Remember another group of unsung heroes

[howardang]

On Thursday, like many others, I clap all the heroes of the NHS and the others that are looking after us during the lockdown. Please also remember another group of unsung heroes who make it possible to have food on the table and bring all the multitude of goods that make our lives more tolerable. The pandemic is causing many issues which they have to overcome in addition to the normal hazards of their profession.

Here is a short clip to illustrate the point.

https://www.ics-shipping.org/free-resources/employment-and-training/employment-affairs/ics---heroesatseashoutout

 

It is also timely that we also remember their predecessors on Friday when celebrating VE day. They seldom get a mention and yet contributed so much to the war effort.

 

 

Howard

[Sir Nibble]

     Maybe we should get together a list of the truly useless. The style gurus and influencers, sports "stars", homeopaths, astrologers, ministers of religion and other purveyors of quackery, and have a special day to sympathise with the fact that everyone else is at least useful. Call it "parasites day" or something and take the time to remind them that even if they travel first class they are still passengers on humanity's journey and absolutely everyone is deserving of applause but them. They can make YouTube videos singing little songs about how if thrown onto their own resources they'd starve and thanking society for giving them a free ride.

[blackrose]

7 minutes ago, Sir Nibble said:

     Maybe we should get together a list of the truly useless. The style gurus and influencers, sports "stars", homeopaths, astrologers, ministers of religion and other purveyors of quackery, and have a special day to sympathise with the fact that everyone else is at least useful. Call it "parasites day" or something and take the time to remind them that even if they travel first class they are still passengers on humanity's journey and absolutely everyone is deserving of applause but them. They can make YouTube videos singing little songs about how if thrown onto their own resources they'd starve and thanking society for giving them a free ride.

 

Why don't you tell us how you really feel about them? ?

[Sir Nibble]

1 minute ago, blackrose said:

 

Why don't you tell us how you really feel about them? ?

In truth, it's not actually them is it. A shallow society has created the conditions for them to thrive. Alternative healing wouldn't survive if it wasn't for people with alternative brain functions actually willing to give them money.

[Athy]

Howard, your tribute is justified, but why so low-key? We have to click the link to find out whom you're talking about.           

For anyone that has't, Howard is praising sailors, and rightly so.

[GUMPY]

32 minutes ago, Sir Nibble said:

     Maybe we should get together a list of the truly useless. The style gurus and influencers, sports "stars", homeopaths, astrologers, ministers of religion and other purveyors of quackery, and have a special day to sympathise with the fact that everyone else is at least useful. Call it "parasites day" or something and take the time to remind them that even if they travel first class they are still passengers on humanity's journey and absolutely everyone is deserving of applause but them. They can make YouTube videos singing little songs about how if thrown onto their own resources they'd starve and thanking society for giving them a free ride.

Hardly surprising that they are so useless considering that they are descended from the passengers of

Golgafrincham Ark Fleet, Ship B 

[howardang]

5 minutes ago, Athy said:

Howard, your tribute is justified, but why so low-key? We have to click the link to find out whom you're talking about.           

For anyone that has't, Howard is praising sailors, and rightly so.

 

6 minutes ago, Athy said:

Howard, your tribute is justified, but why so low-key? We have to click the link to find out whom you're talking about.           

For anyone that has't, Howard is praising sailors, and rightly so.

Maybe you're right,, and i thought we were supposed to be a nation of seafarers. How times have changed! At the moment, because of other travel restrictions, there are many thousands of seafarers who are stuck at sea with little chance of  leave, and these are the people that we rely on day in day out to bring us the vital supplies (and some not quite so vital) that sustains us in the manner to which we are accustomed;  I thought the last few words of the clip contains a clue to the content  of the clip"Heroes at sea shout out"

 

The last para is surely self evident

 

Howard

 

[mrsmelly]

10 hours ago, howardang said:

On Thursday, like many others, I clap all the heroes of the NHS and the others that are looking after us during the lockdown. Please also remember another group of unsung heroes who make it possible to have food on the table and bring all the multitude of goods that make our lives more tolerable. The pandemic is causing many issues which they have to overcome in addition to the normal hazards of their profession.

Here is a short clip to illustrate the point.

https://www.ics-shipping.org/free-resources/employment-and-training/employment-affairs/ics---heroesatseashoutout

 

It is also timely that we also remember their predecessors on Friday when celebrating VE day. They seldom get a mention and yet contributed so much to the war effort.

 

 

Howard

Well said Howard. The Red duster indeed lost more men in ww2 than any armed force as a percentage. My old Dad was in the north atlantic convoys and sunk twice, he was also part of operation Pedestal with the Ohio, I have his medal presented by the Malta government some years later, unsung indeed.

[TheBiscuits]

38 minutes ago, Sir Nibble said:

In truth, it's not actually them is it. A shallow society has created the conditions for them to thrive. Alternative healing wouldn't survive if it wasn't for people with alternative brain functions actually willing to give them money.

 

Jump on the bandwagon yourself.

 

Offer to "adjust their electrical potential" or some such for eleventy million quid, then taser them ...

[Athy]

 

Sometimes they were "unsung" by order. The man who would become my father was, as a young R.A. officer, shipwrecked when the liner evacuating him and thousands of other troops from St. Nazaire in 1940 was Stuka'd and sunk. Obviously he survived; many didn't. Years later, maybe 1970s, we saw a T.V. programme about the ship, Lancastria, which told us that the incident had been kept secret so as not to affect British morale. It had never been a secret in our house! Dad sometimes talked about that day, but I never thought to ask him whether the crew were R.N. or Merchant Navy. As it was a commandeered liner (Cunard?), probably the latter.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Athy

[howardang]

3 minutes ago, Athy said:

 

Sometimes they were "unsung" by order. The man who wold become my father was, as a young R.A. officer, shipwrecked when the liner evacuating him and thousands of other troops from St. Nazaire in 1940 was Stuka'd and sunk. Obviously he survived; many didn't. Years later, maybe 1970s, we saw a T.V. programme about the ship. Lancastria, which told us that the incident had been kept secret so as not to affect British morale. It had never been a secret in our house! Dad sometimes talked about that day, but I never thought to ask him whether the crew were R.N. or merchant navy. As it was a commendeered liner (Cunard?), probably the latter.

Yes, the Lancastria sinking  was kept very quiet because of the potential damage to morale and there are people to this day who are unaware of this tragedy, the largest single ship loss of life  on a British ship. I am very aware of the history of Lancastria which was indeed  a Cunard passenger ship  because my old company was indeed Cunard.

 

Howard

[Tony Brooks]

May I suggest if anyone is near Tower Hill in London they take a few minutes to visit the Merchant Navy Memorial on the opposite side of the road to the tower. Then spend a few moments reading the plaques and in contemplation.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Tony Brooks

[system 4-50]

56 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

The Red duster indeed lost more men in ww2 than any armed force as a percentage.

I thought that distinction went to the German submarine service?

[mrsmelly]

10 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

May I suggest if anyone is near Tower Hill in London they take a few minutes to visit the Merchant Navy Memorial on the opposite side of the road to the tower. Then spend a few moments reading the plaques and in contemplation.

My Uncle, my old Dads brother is there on Panel number 50. On the Fort Lamy carrying a hold full of explosives was torpedoed by U 527 and blown to smithereens. 46 killed with only 5 survivors who were on the upper deck and blown into the sea. Anyone interested in the MN at times of war try to find a copy of " The Red duster at war "

3 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

I thought that distinction went to the German submarine service?

Lol, I wasnt counting the enemy, I have no idea of their losses but hopefuly as the instigators their losses were greater than ours.

[GUMPY]

38 minutes ago, howardang said:

Yes, the Lancastria sinking  was kept very quiet because of the potential damage to morale and there are people to this day who are unaware of this tragedy, the largest single ship loss of life  on a British ship. I am very aware of the history of Lancastria which was indeed  a Cunard passenger ship  because my old company was indeed Cunard.

 

Howard

My  father was Yeoman of Signals on the Curacoa  which was sunk by a Cunard liner.

The sinking was kept secret until after the war, he never really spoke about it and although he taught me to swim he never went swimming in the sea after that.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Curacoa_(D41)

 

[howardang]

48 minutes ago, Loddon said:

My  father was Yeoman of Signals on the Curacoa  which was sunk by a Cunard liner.

The sinking was kept secret until after the war, he never really spoke about it and although he taught me to swim he never went swimming in the sea after that.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Curacoa_(D41)

 

I joined Cunard as a young navigating officer in 1965, and my interview in Cunard Buildings, Liverpool was conducted by the Marine Superintendent, Captain Robinson. During the war Capt Robinson was one of the Navigating Officers of Queen Mary and was just returning to the bridge after his lunch when the QM sliced through Curacao, cutting the cruiser in two and causing many casualties, with 338 losing their lives. As soon as war ended Capt Robinson left the sea and became Marine Superintendent of Cunard. He was a perfect gentleman, but although he was not to blame, he was the Officer of the watch and the collision affected him, and he never returned to the sea.

 

You may be interested in this description of the incident. 

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMSCuracoa.html

 

Howard

[howardang]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

May I suggest if anyone is near Tower Hill in London they take a few minutes to visit the Merchant Navy Memorial on the opposite side of the road to the tower. Then spend a few moments reading the plaques and in contemplation.

The Merchant navy memorial is located right outside Trinity House, very near to Tower Hill Tube station and there is a book of remembrance kept inside Trinity House where the page is turned every day to remember those who lost their lives on that day during previous conflicts.

 

Howard

[roland elsdon]

2 hours ago, Loddon said:

Hardly surprising that they are so useless considering that they are descended from the passengers of

Golgafrincham Ark Fleet, Ship B 

Telephone sanitisers are currently heroes, 

[GUMPY]

19 minutes ago, howardang said:

I joined Cunard as a young navigating officer in 1965, and my interview in Cunard Buildings, Liverpool was conducted by the Marine Superintendent, Captain Robinson. During the war Capt Robinson was one of the Navigating Officers of Queen Mary and was just returning to the bridge after his lunch when the QM sliced through Curacao, cutting the cruiser in two and causing many casualties, with 338 losing their lives. As soon as war ended Capt Robinson left the sea and became Marine Superintendent of Cunard. He was a perfect gentleman, but although he was not to blame, he was the Officer of the watch and the collision affected him, and he never returned to the sea.

 

You may be interested in this description of the incident. 

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMSCuracoa.html

 

Howard

A family tale says that my father was off watch and below decks when it happened, he heard a bang went up on deck to see what had happened, then went back to get his wallet before escaping the ship. My mother insisted it was true, its interesting how people react in times of danger

I do have an interesting DVD taken from a TV program  called Deep Wreck Mysteries about the Curacoa wreck site.

 

Edited May 5, 2020 by Loddon

[Dav and Pen]

I went to sea in 1958 as Deck Apprentice with Shell . All the older officers and the senior crew had been through ww2 and one of my jobs was to wake the petty officers and make sure they were up. The pump man slept with his false teeth on a bit of string round his neck, not a pretty sight. I asked him why he did this and he said he had been torpedoed twice and once 2 weeks in a lifeboat without his teeth!

I had to wake the bosun last because if he got to the hot press first he ate everybody’s breakfast.

These men kept going back to sea despite the horrific losses because it was their live although they would have been much safer in the Army.

on Friday I will be flying the red ensign in my front garden and drink to the 39000 lost and to the survivors who were scarred by it. I will have a Rum and Coke first tasted as a 16 year old in Curaçao. 

[howardang]

2 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

I went to sea in 1958 as Deck Apprentice with Shell . All the older officers and the senior crew had been through ww2 and one of my jobs was to wake the petty officers and make sure they were up. The pump man slept with his false teeth on a bit of string round his neck, not a pretty sight. I asked him why he did this and he said he had been torpedoed twice and once 2 weeks in a lifeboat without his teeth!

I had to wake the bosun last because if he got to the hot press first he ate everybody’s breakfast.

These men kept going back to sea despite the horrific losses because it was their live although they would have been much safer in the Army.

on Friday I will be flying the red ensign in my front garden and drink to the 39000 lost and to the survivors who were scarred by it. I will have a Rum and Coke first tasted as a 16 year old in Curaçao. 

You and I are from the same generation of seafarers. I joined as  a cadet in 1959 , firstly at Warsash and then with South American Saint Line, and remember many stories from those who had been at sea during the war. Like you I will be raising a glass on Friday to all those who were lost and to the survivors but it won't be rum and coke;  once bitten twice shy (I still have the remains of the hangover!).

 

Regards

 

Howard

[Dav and Pen]

14 minutes ago, howardang said:

You and I are from the same generation of seafarers. I joined as  a cadet in 1959 , firstly at Warsash and then with South American Saint Line, and remember many stories from those who had been at sea during the war. Like you I will be raising a glass on Friday to all those who were lost and to the survivors but it won't be rum and coke;  once bitten twice shy (I still have the remains of the hangover!).

 

Regards

 

Howard

Fresh from school and never having been out of the country to go to Curaçao as the first foreign place ever and sail into the lagoon claimed to be the base of a famous pirate was just so exciting as was the first rum and coke in Willemstad. On Shell we had an issue of rum when tank cleaning, us apprentices used to bottle it (if the second mate didn’t notice) and drink it playing cards on a Sunday. Lot of bad habits picked up quite easily really.

Regards David

[Sir Nibble]

Not the merchant marine but still a salutary tale. In 1982 after the sinking of the belgrano and the Gotcha headline, a Sun journalist sought a quote from an old veteran during a vox Pop in Portsmouth and was told "you're in the wrong place, we're seamen in this town and we don't cheer about drowned sailors whoever they are".

[davem399]

4 hours ago, howardang said:

You and I are from the same generation of seafarers. I joined as  a cadet in 1959 , firstly at Warsash and then with South American Saint Line, and remember many stories from those who had been at sea during the war. Like you I will be raising a glass on Friday to all those who were lost and to the survivors but it won't be rum and coke;  once bitten twice shy (I still have the remains of the hangover!).

 

Regards

 

Howard

Another ex seafarer here, but of a later generation.  I was an engineer cadet, 1971 intake with BP.  I don't recollect sailing with any WW2 veterans, I think most would have retired by then (you could retire at 50).  I too have visited the MN memorial at Tower Hill, looking particularly at the large number of men and ships my old company lost in the war.

BP had about 9 ships involved in the Falklands War.  I was on leave at the time but joined one of the ships in Portland on its return from the South Atlantic.  It had a lucky escape when a bomb from an Argentinian transporter plane landed on the deck, bounced over the side and exploded alongside the ship.  The ship was not damaged, but the shock of the explosion tripped the electrical breakers on the switchboard and blacked out the ship.

I will also be raising all class to all the seafarers on Friday, as well as to all the forces personnel and civilians who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Edited May 5, 2020 by davem399

[Machpoint005]

9 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

>> I wasnt counting the enemy, I have no idea of their losses but hopefuly as the instigators their losses were greater than ours.<<

 

Many of them were conscripted, just as our servicemen were.

Had your ancestors been born in Germany ...