The MV Havengore Leads Act of Remembrance on the River Thames

Nov. 5, 2009 - PRLog -- The MV Havengore, has a long history in the service of the Port of London and particularly with regard to her role as a key part of Sir Winston Churchill’s State Funeral arrangements.

Accompanied by duty boats from the various river services and other vessels, Havengore will cover much the same route as she did during Sir Winston’s State Funeral, departing from St Katharine’s Pier and passing many of London’s major landmarks on her journey to the waters just up river from the Houses of Parliament. A remembrance service will then commence.

As Big Ben chimes 11am, the two-minute silence will be observed and then the service will continue, culminating in the casting of a wreath onto the waters of the Thames as a bugler plays the Last Post.

The following organisations have expressed a willingness to take part in the remembrance service

   The Company of Watermen and Lightermen
   The Metropolitan Police
   The Port of London Authority
   The Royal National Lifeboat Institution
   The Tower of London.


The Rev. Roger Hall (Chaplain to the Tower of London) has kindly agreed to officiate and the award winning Cotswold Male Voice Choir will provide a choir of ten plus a choirmaster. The Regular Army will provide a bugler and ‘Chic’ Mackie has very kindly agreed to act piper.  

Schedule of Events

09.45 - The party to go onboard Havengore will assemble near the Tower of London. The onboard party will include senior representatives from those organisations taking part, plus the chaplain, choir, piper and bugler. The exact location and timing will be advised in due course. This party, led by the piper will walk in procession down onto St Katharine’s Pier and board the Havengore.    

10.00 - Havengore will depart St Katharine’s Pier and then rendezvous with an escort of the other vessels taking part in the waters in front of the Tower of London and close to both Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast.

10.40 – The group of vessels will arrive in the waters in front of St. Thomas’s Hospital (and just passed the Houses of Parliament).

10.45 - These vessels will then take station towards the south bank of the river with Havengore in the centre of the group. A religious service will start at approximately 1045-1050hrs on the afterdeck of Havengore conducted by the Rev. Roger Hall (Chaplain to the Tower of London, the MOD, HMS President and BLESMA – the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association). Via Havengore’s public address system the service will be audible to other vessels in her immediate vicinity and potentially also to onlookers on the Albert Embankment in front of St Thomas’s Hospital.

11.00 - As Big Ben starts to strike the hour at 1100hrs and the two minute silence begins, Havengore will sound her hooter and again to mark its ending. The remembrance service will then continue for about another 15 minutes, ending with Havengore pulling out into mid stream and the dropping a wreath of poppies into the water as the bugler plays the Last Post and Reveille. The commemoration will then be over.

11.50 - Havengore will then make the return to St Katharine’s Pier by about 1150hrs allowing those who wish to, to disembark there

This route will pass by/under the following (not an exhaustive list): Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, The offices of the Mayor of London, HMS Belfast, London Bridge, The replica of the Golden Hinde, The Globe Theatre, Southwark Bridge, The Tate Modern, St Pauls Cathedral, Blackfriars Bridge, Hungerford Railway Bridge, HMS President, HQS Wellington, The Submariners’ Memorial, Waterloo Bridge, The London Eye, The RAF Memorial, County Hall (the former headquarters of the LCC and GLC), Westminster Bridge, The Houses of Parliament /Big Ben and St Thomas’s Hospital. It also seems particularly appropriate at this juncture to record that this is much the same route as Havengore travelled on 30th January 1965, at the culmination of Sir Winston Churchill’s State Funeral.

About Havengore

Havengore was designed as a survey vessel for the Port of London Authority. She was the largest vessel they owned and their flagship. Havengore served the Port of London Authority for 40 years – their longest serving vessel - before being retired in 1995.

Havengore has been used for a large number of official events including:

The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill

Havengore carried Churchill's coffin from Tower Pier to Festival Pier during the state funeral, which was watched on television by 350 million people worldwide and attended by 110 world leaders.

The former prime minister was buried on 30 January 1965, having died aged 90. Two launches were used for the state funeral. On Havengore, accompanied by the Earl Marshall, travelled Lady Churchill, Mr. Randolph Churchill, Lady Audley, Mrs. Christopher Soames, Mr. Christopher Soames, Mr. Winston Churchill, Mr. Julian Sandys, Mrs. Piers Dixon, Miss Celia Sandys, Mr. Nicholas Soames, Miss Arabella Churchill.

When Havengore left Tower Pier the State Procession was concluded, the remainder of the proceedings being private. On arrival at Festival Hall Pier, the coffin was taken by Motor Hearse to Waterloo Station. Here, a bearer party was provided by the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars, the regiment to which Sir Winston was gazetted, when they were the 4th Hussars, in March 1895. The Battle of Britain class locomotive, "Winston Churchill", drew the funeral train of Pullman coaches from Waterloo to Long Handborough, near Bladon, Oxfordshire, where Sir Winston was buried privately.

Remembrance Day Services

For many years, Havengore took part in Remembrance Day services where she carried members of the ‘Goldfish Club’; men of the Royal Air Force who had been rescued from the sea after ejecting from their aircraft. Havengore would travel to the City the previous day and with most of the crew staying aboard would lay overnight at Westminster Pier. The following morning the crew in best uniforms would board the guests at Westminster Pier. By 10:40am Havengore, with PLA ensign at half-mast and the Goldfish Club pennant flying, would drop away from the pier, taking up position in mid-channel. The members of the Goldfish Club would assemble on the afterdeck and the crew would muster by the Chart Room, as Big Ben struck 11:00am they would stand to attention for the minutes silence. As the final notes of the Last Post were heard from Whitehall a wreath was dropped over the side, slowly sinking below the surface. A RAF padre would conduct a short service. The impact of this simple act of remembrance remains strong today; one member recalls the service 35 years ago.

Queen Elizabeth II 1952-1977 Silver Jubilee

For London’s Silver Jubilee celebrations Havengore joined a pageant of more than 100 boats and five simultaneous firework displays on the River Thames. The craft taking part represented London riverside and British industry and commerce as well as many other organisations. The pageant moved from Greenwich, proceeded up the Thames to Vauxhall turned and passed the Queen at County Hall.

Havengore is privately owned by Chris Ryland and managed by Venues of Distinction. For more information visit www.havengore.com
   
Media Resources

We have an extensive library of images of Havengore, both past and present suitable for print and TV usage. The original TV footage of Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral procession on the Thames featuring Havengore is also available on request.

Several spokespeople are available for interview both prior to the event and on the day itself. Please contact me more for details on individuals available for press interviews.

For images, footage, to arrange an interview or to discuss a feature idea relating to Havengore and The River Thames Act of Remembrance, please contact Jenna Gould on 01603 283 503, mobile: 07958 263 708 or email jenna@mediajems.co.uk