Britain’s former First Sea Lord is calling on nations to unite to protect underwater war graves after a UK investigation revealed wide-scale looting by pirates.
The graves of thousands of war heroes killed in battle have been destroyed by treasure hunters and metal looters targeting sunken vessels.
Lord West is urging the UK’s Ministry of Defence (Mod) to lead global action to protect the sites and bring in tougher penalties on those desecrating the graves.
His rallying call comes as The National can reveal an investigation by the Mod's Salvage and Marine Operations confirmed historic Second World War wrecks, the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, have suffered "considerable damage".
More than 830 sailors died when the vessels were sunk off the coast of Malaysia in 1941.
"These are very important sites, these men died fighting for their nations. It would not be tolerated for people to go to graves at Flanders and dig them up, yet this is the same," Lord West told The National.
“We need the full strength of the international community to come together to police this.
“As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, I call on policy makers to look at what can be done to protect them.
“The Mod needs to lead the way and get other nations on board to get an agreement to monitor areas of the sea to stop this. There needs to be much more clarity and tougher penalties.
“These are war graves of brave soldiers and it is desperately sad.
It is very important people are remembered.”
The Mod has vowed to work hard to protect the graves.
"The law is clear that military wrecks should remain undisturbed and we work hard to ensure they're protected," a spokesman told The National.
“We will continue to cooperate closely with governments and partners to prevent inappropriate activity on the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels.”
Ships sunk since the First World War have war grave status.
The lead in them is sought after as ships made before the first nuclear explosions in the 1940s are valuable as the metal does not contain radioactive elements and can be used in specialist lab and medical equipment.
A Mod official said its recent surveys of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse showed both had been "heavily damaged" with HMS Repulse suffering "considerably greater damage".
"We consider the sunken British warships to be the final resting place of our servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and have engaged with the local and regional authorities to ensure that our position is made clear over the desecration of these sites," an official said.
Lord West has campaigned for more protection for two decades and has previously organised a mission to save a bell from the HMS Prince of Wales after a former Naval officer contacted him after discovering looters trying to steal it. It is now on a display in a museum in Liverpool.
Alf Woodhead, of Keighley, West Yorkshire, was one of the few survivors of the HMS Prince of Wales and watched as his friends died, the engraved gold watch his mother gave him for his 21st birthday remains in his locker on board.
His great grand-daughter Poppy Midgley has backed calls for the protection of the vessels.
“It is important that the final resting places of all those who died serving their countries are protected,” she said.
“He watched his friends die that day and relatives across the world should know that their loved ones graves are safe and being treated with respect.”
Under international law, naval warships, state vessels, and associated artefacts remain the property of the home nation wherever in the world they lie.
Some wrecks are afforded additional protection through the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
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