The Merchant Navy Day Commemorative Service 2007

[INFO MNA SERVICE]

The Merchant Navy Day Commemorative Services And Re-union
Sunday, 2 September 2007 at Tower Hill, London

A band of HM Royal Marines will lead the parade of Merchant Navy Standards and Standards of other Associations, followed by serving and retired Merchant Seafarers with other Organisations, leaving Mark Lane (Great Tower Street) for Trinity Square Gardens at 12.30 hours.

The Principal Guest will take the salute upon arrival of the Parade in Trinity Square Gardens. The multi-faith Commemorative Service and wreath-laying will be held at the Merchant Navy Memorial.

This Annual service is held on the Sunday nearest to Merchant Navy Day, 3rd September, in memory of Merchant Seafarers who died in World Wars I and II and in conflicts up to the present day.

Start Time: 12:30 hours

Venue: Merchant Navy Memorial, Trinity Square Gardens, Tower Hill, London EC3N 4AA

Nearest Tube Station: Tower Hill

Nearest Rail Stations: Fenchurch Street and Tower Gateway (DLR)
Attendance Information: Everyone is invited to attend. Medals may be worn

Contact: T M Brant, National Secretary, Merchant Navy Association. Tel: [phone] or E:mail: [e-mail]

[Info MNA Tower Hill]

From the Merchant Navy Day Commemorative Service, Tower Hill Memorial, Trinity Gardens. Sunday 2nd September 2007.

KOHIMA EPITAPH
Captain Shane Redmond OBE

" WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US. AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY "

I have just returned home from London, Tower Hill, along with many others, I was inspired to write a brief message on a Red Ensign card distributed by the British International Sailors Society and the Merchant Navy Association. I feel that I cannot, not repeat the above words. LEST WE FORGET.

THE REMEMBRANCE CARDS WERE LATER PLACED IN THE SUNKEN GARDEN: More information, a report on the service and pictures taken will be posted within our main pages of Her Name Was SS.

" THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD. AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM, NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN, AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

(4th verse, "For the fallen" by Laurence Binyon 1914.

The 2007 Merchant Navy Day Service took place today, on the 2nd September and will continue to take place on the closest Sunday to Merchant Navy Day, this declared as the date of the first Merchant Ship sunk by the enemy at 11.15 hrs on 3rd September 1939.

The MV Athenia, less than 12 hours after war was declared was torpedoed by the U-30 and sank with the loss of 112 lives. And so it began, again. " WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US. AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY ". We should all remember them today and tommorow and may be even more often.

Further thoughts are not only of these brave men of WW1 and WW2, but of all men, women and children "Still not home from the sea". Keith.

[KG]

Remembering Our Debt To The Merchant Navy
From: southtyneside.info

A Service of Remembrance was held and wreaths laid at Tyne Dock, South Shields, where a statue pays tribute to the seamen of the Merchant Navy who sailed from the port in the Second World War.

On Merchant Navy Memorial Day last Sunday, a service was held at the chapel in the Mission to Seafarers, Mill Dam, by its Padre, the Reverend Andrew Bealing. It was attended by the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside, Councillor Ed Malcolm and Mrs Alice Malcolm, active seafarers, members of the British Legion and veterans of the Russian convoys.

After the service, a procession made its way to the Merchant Navy Memorial, where there was another short service and where Councillor Malcolm laid a wreath on behalf of South Tyneside Council. The Red Ensign, the flag of the Merchant Navy was flown on South Shields Town Hall.

Councillor Malcolm said: "It is an honour to lay this wreath on behalf of the Council and pay tribute to seafarers throughout the years - especially to the many thousands who left from here to serve their country during the Second World War.
"Merchant Navy Memorial Day was set up by John Prescott in 2000 so it is still a relatively new event but the qualities it honours, of duty, steadfastness, courage and stamina, are well-known to those members of this so-called Fourth Service."

The Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill in London records the names of 36,000 seafarers of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars and have no known grave but the sea.

In the Second World War the Merchant Navy had a higher ratio of casualties than any of the Armed Services. The total sacrifice during the 20th Century is known to be more than 46,000 men and women.

southtyneside.info

If you know of any other press / media coverage, we would love to hear from you. Our praise to those in the news reporting communities of: South Tyneside and to the local communities that obviously have remembered.

"It is said on many war memorials 'Their name liveth for ever more”, hopefully, following this years events and the lack of media coverage, in future with the full co-opration of our National News Bodies, Those that come after them, will ensure that they are not forgotten.

KOHIMA EPITAPH
Captain Shane Redmond OBE

" WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US. AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY "

KG.

[A READER]

Presiding Officer to join veterans to mark Merchant Navy Day

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales will attend the annual Merchant Navy Day service at the Merchant Navy Memorial in Cardiff Bay, on Saturday May 24th and then host a reception in the Senedd for those who attend the service.

Strong links exist between the Assembly and the Merchant Navy Association. The Merchant Navy Memorial, which forms the focal point for remembrance of the sacrifices made by the Merchant Navy sailing from Welsh ports in two World Wars, is sited on the Senedd’s slate plinth. The Presiding Officer has regularly supported the Merchant Navy Association’s annual service of remembrance at the memorial.

Lord Elis-Thomas said: “The National Assembly is enormously proud that the merchant navy memorial is so close to our home in Cardiff Bay. The Pierhead building, part of the Assembly’s estate, was also a welcoming site for thousands of merchant seamen as they returned to the port of Cardiff after months at sea. It is vitally important that the Assembly has close links with the Merchant Navy Association, as we recognise and honour the vital contribution made by merchant seamen from this area during the Second World War.”

May 24th

Start time: 1030

Annual Parade and Service, Cardiff Bay. The Parade will form up at Mount Stuart Square at 1000 ready to march off at 1030 for the Seafarers Memorial adjacent to the National Assembly for Wales building. The Service at the Memorial will commence at 1100.