On Sunday the 3rd September2023 along with his partner Rose, as he has done on many previous occasions, Joe Billet laid a wreath at La Siesta Cenotaph in honour and remembrance of the sacrifices made by the often forgotten and invisible, but very hard-working, seafarers, 30,989 merchant seamen and boys that lost their lives facing the Italian and German blockade of Great Britain.
They saw ships disappearing in a flash of blue smoke and men drowning in the thick black oil from petrol and ammunition ships disintegrating, but the convoy kept on going to feed and supply arms to beat off our enemy. All these crews were civilians, their uniform was a little pin badge on their lapel.
If you survived from your sunken ship your family allotment and your pay was stopped. Sometimes you might have been weeks in a life boat or beached somewhere but it was not until you reported back to the shipping office that you would you get paid.
Joining another ship after the war they gave us a pin red duster veteran badge. I am a veteran of the Sicily and D-Day landings.
Merchant Navy Day honours those who kept Britain afloat during both World Wars. It also celebrates the dependence on modern-day merchant seafarers, which although a civilian service, undoubtedly ranks on the same level as the Armed Forces, because of its critical role.
