Cascade of poppy petals to honour ‘forgotten’ First World War heroes of the waterways
THE names of Britain’s wartime dead are etched on plaques and memorials across the towns and villages to which they would never return. But one group has long been forgotten, their names rarely carved in stone or cast in lead.
To this day the sacrifice of thousands of watermen who worked on Britain’s canals before serving on the front line has yet to be commemorated. Since most of the watermen lived an itinerant lifestyle, their home the boat on which they worked, there was no fixed community to record their sacrifice in the First World War.
To recognise the contribution of these men, a special service of remembrance is to be held next Sunday, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the end of the war. A cascade of 100,000 Royal British Legion poppy petals will be released from the 50ft-high Anderton Boat Lift, in Cheshire, by members of the waterways staff and Canal & River Trust volunteers.
Timothy Turner, general manager of the Anderton Boat Lift, said: “As we commemorate the poignant last year of the war, I am pleased that we are acknowledging the largely unrecognised contribution of Britain’s waterway men in the First World War. It is humbling to think of the sacrifices they made in inhospitable from home.”
John Benson, archivist at the Canal & River Trust’s National Waterways Museum, said: “Although at the beginning of the war boatmen were in an important reserve occupation moving vital goods like iron and coal, many of the estimated 10,000 waterway men in Britain volunteered anyway. This is likely to be because of and foreign waters, far social pressure but may have been to also escape from low pay or simply to have an adventure.”
Many served with the Royal Engineers, ferrying troops along the inland waterways leading to the British sector – from the Pas de Calais to Ypres and along the Somme from the Channel coast to Peronne. Barges were also used to transport the wounded away from the battlefront.