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Merchant Navy Day 2024

Published on: September 2024

Record: HANSARD-1323879322-144772

Merchant Navy Day 2024

Ms FELICITY WILSON (North Shore)

—Speaker I recently joined with Merchant Navy veterans and community members to commemorate Merchant Navy Day. Merchant Navy Day is held on the 3rd September each year and serves as a day to remember those of the Australian Merchant Navy who gave their lives for their country. The 3rd September is also the anniversary of the first attack on an Allied merchant ship in the Second World War, only hours after Britain declared war on Germany. This years' commemorative service was another beautiful tribute to the lives lost and those veterans who remain from Australia's Merchant Navy. I congratulate Don Kennedy OAM, who received the Congressional Medal of Honour for his Merchant Marine Service in WWII, presented by the US Consul General in Australia, Christine Elder. An outstanding achievement. I want to thank all those who participated on the day; Forestville RSL Sub-Branch President Bob Lunnon, Merchant Navy Chapter Coordinator Merril Barker, John Balfour OAM, JP, Secretary Vincent Williams CSC, Steve Vella, Mayor Cr Corrigan, and the school captains of Mosman High School. They will be remembered for ever more. Lest we forget.