REMEMBERING FALLEN SEAFARERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2014 :: RMTnews 23 HEROES Don't speak to me of heroes until you've heard the tale Of Britain's merchant seamen who sailed through storm and gale To keep those lifelines open in our hour of need When a tyrant cast a shadow across our Island breed Captains, greasers, cabin boys mates and engineers Heard the call to duty cast aside their fears They stoked those hungry boilers and stood behind the wheel While cooks and stewards manned the guns on coffins made of steel They moved in icy convoys from Scapa to Murmansk And crossed the western ocean, never seeking thanks. They sailed the South Atlantic where raiders lay in wait And kept the food lines open from Malta to the Cape. Tracked by silent Uboats which hunted from below, Shelled by mighty cannons and fighter's flying low, They clung to burning lifeboats when the sea had turned to flame And watched their ship mates disappear to everlasting fame. I speak not of a handful but 3O,OOO plus, Some whose names we'll never know in whom we placed our trust. They never knew the honour of medals on their chests Or marching bands and victory and glory and the rest. The ocean is their resting place, their tombstone is the wind, The seabird's cry their last goodbye to family and friend. Freighters, troopships, liners and tankers by the score, Fishing boats and coasters, 2,000 ships and more They flew the Red Duster as they sank beneath the waves And took those countless heroes to lonely ocean graves. Their legacy is freedom to those who hold it dear To walk with clear horizons and never hide in fear So when you speak of heroes remember those at sea From Britain's Merchant Navy who died to keep us free. By David Partridge October 2002 LU ENGINEERING BRANCH NOMINATE MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY LEEDS CITY BRANCH NOMINATE MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY PADDINGTON NO1 BRANCH NOMINATE MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY NORWICH BRANCH SUPPORTS MICHAEL LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY KINGS CROSS SUPPORTS MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY NEASDEN BRANCH NOMINATES EAMONN LYNCH FOR COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES NEASDEN BRANCH NOMINATES MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY JUBILEE SOUTH BRANCH NOMINATE EAMONN LYNCH FOR COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES LONDON TRANSPORT JUBILEE SOUTH BRANCH NOMINATE MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY EUSTON N01 BRANCH NOMINATES MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY SOUTH LONDON RAIL BRANCH NOMINATES MICHAEL LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY IPSWICH BRANCH NOMINATES MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY GREAT NORTHERN RAIL BRANCH SUPPORTS MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY NORTH THAMES BRANCH SUPPORTS MICK LYNCH FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY CENTRAL LINE EAST BRANCH NOMINATES EAMONN LYNCH FOR COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES DORSET RAIL BRANCH NOMINATE ALAN POTTAGE FOR ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY REMEMBERING FALLEN SEAFARERS R MT general secretary Mick Cash and national secretary Steve Todd represented the union at the remembrance service at the Merchant Seamen’s War Memorial garden at Tower Hill, London on November 9. Both laid wreaths in memory of those seafarers that lost their lives in both world wars and other conflicts, over 35,000 men were lost in World War Two alone.