Queen Mary 2 sets sail to US with wreaths to mark VE Day
THE Queen Mary 2 set sail for New York from Southampton yesterday in a VE Day commemoration to thank US and Canadian soldiers who never made it home from the battlefields of Europe.
The flagship of the Cunard line was saluted by a group of veterans and a flypast from a Hurricane which served in the Battle of Britain as it set off from the south coast carrying dozens of wreaths.
They will arrive in New York on Sunday and be taken across America and Canada as part of the “Routes of Remembrance” initiative by the The Veterans Charity, which will see at least one wreath going to each US state.
Iain Henderson, a trustee at the charity, said he hoped that the wreaths would be used as an education resource.
“We encourage people not to just put them on the wall, but to go to schools, colleges and youth groups and teach people about remembrance, as well as poppies because Americans don’t really use them,” he said.
“We want to reinforce that special relationship … I’ve never really seen a big thank you to the Americans and Canadians who never went home,” added Mr Henderson, who served in the RAF Police from 1985-1991.
He said that the involvement of the Queen Mary 2 is a “respectful nod” to the RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth which both served as troopships in the Second World War.
One special tribute will be placed at the site of the 9/11 attacks in memory of Rick Rescorla, a British-born veteran of both the UK and US military, who is credited with saving the lives of thousands of his colleagues at Morgan Stanley by initiating the evacuation of his office on the day of the attacks.
He died after returning back into the burning South Tower in an attempt to evacuate more people.
The Veterans Charity was initially set up in 2008 to mark the approaching 65th anniversary of D Day and now provides support to veterans facing hardship.
Colin Gaylor, chairman of the Southampton Veterans’ Trust, said it had been important to gather as many wreaths as possible from across the UK.
“We’ve had a fantastic response,” he told The Daily Telegraph.