We Remember: September 3rd is Merchant Navy Day

Dur­ing the Sec­ond World War, thou­sands of New Zealand sea­far­ers vol­un­teered to serve in the Mer­chant Navy.

They sailed ship­ments of fuel, food and oth­er essen­tial sup­plies across the world, and deliv­ered troops and mil­i­tary equip­ment where they were need­ed. 

The work was impor­tant and extreme­ly dan­ger­ous. 4,700 Allied mer­chant ships were sunk dur­ing the con­flict, and 30,000 Allied mer­chant sea­men lost their lives.

This includ­ed New Zealand ships like the Turak­i­na and the Lim­er­ick, and at least 140 Kiwi mer­chant sea­far­ers were killed with a sim­i­lar num­ber tak­en pris­on­er.

The mer­chant navy faced greater dan­ger than any oth­er group of New Zealand civil­ians. Their sac­ri­fice and hero­ism will be remem­bered for­ev­er.

Mer­chant Navy Day is being com­mem­o­rat­ed at the below times and loca­tions on Sun­day Sep­tem­ber 3^rd.

The excep­tion is Nel­son, where due to sched­ul­ing issues the cer­e­mo­ny is on Sat­ur­day Sep­tem­ber 2^nd.

Auck­land: 11am

The Mar­itime Room

Princes Wharf, Cor­ner Quay and Hob­son Street

Tau­ran­ga: 2pm

Sul­phur Point

Hatu­patu Dri­ve

Napi­er: 11am

Taradale RSA

156 Glouces­ter St, Taradale

Welling­ton: 11am

Nation­al War Memo­r­i­al

Pukeahu Nation­al War Memo­r­i­al Park

RSVP by Mon­day 28 August to ensure seat­ing

Tele­phone 04 817 8910 or email: vco.rsvp@dia.govt.nz

Nel­son: 11am

(Note: This event takes place on Sat­ur­day)

Anzac Park

Between Haven Road and Ruther­ford Street

Lyt­tel­ton: 2pm

Lyt­tel­ton War Memo­r­i­al Ceno­taph

Albion Square

Bluff: 11am

Mar­itime Muse­um

241 Fore­shore Road