By registering with our site you will have full instant access to:
268,000 posts on every subject imaginable contributed by 1000's of members worldwide.
25000 photos and videos mainly relating to the British Merchant Navy.
Members experienced in research to help you find out about friends and relatives who served.
The camaraderie of 1000's of ex Merchant Seamen who use the site for recreation & nostalgia.
Here we are all equal whether ex Deck Boy or Commodore of the Fleet.
A wealth of experience and expertise from all departments spanning 70+ years.
It is simple to register and membership is absolutely free.
N.B. If you are going to be requesting help from one of the forums with finding historical details of a relative
please include as much information as possible to help members assist you. We certainly need full names,
date and place of birth / death where possible plus any other details you have such as discharge book numbers etc.
Please post all questions onto the appropriate forum
![Red Duster Flag](https://www.merchant-navy.net/forum/images/red duster1.gif)
-
22nd September 2021, 09:23 PM
#11
Re: My Dads time at Sea
The Seamans Pouch is also a Record of Service to some extent, but only has basic info to it!
The CRS10 is the full Service Records .
The Actual Book of Discharge is virtually like the CRS10 but sometimes will contain more info.
Then there is the Voyage Records Cards which will give you the Ports visited, this is a seperate Item available from the Guildhall Library London. At the VRC Section.
Human Error ! Many records at that time had a few misspelt names and dates!
Last edited by Doc Vernon; 22nd September 2021 at 10:42 PM.
Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website
R697530
-
Post Thanks / Like
N/A thanked for this post
-
22nd September 2021, 09:30 PM
#12
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Huge thanks for all this. It would be interesting to see the ports visited. I have postcards sent to the family from various ports so I do know where he went - he was a prolific letter writer and wrote poetry too - but I am tempted to take this further and visit Kew and the Guildhall library - but it would be next year.
Last edited by Doc Vernon; 22nd September 2021 at 10:42 PM.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
22nd September 2021, 09:37 PM
#13
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Would in my minds thought be a very worthwhile Trip, as then you would have all that you want!
I went on Holiday a few Years back from Aussie, and visited the Archives in both Kew and Southampton, as well as the Guildhall Library.
Great experience and found lots of info on past Family!
Forgot to mention that the Crew Lists if that is also one of your aims (Not sure) but you can get a lot of the Crew Lists from either the National Archives as i have shown, or as well thetre is the Archives in Newfoundland Canada
I and a few others on here have used that per Email of course and myself have received all my Ships Crew Lists , some very interesting details attached the them too.
Cheers
Last edited by Doc Vernon; 22nd September 2021 at 10:43 PM.
Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website
R697530
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 06:20 AM
#14
Re: My Dads time at Sea
I'm going to investigate these links, thank you. I wonder how such a huge loss of life was able to be kept quiet for so long. Was there pressure put on survivors not to talk or had they signed the Official Secrets Act? An article in The Orcadian, written during the war about my dad's time at sea, shows the power of silence at the time. Here's an excerpt.
"Two Kirkwall young men who have seen much of the Empire and other lands in the course of this war are John Cumming Sclater and William Irving.
Only son of Mr and Mrs John Sclater, Mr John C. Sclater is a radio officer in the Merchant Navy. Not yet 23 years of age, he is a native of Kirkwall and was educated at the Grammar School here and at Skerry's College in Edinburgh.
In 1941 he qualified for his seagoing job, under the Marconi Service, by studying at the Aberdeen Wireless College.
Following a lengthy voyage that took in the West Coast of Africa, Radio Operator Sclater spent a year and a half in India and Mediterranean waters. Four of his voyages have been extraordinarily long ones.
Unscathed in a number of actions with the enemy, he had a memorable baptism of fire when his ship was repeatedly bombed in the Mediterranean. Though shaken by near misses, the ship was not hit.
After taking part in the landing on Sicily, he saw further active service off the Italian coast and was in Naples harbour following the fall of that world-famous seaport city"
"The ship was not hit"!! Please tell me how the loss of so many men and a ship did not go unnoticed! There must have been rumours?
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 06:44 AM
#15
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Elizabeth, it is not a question of it going unnoticed, well over 2500 merchant ships were lost in WWII and with the losses being so great in 1940/41 the Govt decided that not all losses should be published for the sake of public moral and MN recruitment, officials were already turning a blind eye to age restrictions and people from 14 to 73 were being signed on to meet manning requirements. Ships were bombed and blown up in Italy and Bombay killing thousands of people in the docks and well inland, ship structures being found nearly two miles inland. These as far as I can ascertain were not reported until well after the war.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 03:03 PM
#16
Re: My Dads time at Sea
I have just finished reading a letter my dad wrote from the Ville de Strasbourg on 24th March 1944. I think he was somewhere in the tropics. Here's an extract which appeals to me.
"As you know, the French always have wine with their meals and on a French ship everyone gets a ration of 3/4 of a litre per day. I used to take it with my meals for a time (a carafe is put on the table) but I found that it did not agree with my stomach too well and so I abandoned it for plain water. Incidentally, here is a story that Rene (my chief) told me about his last ship. The firemen were Mahommedans and a good Mahommedan does not take any alcoholic drinks whatsoever. However, it was noticed that one of them was drawing his ration and then vanishing into the steering engine house on the poop to drink it. On being asked why he did this, he replied that if he drank it in there, then Allah would not see him.
Not very long ago the doctor was asked if he would make out some "hints for the tropics" for the benefit of the passengers. He did this and followed it up a few nights later by giving a lecture on the same subject. The other afternoon he went up on the boat deck to sunbathe - and fell asleep. The following day the poor doc was in rather a painful condition and had to become his own patient. He is all right once again though he has been careful to avoid any prolonged contact with King Sol. The other day at afternoon tea he leant over to me and said "I'll tell you something. I pulled out a tooth this afternoon." It belonged to one of the stewards and the doc was very pleased with himself that he got it out cleanly in one piece.
That's all for the present but give my love to Jean and Mard. Your son, John.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 04:15 PM
#17
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Thanks for the update Elizabeth,
very interesting.
Regards,
Keith.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 08:34 PM
#18
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Earlier this evening I got an email from Ann Good in Canada who had been sent my address by the presenters of a film I had watched on YouTube on the sinking of the Rohna. I had emailed them to thank them for such an interesting presentation and told them my dad had served on the Rohna and they then forwarded my email to her. Ann's uncle had also been on the Rohna and enjoyed spending time in the radio room, where they liked to play Mah Jong, so it is likely that he and my dad knew each other. A small world indeed! Ann has been conscripted onto the film team and has flagged up that the film crew is 'planning a new media blast about Rohna Classified, to be released in the UK in time for Remembrance Day Nov. 11.' She hadn't seen my dad's name on any file or lists, but thanks to Doc Vernon's research yesterday, letting me know that my dad's surname was misspelt, I was able to pass on the info on his file at Kew to Ann. So thank you so much for this. It was a very timely discovery!
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 08:38 PM
#19
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Excellent news, touch wood for more, will look at all again myself in the morning.
Regards, Keith.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd September 2021, 08:46 PM
#20
Re: My Dads time at Sea
Great that Elizabeth and i am glad that you were able to get that sorted with the misspelling of the Surname .
I am sure that will be an interesting short Film.
Do let us know after how it went, and if your Dad is at some point mentioned!
Thanks again
Cheers
Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website
R697530
-
Post Thanks / Like
Tags for this Thread
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules