• READERS may recall your covering, in early May, a story about the sinking of the Blue Star Liner SS Arandora Star in July 1940.

In a letter you published I suggested that the annual Merchant Navy Day service would likely be held at the Merchant Navy Memorials in Trinity Square Gardens on September 1, its being the Sunday nearest to Merchant Navy Day on Tuesday September 3.

I have learnt that the service will be held on Sunday September 8. Arrive before noon as the band strikes up, yards from Tower Hill tube station; the parade starts at 12.30.

Red Ensigns atop Tower Bridge and, after the service, the uniforms in the adjacent hostelry, will surely remind patrons that London is one of our busiest ports.

Do pause for thought on Merchant Navy Day and look around you; 95 per cent of United Kingdom trade comes and goes by sea. Merchant ships and seafarers, out of sight to most, have a considerable impact on our homes and our lives.

LESTER MAY
Lieutenant Commander
Royal Navy – retired, NW1