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The Merchant Navy Memorial
Previous page - The Unveiling - 3rd September 2008
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The statue stands on the lawn outside the Gateway flats. It
depicts a Merchant seaman keeping watch on the waves.
In July 1941 Winston Churchill said, "The
Merchant Navy, with Allied comrades, night and day, in weather
fair or foul, faces not only the ordinary perils on the sea, but
the sudden assaults of war from beneath the waters or from the
sky."
"No fewer than 2,627 of our ships were sunk," said Winston
Spencer Churchill, at the unveiling. There were, according to
his grandfather in April 1941, never "less than 2,000 ships
afloat and 300 to 400 in the danger areas." Nine months later,
the war-time Prime Minister added, "But for the Merchant Navy
who bring us the food and munitions of war, Britain would be in
a perilous state and ...the Army, Navy, and Air Force could not
operate." The panels on the memorial tell more.
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 In
remembrance of Merchant Navy seamen who lost their lives
in World War II 1939-1945. They sustained heavy losses.
1 in 3 Merchant Navy seamen did not survive the war.
Merchant Navy seamen killed 30,248. Missing 4,654..
Wounded 4,707. Prisoner of War 5.720. Total casualties
45,329.
"Look out to sea and say a prayer for those
who rest beneath. They gave their lives that you may
share a Europe that is free." Donald Hunter |
 In
remembrance of Merchant Navy seamen who gave their lives
in operation Neptune, the code-name for the D Day
landing June 6th to September 1944, the large seaborne
operation to land and supply our armies in Normandy,
France. The objective was to free France and so complete
the first phase of the liberation of Europe. One of
these convoy routes was from London docks via the Dover
Straits to Normandy. The enemy attacks along this convoy
route along the French occupied and heavily fortified
coast took a heavy toll in the lives of Merchant seamen.
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 The
Battle of the Atlantic. This was the longest battle of
WWII which lasted from September 1939 to May 1945.
During this battle the Merchant Navy sustained their
heaviest losses of ships and their crews. In remembrance
of those seamen who gave their lives in order to keep
Britain's 'lifeline' open to transport troops and vital
raw materials. They paid a heavy price |
 This
Merchant Navy War Memorial was funded by donations to
the Dover & District Merchant Navy Memorial Fund in
remembrance of the Merchant Navy seamen who lost their
lives in World War II.
Founder and fund-raiser Donald
Hunter Legion d'Honneur MN (WWII) Sculptor Vivian
Mallock |
Beneath the world-famous white cliffs,
civilians and service people, many of them with memories of the
war, others with special reason to be grateful for liberation,
all of us kin to those who had served in war-time, came to pay
their respects.
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The ambassador from Norway, Mr Bjarne Lindstrøm, laid a
wreath at the nearby floral memorial to the Royal
Norwegian Navy, who operated from Dover from 1940 to
1945, as did the 52nd (Norwegian) mine-laying flotilla
between 1942 and 1945. |
The ceremony concluded with words from Donald Hunter.
"My heartfelt thanks goes to the many individuals, veterans
associations and corporations from Kent, throughout the United
Kingdom, Canada and America who have
 supported our
Fund with their donations, without their support this Memorial
would not have been possible.
"I
believe this Memorial is long overdue, in Remembrance of those
brave Merchant Navy sailors who gave their lives in WW2, in that
fight for the freedom which we enjoy to-day."
The Chairman of the Dover District Council, Bernard Butcher,
thanked everyone for attending. "Our generation was not born ...
but our world could have been very different. We have a lot to
be thankful for."
The Merchant Seaman now stands, forever gazing out upon the
English Channel. Alert guardian of our shore,
perhaps he thinks too of the many
 comrades
he lost beneath the waters, their graves marked by white-flecked
waves.
One who returned was Alfred Webb. Maggie's father, he served on
the Atlantic convoys. An engineer, working below the waterline,
he heard vessels torpedoed around him. For the rest of his life,
he never forgot the friends he left behind.
May they rest in peace.
Previous page - The Unveiling - 3rd September 2008
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Copyright 2008 © Marilyn Stephenson-Knight. All Rights Reserved |
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