By Matthew Hibberd
POPPIES have been appearing across the grounds of HMS Sultan this week as the home of Royal Navy Marine & Air Engineering continues to remembers the fallen; the latest event seeing Royal Navy & Royal Marine Volunteer Cadet Corps cadets at HMS Sultan planting a poppy garden within the Gosport-based establishment for the fifth straight year.
Sultan VCC started the poppy garden after the Royal British Legion asked the nation to create and plant poppies to show their support for service personnel, emergency services and veterans across the globe in 2020. A limited number of volunteers collected and planted the garden so that people could see that even in the face of adversity, the unit was supporting the cadets and community during the difficult days of lockdown.
In 2021, the cadets wanted to complete the poppy garden again, which after a month of poppy making whilst still maintaining cadet core training, they did on a cold November night. The cadets have continued to mark Remembrance, planting the garden every November since.
The cadets invited Captain Terry Tyack RN, Deputy Commander RN Cadet Forces, and the Executive Officer, Commander Fergus Ochtman-Corfe, to join them for a short service ahead of the planting, with Sultan Chaplain Reverend Mark Dalton also leading the prayers.
Commander Fergus Ochtman-Corfe said: “The young cadets have done a cracking job with this poignant display, which complements all the other Remembrance activities taking place across HMS Sultan. At this important time of year, their dedication and hard work helps us all to focus on honouring those who have served and sacrificed for our nation.”
The cadets’ ceremony was the culmination of a number of poppy planting events on site. The Worshipful Company of Plumbers recently donated a planter created especially for HMS Sultan and have also created lead poppies, which are on display alongside Tommies made by Allied Trades within Sultan.
HMS Sultan House Manager Elna Mee has also created two 2-metre-high poppy displays to promote the poppy appeal, displayed within the Marine Engineering Training Group’s (METG) Pillar Building.Beyond displays within HMS Sultan, the Machine Workshops within METG also helped Taunton Council with refurbishing their large poppy, with Sultan’s fibre reinforced plastic instructor, Mr Grant Beaden, conducting basic repairs of the poppy before Taunton Council provided specific gel paint to repaint it.
On Remembrance Sunday, sailors and Royal Navy and Royal Marine Volunteer Cadet Corps cadets from HMS Sultan will join in acts of remembrance throughout the local community, including at services at Gosport War Memorial, the Fleet Air Arm Memorial, and the sunken garden in Lee-on-the-Solent.
PICTURED BY LET(ME) ELIJAH JOHNSON: Remembrance crosses and poppies offer poignant reminder of the UK’s fallen heroes as HMS Sultan pays tribute through a number of activities this month.
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