AFTER many years of campaigning for Merchant Navy organisations, the Government has finally but reluctantly allowed us to have September 3 as Merchant Navy Day.
This day was chosen as the first casualties of the Second World War occured on that day in 1939.
The unarmed SS Athenia was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans and sunk, killing many crew and passengers within hours of war being declared.
This is to remember all the merchant seamen who gave their lives, not just in two world wars, but in several conflicts since, including the Falklands and Gulf War.
More than 40,000 seafarers have lost their lives, a greater percentage than the Army, Navy and airforce put together, and they have largely been ignored.
One man in three was killed.
The Army would have been useless without the troopships, tankers and cargo ships carrying all it's logistics.
The Navy and airforce would have had no fuel or supplies.
The population of Britain would have had no food or fuel.
Every seaman was a civilian volunteer, many from the age of 14, and a lot of young teenagers from Bolton were killed by the Germans, French and Japenese.
I knew two young Bolton lads, Billy Dempster, aged 16, of Settle Street, and Joe Farnworth, aged 17, of Dougal Street.
Billy was killed by a German submarine, east of Cape Race, in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Joe was killed by a German surface raider south of Ascension Island. There were thousand of others with no grave but the sea. I went to see various officials in the Town Hall and they have kindly said they will fly the Merchant Navy's Red Ensign on Sunday.
'A Sailor's Grave' is a poem by Captain Peter Boswell that says it all:
No cross marks the place where we now lie,
What happened is known but to us,
You asked and we gave our lives to protect our land from the enemy curse,
No Flanders Field where poppies grow,
No Gleeming Crosses, row on row,
No Unnamed Tomb for all to see and pause and wonder who we might be,
The Sailors Valhala is where we lie, on the ocean bed, watching ships sail by
Sailing in safety now through the waves,
Often right over our sea locked graves,
We ask you just to remember us.
Captain BH Aspinall
Vindicatrix Association
aspinallb@ic24.net
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article