They were not forgotten

Published: Monday, 29 October 2018

AS A tribute to boatmen who served in the forces and were killed, poppies are to be released from Anderton Boat Lift to commemorate.

Canal & River Trust maintain that there is no commemorative on memorials or plaques throughout the land to those boatmen who lost their lives after joining the forces, hence a special service of remembrance followed by the release we are told of 100,000 poppies from Anderton Boat Lift on the 11th of November.

Forgotten

It is stated that as most of the watermen lived an itinerant lifestyle, their home being the boat on which they worked, there was no fixed community to record their sacrifice at the end of the First World War, so  thousands of watermen who worked not only on the canals before serving on the front line being killed were forgotten and yet to be commemorated.

Though it is applauded at having a special service on the 100th  anniversary of the end of World War One to commemorate these watermen, it really must be pointed out that not only were there also casualties in World War Two, but every man who lost his life would have been recorded in his regiments' Roll of Honour, and is certainly not forgotten.