THE Merchant Navy has been the unsung and forgotten hero of two world wars and with the help of the Earl of Wessex is gaining some recognition of its enormous contribution to the safety and welfare of the United Kingdom and Western Europe.

On Thursday, September 3 the Red Ensign was flown from the flagpole on the Tavistock Town Hall.  This was to commemorate ‘Merchant Navy Day’. 

At least 35,000 British Merchant sailors were killed in the Second World War, a greater proportion of the Merchant Navy’s strength than was lost by any of the other three services. 

Our Merchant fleet with 22,000 personnel is still at sea around the clock, around the world. 95% of UK Trade is carried by sea.  The annual Merchant Navy Day service was on Sunday, September 6 at the National Memorial on Tower Hill, London.

Many current and ex Merchant Navy men and women reside in and around Tavistock and some were trained at the Plymouth Navigation School (now the oldest part of Plymouth University).

Many of the wives in recent years also went to sea with their husbands and this recognition will be appreciated by all of them as for many years it was the wives left at home for months and sometimes years who campaigned for better conditions and leave, through an organisation called  “The Watch Ashore” which still operates today.

 Captain Chris Spencer

FNI HonFIIMS

Deer Park Close

Tavistock