The Unknown Warrior

The volunteers headed out this afternoon to take part in the towns Remembrance Parade along with the MP, local dignities , Royal Signal Regiment, veterans and local groups.

 

At the start of the start of the parade , the story of the Unknown Warrior was read out. The parade then headed to church before heading back to the town's war memorial.

 

The wreaths laid, the team take a moment to reflect

 

#we will remember them 

 

 

We Shall Remember Them

Tonight the team joined veterans and the public at the war memorial in Swanage.

72 years ago today many gave their lives on the beaches of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord.

A small service of remembrance led by Rev. Tony Higgins saw those present pause to remember.

Members of the rowing club lifted their oars in respect during the two minute silence which also saw the Coastguard helicopter fly past on route back to Portland.







Thank you to Nico, Dinah and those who turned up to make is so special

Less we Forget

Coastguards around the country will mark this weekends Remembrance events.

Honouring those who served on D Day

In September I was invited to a special event on the Swanage Railway to honour some Swanage Residents who served on the beaches of Normandy on D Day.




Our friend Clifford Brown and I being introduced to Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant for Dorset, Angus Campbell.




Some true hero's ........Photos courtesy of Andrew PM Wright.

Supporting the Royal British Legion

We were challenged by our HQ to produce a selfie of us at our Remembrance Parade this year in support of The Royal British Legion




And this is the result from HQ

We Shall Remember Them

Today, along with the nation, we shall remember those fallen in conflicts around the world.

Many were Coastguards who served on Royal Navy Ships.

Proud to be worn

The Parade

We do like the annual Remembrance Parade its a time for reflection and to put on our best uniform.

The Station Officer (cleverly grown for the photo!) and John Bentham.

The DSO looking grand...........

Tom looking proud in his new hat.

The formation needs a bit of work, but we do all look smart and proud to attend.

Remembrance

This year is 90 years since the end of the 1st World War, many Coastguards lost their lives in that war, the following is taken from William Webbs "An Official History of HM Coastguard"

The Coastguards who went to sea in the battleships of the Royal Navy had an unhappy experience. They had to serve mostly in old reserve ships which were no match for the ships of the German High Seas Fleet or their U- boats. The vast majority were never to return to their wives and families in the Coastguard Stations around the coast of the United Kingdom.

Many of the Coastguards had been drafted to three old cruisers of the 7th Cruiser Squadron, Cressy Aboukir and Hogue, which had been based on the Nore, 'to ensure the presence of armoured ships in the southern approaches of the North Sea and eastern entrance to the channel and to keep the area clear of enemy torpedo craft and minlayers'. This patrol had been maintained since the outbreak of war. Because the weather was so bad in September 1914 their destroyer escort had been withdrawn as it was reasoned also that no German U- boat would be able to operate in it. On the morning of 22 September disaster struck these three old cruisers. The German U-9 commanded by Lieutenant Weddigen came up with the cruisers which were steaming at a steady 10 knots and not bothering to zig zag. The Aboukir was stuck by a torpedo and sank in 25 minutes. Hundreds of men were in the water and the other two cruisers came to a stand still as they lowered boats to pick them up. This was a fatal error for, first Hogue and then the Cressy were sunk. In less than one hour one submarine had sunk three battle cruisers. Out of 2200 men on board these three ships more than 1400 were drowned and most of these were Coastguards. Others were young cadets from Osborne who had been posted for safety to these old ships.

This was just one sad occasion that men from HM Coastguard lost their lives.

Today we shall be remembering all those in the many conflicts around the World past and present who have lost their lives for the freedom of others.