a debt we owe

[Lou Barron]

i am not sure how to say this but i will try since i have joined the british merchant navy site i think back to the the time just after the war when the mn was not given much publicity and most of us oldies did not do much about it it was some of the new breed of mn seamen who started to make it knowed what the merchant navy was all about and we should be thankful that we have people on this site who doing the job for us

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Louis
It is with pride that so many of us younger generation try and uphold that name of the MNay,and those Men and Woman who served and did their great part for all of us! So many perished doing a duty that was sometimes very hard i dare say to comprehend,but it was done!
I give my salute to you and all like you who did such a great job during the War Years and beyond!
My personal thanks,and i am sure from many many others, to all the good oldies!
My Hat off to all you Gentleman!
And my Prayers for all the lost and deceased !
Sincerly
With Respect and Gratitude!

May the name of the Merchant Navy last forever!

[Lou Barron]

it would be about 25 years ago we in dunedin had thought about a merchant navy association there was a fair number of seamen here a guy by the name of johnny cawley got a few of us together but it seem a bit of a struggle he did manage to start it off johnny did alot tomake it work but he crossed the bar afew years after but the association took off we had about forty odd members we always had a merchant navy day it was held in february at port chalmers and it was very well attended but we are getting down in numbers now iwas made a life member a few years ago

[happy daze john in oz]

Slowly the world is coming to understand the role of the M.N. during the two world wars. Much of this as the recognition of M.N. day in a number fo countries, though there are still some yet to recognise this. As long as sites such as this exist and there are people concerned with keeping the history alive then the debt we owe will be paid in full.

[DeepSea]

"They Shall Grown Not Old..."

Introduction

In 2008 as I started to write this book as well as remembering the boys within the pages I wanted to try and find a definitive number of those who were actually killed while serving in the British and Commonwealth Merchant Navy during WWII whom unlike the three armed service who were automatically granted War Grave status no matter what the circumstances of their death. British & Commonwealth Merchant Seamen lost during WWII should, according to the rules, are only to be commemorated when they are seen to be lost as a result of “Increased War Risk” and the loss is confirmed by the Registrar General of Seaman and Shipping. Therefore, what is “Increased War Risk” and how is it decided apart from the obvious losses to torpedo, mine, machine gun, and exposure after sinking etc. Well it is a fine line drawn across a sheet of paper as far as I can see. There are two classic examples within these pages regarding the loss of the Lochgarry on the 20th January 1942 and the Ashbury lost with all hands on the 8th January 1945. Twenty-two men lost their lives from the Lochgarry when their lifeboat was smashed against the rocks North of Doon Bay after their ship foundered in bad weather. The three DEMS gunners killed from Lochgarry all received War Grave status, two being buried ashore with the third being commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial. None of her Merchant Seamen killed were granted this privilege and have no official commemoration. The Ashbury, which had foundered under similar conditions have all her crew rightly commemorated as war dead. The reason those from the Lochgarry were omitted is simply because the Registrar General of Seaman and Shipping did not put the names forward to the CWGC for commemoration and I recently failed in a bid to have them officially commemorated, because of the strict rules the CWGC are governed by. Although sympathetic to the cause, until there is a change in the law, the hands of the CWGC are tied.

To add to the confusion even more for a total figure depends on who has done the calculations. The Register General has the figures at 29,180 plus 814 lost on fishing vessels from 3rd September 1939 to 31st August 1945; these figures include British Seamen on foreign ships and visa versa. The figures kept by the Trade Division Admiralty have the total at 30,129. A HMSO study published in 1955 "Merchant Shipping & the Demands of War" states that as many as 11,600 Merchant Seamen between 1942-1944 died shortly after leaving their ship, or whose lives were permanently damaged, either physically or mentally. Whether or not all these numbers were ever taken into account for the final count is anybody's guess. With so many numbers to work from, to draw my own conclusions, I needed to do my own number crunching and worked on the following information provided by files given to me from the CWGC. The monthly breakdown of casualties is based on data compiled from Tower Hill Memorial 23,753 (including 139 Australian & 69 New Zealand) Buried Ashore 2,594 (incl. Canadian, Australian, New Zealand. Canadian 1,554 (Halifax & Tower Hill Memorial) Bombay/Chittagong Memorial 6,048. Hong Kong War Memorial 1,400. Liverpool Naval Memorial 1,400 (Merchant Seamen who served on RN vessels under the T124T & T124X Agreements) Australian War Memorial 359. Royal Navy DEMS 3,000. DEMS Maritime Regt. 1,222. DEMS from other Army Regt's 50. Naval Staff 699.

In 2008 the National Merchant Navy Association purchased digital copies of the Deaths at Sea Register 1939-1945 and I am transcribing these files and compiling the names of all those Merchant Seamen who died during the war to gain a more precise figure and more importantly have all those commemorated in some form no matter how they lost their lives while fighting for the freedom so many now take for granted. It was not until 1999, fifty fours after the end of WWII that the Merchant Navy were officially invited to take part in the Remembrance parade at the Cenotaph in London. The reason for the exclusion being they had not been officially “Under Command” This lead to a lot of bitterness felt by those who had served in every theatre of WWII from the beaches at Dunkirk to the eventual invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings. In 2000 recognition finally became a reality, unfortunately to late for many with the introduction of the official “Merchant Navy Day” designated September 3rd each year to coincide with the date WWII began.

Copyright©2010 Billy McGee

[DeepSea]

(Article written by Billy McGee 2003. Updated for the Tower Hill Commemorative Brochure 2006)

“Merchant Navy Day”

On the 3rd September 1939, the day WWII was declared, the first British & Commonwealth casualty occurred with the sinking of the British passenger liner Athenia sunk by U-30 with the loss of 112 passengers & crew. On the 7th May 1945, the day Germany surrendered the last casualty of the War in Europe occurred with the sinking of the British Merchant ship Avondale Park with the loss of two crew. While Britain was living in what became known as the “Phoney War” between September 1939 to May 1940, 177 British Merchant ships were sunk with the loss of hundreds of Merchant Seamen.

In the near six years of war, some 2,952 British Merchant ships flying the Red Ensign were lost to U-boats, mines, E-boats, aircraft, commerce raiders, pocket battleships, those who died in captivity and those executed, as well as those lost through the forces of nature in supplying the world with food, raw materials and the materials to fight a war. 32,000 British Merchant Seamen are officially registered with the CWGC being lost to this cause. Unofficial numbers are much higher. These men although civilians volunteered repeatedly to run the gauntlet in the never ending need to supply a nation in its darkest days. Men who once their ship was sunk from beneath them, if lucky enough to survive had their pay stopped before the ship reached the ocean floor. These same brave men were looked upon with distaste at home, simply because they wore no official uniform, which would identify them with any of the armed services.

The men of the Merchant Navy suffered more than most in war, even if lucky enough to survive a sinking. The freezing winter waters of the North Atlantic & Arctic Ocean on the North Russian Convoys could kill a man in under a minute. Others left dying of thirst in the searing heat and shark infested waters of the Pacific & Indian Oceans. September 3rd, remember the screams of the dying in the infernos from the burning oil tankers. September 3rd remember the Merchant Seamen machine gunned to death from the SS Anglo Saxon and the two survivors Wilbert Widdicombe & Robert Tapscott who spent seventy days in an open jolly boat before reaching land, which would see Widdicombe dead within three months as his next ship SS Siamese Prince was lost with all hands.

September 3rd remember the three hundred and seventy two British Merchant Seamen machine-gunned to death and others beheaded by the Japanese from the ships Behar, Daisy Moller, British Chivalry, Sutlej, Ascot, Nancey Moller & Nellore. September 3rd, remember the likes of 2nd Steward Poon Lim the only survivor from the SS Benlomond who survived one hundred & thirty three days on a life raft. September 3rd remember the two survivors from the Fort Longueuil who spent four and half months adrift in an open boat, only to be captured and imprisoned by the Japanese.

Remember fourteen-year-old Welsh boy Kenneth James Lewis, one of the youngest Merchant Seamen killed from the SS Fiscus, a double tragedy as his fifteen-year-old Brother Raymond Leslie Lewis perished with him, both on their first trip to sea. Over five hundred boys age sixteen and under are recorded with the CWGC killed in action serving aboard Merchant ships, which includes the youngest recorded serving casualty of WWII age just fourteen. Also, remember one of the oldest recorded serving casualties, that of James Killey age 74 killed from the SS Fenella, which was bombed and sunk while rescuing injured troops from the beaches at Dunkirk on the 29th May 1940.

September 3rd remember Liverpool seaman Billy Swinchin, a survivor from the SS Etrib who survived seventy-seven days on a raft only to be picked up by a U-boat and imprisoned in Germany. Even when captured Merchant Seamen were not treated by the rules laid down by the Geneva Convention. As civilians, they were supposed to be repatriated; instead, they were imprisoned in the Sandbostel Concentration Camp in Germany until they were forced to build their own camp, christened Milag Nord.

September 3rd remember the men from the steamers, tankers, tramps, Cam ships, MAC ships, the DEMS, reefers, rescue tugs, cargo ships, coasters, rescue ships, whalers and oilers. Without the Merchant Navy Britain would have starved. There would have been no “Battle of Britain” if it were not for the hundreds of tankers who imported the aviation spirit home. No “Operation Torch”, the invasion of North Africa would have not taken place without the thousands of troops & supplies needed brought by sea. There would have been no D-Day landing at Normandy without the one thousand two hundred and sixty Merchant ships that took part. This country is indebted to all these men.

September 3rd remember Merchant Seaman Bill Short who spent four days in an open boat in temperatures of –10. After being rescued warm water had to be siphoned into his stomach as ice crystals had formed. He then had both legs amputated without anaesthetic due to frostbite.

Where war goes the Merchant Navy follows. Two World Wars, Palestine 1945-1948, Korea 1950-1953, Suez 1956, Cyprus 1955-1959, Borneo 1962-1966, Falklands 1982, Gulf 1990-1991 & 2003 and Afghanistan.

September 3rd remember them! Remember them all, the men of the “Forgotten Fourth Service”.

Copyright©2003 Billy McGee

[Lou Barron]

thank you deep sea for the very interesting info as i said this site is in good hands

[Keith at Tregenna]

My thoughts are full of words, I enter "Ditto" to all said.

K.