A chara, - On May 16th I visited the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, just off the A38 near Lichfield in Staffordshire, England, for its official opening by the Duchess of Kent. I would welcome your assistance in communicating the following information to the relatives of those lost on Irish registered vessels during 1939-45.
The arboretum has agreed to plant an Irish Merchant Navy Tree, near which will be a plaque upon a large plinth dedicated to all those seamen who lost their lives as a result of belligerent action on Irish-registered vessels during the Second World War. This plaque will record the names of each vessel, its date and cause of loss and the location of the wreck.
Other research supplied to the arboretum for its database includes all the names, addresses and ages of the seamen concerned. This will enable it to assist, if necessary, any relative who lost someone on an Irish vessel. Among the total of 149 seamen lost on Irish ships, 18 were British, 1 Norwegian, 1 Latvian and 1 Argentinian.
All will have their names included in a Book of Remembrance.
The plaque will uniquely bear the Tricolour. The National Memorial Arboretum is a living memorial to British and other victims of conflict.
All deceased members of the British Armed Services are commemorated.
It is intended to observe a period of silence for two minutes within the arboretum followed by the playing of the last post and reveille at 1100 hours every day of the year.
It is a privilege and an honour for me to have initiated and sponsored this project. The fact that the National Memorial Arboretum has agreed to place a Tricolour on the plaque should be viewed as a positive step towards consolidating the new accommodation and respect that appears to be slowly emerging between these islands. - Is mise,
Peter Mulvany, Conquer Hill Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3.