Lest we forget

[Ian Adrian Millar]

LEST WE FORGET

Now see the old seaman
Not a word has he said.
In silence and tribute,
He remembers the dead.

Some young people question,
Most people don't know,
What it is he remembers,
From so long ago.

How quickly forgotten,
How sad they don't know,
That he stands with his shipmates,
From so long ago.

He's a bosun, a wiper,
The others as well.
For he sailed in harm's way,
In the convoys through Hell.

Now the band they are playing,
A tear or two shed,
It's Flowers O' The Forest,
For our seafaring dead.

Ian A. Millar

[Keith at Tregenna]

This week some media channels are saying May 8th VE Day was the end of World War 2, it wasn’t, it was the end of
war in Europe, the end of World War 2 was on the 15th August, VJ Day, whilst Europe were celebrating the end of
the war in Europe & rightly so, the war continued in the Far East with many being killed & wounded, captured & tortured.

The Merchant Navy was there every day.

I do hope that many that remember this week will further remember those who were still enduring the War & hope that they will also commemorate VJ Day on the 15th August.

Thanks Ian for your penned, meaningful and appreciated words.

Lest we Forget.

Keith.

.

[Ian Adrian Millar]

Thank you Keith for your kind words. I often wonder how many people actually know the price paid for freedom, and how few remember those who picked up the tab.

Ian

[j.sabourn]

#2.. the1 15 August is unforgettable for me Keith As is wife’s birthday. However it was apart from that a long time after that my father got home from Burma think it was into 1946. The big battles where the japs were stoped from getting into India at Imhal and other places are rarely spoken of.\it was a different type of war fought mainly in jungle terrain. However they latterly had Hollywood there to help them in the guise of John Wayne and Errol Flynn .
Cheers JS

Ps when he did get home he was still in his tropical gear khakis plus bush hat. He weighed about 7 stone
And his skin was yellow . He had a voucher for one of the cheaper tailors to go for his demob suit.
Shortly after arriving home he had every tooth in his head extracted they were all rotten. His yellow skin colour was attributed to all the quinine they had to take as against malaria. His Bush hat I kept for years , also a whip which he brought home which he said the japs used , which was a yarn really as found it was an Indian stock whip. JS

[Keith at Tregenna]

My words were hopefully to add compliment to the poem and
all thanks are due to Ian and his pen. I would hope as in Lest
we Forget, many memories will be reinforced with the words.

Regards, Keith.

[Doc Vernon]

I think as time goes on there are more and more being taught about all the Conflicts Years agao, that is why there are so many of the Younger Generation going to places like Gallopi each Year , it is just wonderful to see this happening,as i am sure we as the older Sector when gone , there will still be the Services held in Honour of all those Brave Men and Women who gave their lives so that ours might be so much better ,and so it has happened! Their sacrifices were not in vain,lets hope the Tradition of rememberances will last forever!
Lest We Forget!

[j.sabourn]

There is a difference being taught by books written by someone who didn’t observe than by people close to you who were eye witnesses . I find it quite amazing the attitude of the kids of Australia who have mostly been taught respect for their forefathers, I put this down to the losses the Anzac forces had during both wars . The actual numbers may have been less , but they left a much bigger hole in the smaller population of the day.
To the many people who lost their lives due to both wars it should be remembered they were ordinary people hoping not to die and their last living thoughts would all have been different and all would have died differently. Some screaming and others begging for a lessening of their pain. All the genuine ex survivors of the war years never really spoke of their experiences as they would consider it sacrilege to discuss how their mates died , my father and uncles never really spoke about the gritty parts , and only once one of my uncles spoke to me when we were staying with him the night before we went to the palace. This was after the wife went to bed and he got a bottle of whiskey out. And his tin box with all his campaign ribbons in. It was the only time he came out with talking about his experiences with death , I asked his son, and he knew nothing about it. He fought from the North African campaign through Greece and from the toe of Italy right up to monte Casino , where his best mate alongside him in a slit trench lost his head to an artillery shell which did not explode on contact . They are all dead now the same as we will be before not too long. We are the only bearers of the truth left. And without glorifying any war , we should teach others to respect their dead unsung real heroes of the day. None of whom wanted to die .JS

[Keith at Tregenna]

Merchant Navy Memorial

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/V...E7TWGKGZ3-NEWS

[happy daze john in oz]

I knew one man who had been in Changi for almost three years.
That was all he would say about it, until his death almost 50 years later he never once uttered a word about it, all he would say was that it was etched in his mind.
No doubt there were many so traumatized by the effect of war they could not bring them selves to recount any of it.
For many the mental effect was far worse than any physical wound.

I heard today that the May Day holiday is being moved to make room for VD day this year, though there will be no celebrations under the current circumstances.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Think, no celebrations under the current circumstances is not the case, things may be different.

On Friday 8 May / VE Day 75. Special events will be taking place paying tribute to the entire WW2 generation from British, Commonwealth and Allied Forces, to evacuees and those who served on the home front.

Over the next few months the country will be paying tribute to the World War II generation and marking the end of the war.

From VE (Victory in Europe) Day commemorations on Friday 8 May to VJ (Victory in Japan) Day commemorations on Saturday 15th August, many will be paying tribute to all who served and sacrificed during World War II. All will be as said different but, much will occur and much is also developing re: VJ Day plans in line with the latest Government guidance and will be announced in due course.