by merchant seamen over the years.
Second World War 70th anniversary:
At 11.15am on September 3, 1939, through crackling airwaves, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made the grave announcement that, despite his efforts to ensure peace, Britain was at war with Germany.
Millions of people listened to his words that day: “This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
“I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and consequently this country is at war with Germany.”
The first shot
The Second World War began with the sinking of the British passenger ship SS Athenia.
A torpedo fired by a German U-boat struck the liner – in the first hostile act of the Second World War between Britain and Germany.
On the morning of September 3, Britain declared war on Germany after an ultimatum to withdraw from Poland was ignored. The SS Athenia, having been warned about the danger of U-boat attack, began to zigzag in an attempt to avoid the feared torpedoes.
However, on board U-30, Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp mistakenly interpreted the evasive manoeuvring as a sign that this was an armoured merchant cruiser and, after tracking the liner for three hours, opened fire at 7.40pm. One torpedo misfired, the other did not.
KG.
A LETTER TO PRESS AND MEDIA:
Forgotten heroes of the Merchant Navy
You shamefully overlook the contribution made to Britain's war effort by the Merchant Navy ("The day we went to war, 70 years on", 3 September). The worse as 3 September is celebrated by merchant seamen as Merchant Navy Day, in recognition of the fact that merchant seafarers were among the first British casualties of the war with the sinking of the liner Athenia on that date in 1939.
The British Merchant Navy lost a greater proportion of its number – some 30,000 men – than any of the armed services, yet is routinely ignored by the media who apparently forget that without the dedication of these volunteer, civilian seamen the war would surely have been lost. There would have been no raw materials to build armaments, no fuel to drive industry and the war machine, and, most importantly of all, no food supplies for Britain to feed her people.
T. Smith
They Bore the Brunt
By Joe Earl
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