How much to believe?

[Keith at Tregenna]

Fortunately, they did not
sign up in the Merch at
the time to escape enlistment.

K.

[robpage]

Do we have to call the Merchant Navy the " Merch " that and mercantile marine I regard as disrespectful for what I regard has a very honourable place to be

[Doc Vernon]

Would agree to a point on the first one Rob,however (and please correct me if I am incorrect) but does the term

mercantile marine relate to the USA Merchant Navy,i think they call it that there?? I also think that no disrespect is meant by the Post
Cheers

I think Keith would agree as well to what you say,but just a slip there possibly? Sure he meant no disrespect
Thanks

[Doc Vernon]

Just looking on the Net and see that in fact the Merchant Navy was first called the mercantile marine , and am also of the thought still that it refers to the USA ???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercan...rine_War_Medal

https://www.londonremembers.com/memo...e-memorial-ww1

On a wee bit of futher searches I see that the USA is called the Merchant Marine to be precise LOL but have seen and heard the term Mercantile Marine used for them!?

MM.JPG

[Bill Cameron]

Fortunately, they did not
sign up in the Merch at
the time to escape enlistment.

K.

I joined in the Merchant Navy in Oct 1956, I was not trying to escape enlistment, I joined because I wanted to go to sea, I hated being called a “National Service “ dodger.

[Keith Tindell]

i think, but could be wrong, that if you joined the MN to escape 2 years national service, you had to do 7 years in the MN, i don't think the life in the MN would suit most people, other than the likes of us , even we had times that were very hard, it was not all lovely all the time. kt

[Captain Kong]

Not to do National Service, you had to stay at sea until you were 26 years old. so Go to sea at 16 you had to stay for ten years.
They used that during the Strikes in 1955 and 1960.
in the 1955 Strike they used it to break the Strike, a lot of us got call up papers, My mate Fred, a Cunard winger, he was called up but joined the Regular Army instead of being a National Service man. He got more pay and more leave and was treated better than the Conscripts. and ended up as Regimental Sergeant Major in the Grenadier Guards and then a Commission up to Major. not bad from a steward.
.

.
We used to be called the `Merchant Service`, until the King called it the `Merchant Navy` during the war due to the action and losses.

[Doc Vernon]

Jump to search

Mercantile Marine War Medal
Awarded by the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India
Country	United Kingdom
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	Merchant Marine mariners
Awarded for	Campaign service
Campaign(s)	First World War
Description	Bronze circular medal
Clasps	None
Statistics
Established	1919
Total awarded	133,135
Order of wear
Next (higher)	British War Medal
Next (lower)	Naval General Service Medal (1915)
Ribbon bar

Authority to wear the British War Medal and the Mercantile Marine Medal issued to Minnie Mason for service on English Channel ferries in World War I

The Mercantile Marine War Medal was established in 1919 and awarded by the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom to mariners of the British Mercantile Marine (later renamed the Merchant Navy)^[1] for service at sea during the First World War.<sup>[2][3][4




As my post above</sup>

[Keith at Tregenna]

This year we honour further the Mercantile Marine WW1.

King George V bestowed the title of "Merchant Navy" on
the British merchant shipping fleets following their service
in the First World War.

Many veterans used the term the Merch.

I have every respect for them.

Keith.

[Jim Brady]

Do we have to call the Merchant Navy the " Merch " that and mercantile marine I regard as disrespectful for what I regard has a very honourable place to be

If you would've lived in Liverpool you would have heard the MN called the "Merch" on a regular basis what is disrespectful about that.The people using the word were MN and anybody refering to someone that went to sea would say he's in the "Merch" with the highest of respect by the way.Maybe it's because Keith posted it.
Regards.
Jim.B.