‘Brave and selfless’: Lord-Lieutenant pays tribute to Melness residents of 80 years ago at SS Ashbury gun memorial ceremony
A ceremony has been held to mark the installation of a new memorial to those who lost their lives when a merchant ship struck rocks and sank in Talmine Bay 80 years ago.
The gun of the SS Ashbury, which was raised from the depths of the sea in 1980, has been mounted on a plinth and now points over Talmine Bay.
Forty-two sailors lost their lives in the disaster, said to be the worst loss of a merchant ship during World War II, in a non-enemy action incident.
The inauguration ceremony went ahead yesterday, Thursday, December 9, despite wintry weather.
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Deputy Lieutenant Frances Gunn gave the welcome address, and the history of the SS Ashbury was told by Dorothy Pritchard, chairperson of Melness Crofters’ Estate.
Three local children, Lucy Mackay, Struan Shanks, and Mia Martin, whose descendants searched the beaches for survivors, took part in the ceremony.
Jonathan Brett Young, who served in the Royal Australian Navy for 14 years, offered a prayer and performed the inauguration ceremony in the absence of former director general of the Naval Chaplaincy Service, the Venerable John Green, who was unable to travel from his home in Drumbeg due to the snowy weather conditions.
Wreaths were laid by representatives of HM Coastguard and other services. Lone piper Shirley Thompson played a lament ‘The Flowers of the Forest’.
In his address, Lord-Lieutenant Patrick Marriott thanked those who had tried to avert the disaster and help the stricken seafarers.
He said two ships tried to save the Ashbury - the Norwegian ship the Bestik and the Canadian frigate St Theresa.
“That took courage. And now the RNLI, our coastguard, and other emergency services do the same day in, day out in all weathers,” he said.
Major General Marriott also thanked the people of Melness who “bravely and selflessly” ventured out to try to save the crew of the Ashbury in a Force 10 gale.
He said: “That took courage and a sense of duty and kindness. They were the good souls who recovered the bodies and prayed for them, their relatives, and friends.”
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