Memorial
Remembering the Lost
“It’s like yesterday. We’ve got to remember them otherwise they have gone. If we don’t keep talking about them and having services like this, remembering the lost – not just my dad, but everybody, it keeps them alive, keeps them in our hearts.”
Ken Collier
It should have been like any other day at work, a routine trawl. Another few days at sea with your crewmates, battling the waves to make a catch. But this one is different. This one is tragic. This one hurts.
You return to port without a colleague, without a friend. You unload the catch with the heaviest of hearts, thinking only of your crewmate who was taken by the sea. Your pal who didn’t come home.
The trauma of loss runs deep through fishing communities. Passing years do not dull the pain. The need to remember is heartbreakingly real.
Fifty years ago, the FV Gaul was lost from Hull. 36 men perished. One of those was Stan Collier. At this year’s service to remember the lost fishermen of Hull, Stan’s son, Ken, said this:
“It’s like yesterday. We’ve got to remember them otherwise they have gone. If we don’t keep talking about them and having services like this, remembering the lost – not just my dad, but everybody, it keeps them alive, keeps them in our hearts.” Ken Collier
As in Hull, local fishing communities poignantly remember their own lost fishermen at remembrance services around the UK coastline.
Now, and for the first time, a new National Fishing Remembrance Day has been announced. Maritime welfare charities, including the Fishermen’s Mission, will come together on Sunday 12th May to remember the many thousands of fishermen who have lost their lives at sea.
Fishermen’s Mission Chief Executive Marc Evans comments:
“The Fishermen’s Mission is proud to be a part of this event. From experience, we know how every loss affects families, friends, and whole communities. We know how this loss lingers from generation to generation. To finally have a national day that allows us to come together and remember so many fishermen who have lost their lives while bringing home the catch is momentous for everyone connected with fishing.
