For the lads lost at sea

In ocean wastes no poppies blow
No crosses stand in ordered row
Their young hearts sleep beneath the waves
The spirited the good the brave
But stars a constant vigil keep
For them that lie beneath the deep
Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On a certain spot and think "he's there"

Ver y poignant Casper , so true many in a watery grave ..It must be terrible for the families because as the poem says nowhere to kneel and say they are here...
R.i.P. brave souls to all that gave their lives in war .

Lovely poem Casper,

Thanks for sharing

That makes me think of Tennyson's 'Crossing the Bar', which was read at my Dad's funeral. He wasn't a Navy man, but there was a lot of Merchant Navy in the family going back generations and it seemed appropriate. No poppies or war references in this one, but I think it would work for those lost at sea too.

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Too many young lives lost at sea. It's nice to remember them..

It is estimated that more than 32,000 merchant seamen lost their lives during the Second World War. The casualty rate was around 27 per cent, significantly higher than any of the Armed Forces.

The Naval Memorial on the Pier Head in Liverpool carries the names of some 1,400 seamen who have no grave but the sea. It is worth a visit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Naval_Memorial

There's a bit too much unnecessary info, but I can't change it.

Can I post this here, as one of those young men who died ?

My great uncle, who served in the RN and died in WWI. My grandmothers brother, and one of 12 brothers and sisters. He was never forgotten by them.


http://www.merseysiderollofhonour.co.uk/get2.php?cwgc=3039627

Very interesting read Granny , lovely details about the wedding and going away dresses and bridesmaids etc. Very sad to read all that and then if course such a tragic ending, who knows what he would have attained if he had lived , a great man and you can be very proud of him. Thanks for sharing that .

Thanks Cools.
It is a step back in history, and although we grew up with this knowledge , it was exactly that.... history.
Only in later years, when reading the finer details, does reality dawn. His brother Hilton who was in the army, not in the navy, was a sad case, with one arm seriously injured he was taking the ferry to Woodside, to go on to Thurstaston for respite. A young boy fell into the Mersey and he jumped in to save the child, which he did.. but died from pneumonia two weeks later. He was only 24yrs.

Just two of the brave men, and far braver men who were lost during those dreadful years.

To be fighting a war on the oceans, knowing there is nowhere to run to, or to hide , must have been one of the most terrifying experiences for RN and Merchant fleets. Something we can probably not even imagine. .

Thanks for raising your tribute, Casper.

A good interesting read granny, I have read so many accounts of actions and survivors, and heard first hand from some old sailors, in one instance I read of, survivors were spotted by an escort corvette they stopped to pick them up by lowering scrambling nets overboard but some were to exhausted to climb up, so some of the crew tied a line around themselves to climb down and help but they couldn't grip them properly because they were covered in fuel oil and slipped out of their grasp and so they had to leave them, heartbreaking ,so near.

What a terribly sad story, Casper. It must have been heart wrenching for them, and an unimaginable feeling of despair for those who they could not rescue. In fact there are no suitable words for the emotions that must have gripped all involved . What a desperate experience !
Mentally, those who survived that war, must have suffered all their lives. The pain they carried must have been unbearable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dlXmuYuAYc

Wow.. some sea.. Sang that a few times in church over the years..

New memorial. Frank Field and even Edwina Currie showed up (she had connections to an old boy killed in first world war

A sad fact when a Merchant ship was attacked and sunk all the survivors wages were stopped by the shipping company as the ship had stopped working. This was changed in 1941 / 1942.

I myself spent 20 years at sea in my time I sailed to the Falklands and 2 trips to the Gulf during the gulf war but we were given an option to get off before going to both the Falklands and the gulf not one man left the ship. My grandmother 30years with White star / Cunard sailing on troop ships through out the war

That was always the way Tom, back to the days of the Titanic as soon as she slid under the crews wages were stopped.

Watched the programme on BBC 2"last night , Peter Jacksons doc about the war called ,' They shall not grow old' ..Found it so moving and powerful brought home how it really was for those young men and the horrors of the trenches etc. Real archive footage improved so in colour and moving at correct speed and old soldiers who spoke about it. Did anybody else watch it?

I watched that Cools, well most of it. It seemed to go on for too long, so I turned it off before the end. Maybe I was not in the frame of mind as had not been too well the previous couple of days. Usual winter cough etc. By the time last night came I felt I'd had a belly full as the march past at the Cenotaph in London had also carried on and on. Westminster Cathedral, and Royal Albert Hall on Sat. night. Plus the news and all sorts of other programmes through the week. I did watch Jeremy Paxman in the last week (afternoon viewings) much of the same footage that was in last nights 'They shall not grow old' , although not in colour.

Terrible times, and although so dreadful it wasn't so long before the next one. People are fodder for psychopathic rulers and their games of monopoly.

It was very well done cools, at the start were they are marching towards the camera then fade away like ghosts, and as you say the improved colour made it so lifelike I felt as if I was there.

I was out most of the day Granny but did catch lots if highlights etc later on. I must admit I wasn't going to watch this but I just got drawn into it and as Casper says it was do realistic , even showed you horrific scenes of the Carnage and bodies, it was so sad to see these , 16 and 17 year olds all smiling and laughing before they got into the thick of it and then their scared and frightened faces , talk about cannon fodder, just terrible .

I did see quite a lot of it, and agree the footage in colour made a huge difference. As you say, young lads and so many underage it was quite a remarkable show of courage from ones so young. I eventually became so weighed down with it all, I couldn't finish watching. Probably wrong .

It did weigh heavy on me too granny, I have some personal effects that belonged to my mothers half brother, including the letter sent to my grandma informing her of his death, so very impersonal, just like a receipt.

Casper they read "that" letter out at the Remembrance service at Hamilton square on sunday. It was of a local lad who had been injured taken to a field hospital but did not make it.. It probably spoke more than all the other stuff at the Service

I bet you could hear a pin drop, I always attend the cenotaph at New Brighton.