PO Wren’s Wartime Memory and Wreath Laying

Suzanne Sparrow (Cole) P.O. Wren Boat’s Crew Coxswain HMS Defiance. “We were trained as seaman, learning all about knots and drill in HMS Drake,” said Suzanne. “ It was really exciting I was working out of Flag Staff steps in the Dockyard before moving around to Saltash passage near the Tamar Bridge, to the  Landing Craft base”. The base was essential for the construction, care and maintenance of many of the small boats used on D Day, as well as training and embarkation point for the troops that sailed to Normandy.

On the 75th Anniversary of D Day in HMNB Devonport, in 2019, Cmdre Peter Coulson, HMNB  Commander invited Suzanne to lay a wreath at the Boscawen Memorial (HMS Drake), along with the youngest Naval Rating on the Base. She said “I think it’s important to remember the part that HMS Drake and Devonport played in D Day and the young men who left here in 1944 for Normandy, and the D Day beaches in France. It is a great honour to be asked to lay this wreath and I am very proud of my wartime service as a Wren Boat’s Crew Coxswain.”.