EHDC has joined a national celebration of the Merchant Navy this week, which has a very special significance for our Chairman.
This weekend we are flying the Red Ensign over Penns Place to honour Merchant Navy Day, held on Sunday 3 September.
These hard-working sailors are crucial to the prosperity of the country, responsible for 95 per cent of the UK's trade, but are often forgotten by the general public.
However, EHDC Chairman Cllr Anthony Williams has a special reason to remember the Merchant Navy as his father, Rupert, joined the service as a young man in the 1920s.
In raising the flag over Penns Place, Cllr Williams paid tribute to the bravery of the men and women of the Merchant Navy who brought essential food, medicines and other goods to the UK through two world wars just as they do today.
He said: “It is a privilege to help to celebrate Merchant Navy Day this year. My father served in the Merchant Navy during the 1920s. He left school and joined the Peninsula and Orient Steam Navigation Company, now known as P & O, to serve not on ocean liners but on cargo ships and oil tankers, attaining the rank of Midshipman.
“The ships were tiny compared with modern vessels but were then, as now, the backbone of world shipping. Among the more noteworthy voyages was taking steel girders from Middlesborough to Sydney which were used for the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
“With the great recession of 1929 the merchant navies of the world all but collapsed, and Dad subsequently joined the Admiralty as a cartographic draughtsman so continuing his association with the Merchant Navy by drawing charts before, during and after the Second World War.
“I add my thanks to all seamen who continue to serve us in the Merchant Navy today and in the future."
| Find out more about Merchant Navy Day |