Annual celebration held on 21 October
Trafalgar Day
is the celebration of the victory won by the
Royal Navy
, commanded by
Vice-Admiral
Horatio Nelson
, over the combined
French
and
Spanish
fleets at the
Battle of Trafalgar
on 21 October 1805.
History
[
edit
]
The formation of the
Navy League
in 1894 gave added impetus to the movement to recognise Nelson's legacy, and grand celebrations were held in
Trafalgar Square
in London on Trafalgar Day, 1896.
[1]
It was commemorated by parades, dinners and other events throughout much of the
British Empire
in the 19th century and early 20th century. It continues to be celebrated by navies of the
Commonwealth of Nations
.
[2]
Its public celebration declined after the end of
World War I
in 1918. The massive casualties and upheaval had changed the general public perception of
war
as a source of glorious victories to a more sombre view of it as a tragedy, for which the newly instituted
Armistice Day
on 11 November was created. However, Trafalgar Day was still marked as a public day each year. Around 1993, it was rumoured that
John Major
's government might make it a
public holiday
in place of
May Day
, and this plan was revived in the 2011 Tourism Strategy created by the then
coalition
government.
[3]
The year 2005 was the bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar, and the
Royal Navy
led
Trafalgar 200
celebrations. The 2005
International Fleet Review
held off
Spithead
in
the Solent
on 28 June was the first since 1999 and the largest since
Her Majesty The Queen's 1977 Silver Jubilee
.
Trafalgar Night
[
edit
]
On 21 October each year the commissioned officers of the Royal Navy celebrate the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar by holding a Trafalgar Night dinner in the Officer's Mess.
[4]
At a Trafalgar Night banquet or dinner, a speech is usually made by a guest of honour who ends it with a toast to "The Immortal Memory ..." (The rest of the wording of the toast varies depending on what is said in the speech).
[a]
On 21 October 2005 (the 200th anniversary), at such a dinner the traditional toast was given by Queen
Elizabeth II
:
[4]
- "The Immortal Memory of Lord Nelson and those who fell with him"
Such dinners also occur each year on or around 21 October in locations other than Royal Navy ships.
[4]
The
Royal Naval Museum
in Portsmouth hold a "Trafalgar Night Dinner" each year on a date close to 21 October.
[7]
The British ambassador in Washington hosts such a dinner at which the guest of honour may be a senior officer in the
United States Navy
.
[6]
[5]
British celebrations
[
edit
]
Sea Cadet Corps
in the
United Kingdom
hold a youth cadet parade known as the
National Trafalgar Day Parade
on
Trafalgar Square
each year. The parade is formed with a platoon from each area, a guard and a massed band. This is held on the closest Sunday to 21 October. Units and Districts from around the country celebrate this day ? usually with a town parade.
Birmingham
celebrates the anniversary with a ceremony at the
statue of Lord Nelson
? the oldest such statue in the United Kingdom ? in the
Bull Ring
. The ceremony is led by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and involves men and women of
HMS
Forward
, Sea Cadet units from across the
West Midlands
and various civic organisations, including The Nelson Society and
The Birmingham Civic Society
. Afterwards representatives of naval and civic organisations lay wreaths and a parade marches off to
Victoria Square
, the public square in front of the seat of local government, where the Lord Mayor takes the salute.
Another aspect of the Birmingham celebration is that the statue is regaled with swags of laurel and flowers, possibly
[
original research?
]
due to its location by the wholesale flower markets of the city. This tradition, marked through most of the nineteenth century, was revived in 2004.
[
citation needed
]
In
Edinburgh
, citizens commissioned the
Nelson Monument
on
Calton Hill
in memory of Admiral Lord Nelson. Weather permitting, the Trafalgar flag signal "England expects that every man will do his duty" is flown on Trafalgar Day. Looking like a tall stone telescope, the Nelson Monument contains a
time ball
which drops at 1 o'clock daily.
[8]
The village of
Dervock
in County Antrim (Northern Ireland) has the only known memorial which takes the form of a stained-glass window depicting Admiral Lord Nelson minutes before he was killed on board
HMS
Victory
in 1805. It is believed
[
by whom?
]
that this is the only memorial on the island,
Nelson's pillar
in Dublin (the earliest memorial to Admiral Nelson) having been destroyed in 1966, and in 2015 residents organised their first ever "Trafalgar Day".
In
Gibraltar
, the Trafalgar Day service takes place at the
Trafalgar Cemetery
, where the senior Naval Commander reads an extract from the
Gibraltar Chronicle
newspaper, the first periodical to report on the battle. Some sailors died in Gibraltar of wounds received at Trafalgar; they are buried in Gibraltar. HMS
Victory
, with Nelson's body on board, underwent repairs in Gibraltar prior to sailing for Britain.
In the
Isle of Man
,
John Quilliam
, 1st Lieutenant of HMS
Victory
in 1805, is buried in the graveyard of Kirk Arbory,
Ballabeg
. An annual parade and church service takes place on Trafalgar Day.
[9]
International celebrations
[
edit
]
The victory is celebrated in
Nelson
,
New Zealand
(named after Horatio Nelson), usually in Trafalgar Square and sometimes involves pupils from the local Victory Primary School. Many streets in Nelson are named after Trafalgar and crew members of Victory.
The victory is celebrated each year in the
Australian
town of
Trafalgar, Victoria
, in which the small town of 2,200 holds an annual Battle of Trafalgar Festival with the Trafalgar Day Ball held on the Friday or Saturday closest to 21 October each year.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The precise wording varies depending on what is said in the speech. For example, in 1997, Admiral
Jerome L. Johnson
(
USN
) ended his Trafalgar Night speech in Washington with:
"To the immortal memory of Admiral Lord Nelson"
[5]
while in 2016, at the end of his Trafalgar Night speech in Washington, Admiral Sir Philip Jones (
First Sea Lord
) said:
To the immortal memory of Horatio, Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte and Vice Admiral of the White, and to those who fell with him.
"The immortal memory"
[6]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]