DAVE DEVEY AWARDED MN MEDAL

March 21st, 2008 by JCB
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Dave Devey Awarded the Merchant navy Medal.

Dave Devey receives the prestigious MN medal from Admiral The Lord West of Spithead

Having been nominated by his colleagues and the UKMPA, Retired Liverpool pilot Dave Devey was chosen to receive the Merchant Navy award for “Services to UK and European Pilotage”

The medal was presented by the Patron of the St Paul’s Trust Centre, Admiral, The Lord West of Spithead at a ceremony held on December 5^th last year, in the St. Michael Paternoster Church Royal.

The Merchant Navy Medal was introduced because British registered seafarers are employed by companies rather than the State and they have never had a decoration of their own to reward meritorious service or acts of courage afloat. Yet the British Merchant Navy continues to be, as it always has been, a uniformed service, called upon frequently to play its part in war as well as in peace. Seafarers themselves know only too well that they may be “in peril on the sea” on a daily basis.

The medal was inaugurated during the Trafalgar Bicentennial year of 2005. Nelson’s head appears upon it as a reminder of the time he spent on a West Indies merchantman at the tender age of thirteen which played a formative part in the development of his outstanding seamanship skills. Nor should it be forgotten that the ships of Nelson’s fleet at Trafalgar had many merchant seamen in their crews, although most would’ve been press-ganged into service!

The medal has been founded as a charitable initiative with the support of the Chamber of Shipping, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the RMT, other trade unions and senior British seafarers in order to supply a proper system of public recognition for all ranks within the industry. It was designed by Sir Robert Balchin, an expert on the subject of decorations.The ribbon is half green and half red, watered and with a narrow vertical white stripe dividing the two, the three colours echoing the navigation lights of a ship.

The St Paul’s Trust Centre is a charity and full details regarding the charity and the medal can be found at the following weblink:

www.stpaulstrust.org/Medal.html