The Merchant Marine 78th Memorial Service was held at Spencer Smith Park yesterday (Sept. 4) to pay respects to Canadian sailors who lost their lives during the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign of the Second World War, which lasted from 1939 to 1945.
Merchant marine veterans spoke at the Burlington Naval Ships Memorial monument, remembering the 75 ships and 1,466 sailors of the Canadian Merchant Navy who were lost during the war.
“It appears to many that only during time of conflict does the Fourth Service get any recognition,” Ian Greaves, a veteran of the Merchant Marines who spoke at the event, said. “With commemorations like we are having today, I know that is not true. Today, the Merchant Navy is known as the Fourth Service, and my colleagues and I are proud to say that we sailed in ships of the Merchant Navy.”
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre both attended the event alongside a small crowd of people as prayers and poems were read.
Wreaths were placed at the Naval Ships Memorial monument by veterans and relatives of veterans at the end of the ceremony before everyone present was invited to share a bottle of rum together.
The memorial also coincided with Merchant Navy Day, which is observed in Australia and the U.K.