Access to information about Officer's postings in WW2

[Alan S Taylor]

My Father, John Walter Scott Taylor was an officer in the merchant navy from 1930 to 1946. He served in the Caledonian Monarch from 1933 to 1941 ( rising from 3rd to 1st Mate) and there is a separate record of being First Mate in the Fort Thompson from May '45 to feb 46 but there is no record on his discharge certificate as to what ships he was on for most of the war? Is there any way I can access this info online ? Thanks for any help

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Alan
Can you let me have his Place and DOB please i will look to see if i can assist! Do you have a Discharge Number??
Cheers

[Alan S Taylor]

Thanks for your reply Doc. My father Captain J W S Taylor was born on 9th July 1912 in Sydney NSW. He was brought in 1922 to Anstruther Scotland by his widowed mother who originally came from the area. From there he went to sea as a cadet at the age of 16 with the Caledonian Company based in Dundee. At the end of the 2nd WW he he took a teaching post at the newly formed South Shields Marine and Technical College becoming a Senior Lecturer in Navigation and co wrote a book entitled 'Munro's Electricity and the Magnetic Compass'. He very rarely talked about his war experiences and died in 1979 of lung cancer. It is onlyin the past few years that I have wanted to know more of his story. As well as the information I gave in the original post I know from passenger lists that in April 1941 he and other Merchant Navy Officers took passage in the infamous SS Nerissa to Halifax ( on its 39th crossing! ) and in September 1942 he returned to the UK on the SS Vibran. Other than that I have no info about his postings. Any help would be welcome. Alan
Nb His discharge Number is R114133

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Alan
Thanks for the info, may i ask i suppose it may sound daft but as you have his Discharge Number do you have his Book! If so i wonder why there are no Entries other than perhaps what you tell here of the Two Ships??
So can you clarify please , do you have his Book?
Cheers

That Number does not seem to come up at all anywhere in the Records that i normally use! Very odd this one ,but will keep looking
Cheers

[Keith at Tregenna]

Out of interest:

Munro's Electricity and the Magnetic Compass Hardcover.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Munros-Elec.../dp/B0060LG9V2

[Alan S Taylor]

Doc
In case you did not receive my previous reply - I only have a few photocopied sheets, not his original discharge book. As you say there appears to be no obvious records under my father's name in the National Archives. This is strange as his brother Alan Craig Taylor( who died in the SS King Idwal when it was torpedoed in Nov 1940) is readily accessible. Thanks again for your efforts. Alan

- - - Updated - - -

Keith
I have a copy of this book - the maths and physics content shows the relative complexity of navigating a steel ship compared with using satellite positioning today. Alan

[Keith Farrar]

My Father, John Walter Scott Taylor was an officer in the merchant navy from 1930 to 1946. He served in the Caledonian Monarch from 1933 to 1941 ( rising from 3rd to 1st Mate) and there is a separate record of being First Mate in the Fort Thompson from May '45 to feb 46 but there is no record on his discharge certificate as to what ships he was on for most of the war? Is there any way I can access this info online ? Thanks for any help

Hi
I found details for post-1941 ships that my grandfather served on via the National Archive (Document CRS 10)... details for earlier ships are available online through Find my Past or other subscription sites - but post-18941 you need to go to the National Archive I'm afraid... but it's free and they are tremendously helpful..
Best wishes and good luck
Keith

[Alan S Taylor]

Keith
Thanks for this information - I will pursue this line of enquiry although the present Covid crisis has removed the possibility of help from employees at the National Archive
Alan

[David Mason]

My father Hguh Rothwell Mason was first mate on an HE Moss ship in September 1939. He became captain during the War. His place birth is South Shields and his date of birth 16 October 1910. I don't have his discharge number. I owuld be grateful for any information about his service during the War. Many thanks David Mason

[Doc Vernon]

Hello David
Your Fathers Discharge Number was R 112503
I will look to see if i can find his Seamans Pouch or CRS10 which will hold his Service Records
His Medal Card i show here
Cheers

Mason H R.JPG

His Seamans Pouch is not found, but if yu apply for the following Series his CRS10 if still available should be at this Link.
You will need to ask only for papers that apply to his Service, Give as much info as you can plus his R Number,any Ships you may know, only you will like so many others have to wait now till the Archive Re Opens
Cheers

https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...ls/r/C10989417