To Wear a Poppy:

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To Wear a Poppy:

When we buy a poppy approaching Remembrance Day

There's a method we should sport it - in a special way

Don't show it off too early - as politicians do

Or have it on your right side - that is quite wrong too


Place it on your left side so others will not mock

Make sure the leaf with it - is eleven of the clock

I reckon it's noteworthy to pin it on correct

When donning this fine emblem, expressing your respect


Of course its not compulsory but that's the way I see

One reason why you're wearing it - is because we are free


Capt. Joe Earl

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Remembrance Sunday will fall on Sunday 10 November in 2013:

The service at the Cenotaph is framed to ensure that no-one is forgotten. The wreath laid by The Queen and the other tributes placed on the Cenotaph are dedicated to all who have suffered or died in war. Members of the Cabinet, Opposition Party leaders, former Prime Ministers and certain other Ministers and the Mayor of London are invited to attend the ceremony, along with representatives of the Armed Forces, Merchant Air and Navy and Fishing Fleets, and members of faith communities. High Commissioners from Commonwealth countries also attend the ceremony and lay wreaths at the Cenotaph.

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Built originally to commemorate those who died in the First World War, this monument is now the focal point for the memory of those killed in both wars and since then.

Edwin Lutyens designed and completed building it in 1920. Its sides are slightly concave and convex, which represents infinity. The cenotaph is decorated only with the flags of the three military services and the Merchant Navy

Earlier MNA campaigns began being heard in both local and national government as more seafarers in more branches saw the benefit of a national movement and what could be achieved by all seafarers working together…something we did at sea to progress our passage and safely load and safely discharge our cargoes all over the world. New branches in Bristol, Newport, Swansea, London, Immingham and the Liverpool area introduced more seagoing and retired seafarers who had a range of experiences and former contacts that further promoted what was now an accepted national consensus of the seafaring community.

Clearly presented arguments finally led the Royal British Legion to change their previously held views and to ‘officially’ accept the role merchant seafarers and the command structure of wartime convoys. For the first time, in the year 2000, Merchant Navy Veterans marched behind the Royal Navy in Column E and the Merchant Navy wreath was proudly laid at the Cenotaph. The wreath, with its unique MN design, joined the ‘Red Duster’ which had been displayed at the Cenotaph since the memorial was dedicated.

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HEROE'S

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 nation's 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 and 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 U-boats which hunted from below
Shelled by mighty cannons and fighters flying low

They clung to burning lifeboats where the sea had turned to flame

I speak not of a handful but 30,000 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

Flew the proud 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

David Partridge, Botrany Bay, Australia
and shipmate George Hickman, Braunton, Devon