You may also like to read ourguide on Merchant seamens medals and honours. 2. Although the Merchant Navy was a civilian service, during the periods of hostilities some mariners served in uniform with the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Naval Reserve Trawler Section, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Records of masters and mates passing the voluntary examination are in series BT 143 (which includes a name index) and in BT 6/218-219. James Wafer S.S. Samaria (d.14th May 1943) James Wafer started service as an Able Seaman during World War 1 and had survived active service as a teenage merchant man on a ship called Romney. The seamens discharge book numbers are usually listed, and you may find the date and place of birth too. Records available only at The National Archives in Kew To access the records in this. The details are in an appendix entitled An Alphabetical List of all the Masters and Mates in the Merchant Service. The ship Adrastus had to heave-to to secure cargo which had come adrift and didnt catch up with the convoy until three days later. Arrangements for those who succumbed to seasickness consisted of 40 gallon drums which slid about the deck with unpleasant splashings. This information will help us make improvements to the website. At this point the body of Matthew Towers A.B. These records were compiled at the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen. It should be noted that the cards do not always reflect changes in the ship's name and that it may be necessary to search for a ship under its various names. From things he had said prior to his death, the family believe that the story could actually be based on himself and those he served with. A microfiche index to their holdings is kept by TNA. All Web: UK, World War II Medals Issued to Merchant Seamen, 1939-1945 results for ae. The Atlantic Star was also awarded to those awarded a gallantry medal, with no minimum qualifying period. 1. These records are digitised cards recording the movements of British and Allied merchant ships during the Second World War. Nine types of medals were awarded to British merchant seamen who served in the Second World War and who met the qualifications for each medal. These files have joined our collection in an effort to better serve the public who are looking for proof of their ancestor's service, The first block of this series contained 4,800 cubic feet of records, The Coast Guard National Maritime Center (NMC) is the approving official for World War II Merchant Marine separation documents. For Matty Towers the three witness statements into his death are very contradictory. Once you have obtained a certificate number from the index in BT 127, consult the table below for the respective record series reference: Certificate numbers with a letter(s) prefix NWS were issued in the colonies. The story was hand written and falling apart but I have typed it up for preservation. We do not provide copies of online records please download to view, Visit us in Kew to see original documents or view online records for free, Consider paying for Merchant Navy 1939-1945 Royal Navy 1939-1945 Naval Warfare Atlantic 1939-1945 Malta 1939-1945 British Home Front 1939-1945 British Army 1939-1945 Submarines German Home Front 1939-1945 Prisoners of War, . This is the story of my Grandad, James Wafer and his best friend and shipmate Matty Towers. At 5.00 p.m. on Thursday 13th of May 1943, my grandfather Jim reported for duty on troop ship S.S. Samaria to J. Lowe 2nd officer. The Guildhall Library does not hold crew lists. E. A. Huntbatch SS Orama (d.15th July 1941), Fireman James Gilbert Goodwin S.S. San Casto (London). Have you found an error with this catalogue description? The convoy arrived in Freetown on 1st March. The ship turned out to be a disguised German raider. This enabled them to arrive at Freetown on the 25th for fuelling and water before sailing on 28th for Durban. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources. All Web: UK, World War II Medals Issued to Merchant Seamen, 1939-1945 results for Giron. He was torpedoed and sunk twice but fortunately rescued on both occasions. From 1835, details of seafarers were recorded in registers by the Register Office for Merchant Seamen, later the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, using information from the crew lists. (BSLOC_2013_11_114) Everett Collection Mary Evans","spans":[{"start":0,"end":131,"type":"em"}]}]}}],"metaTitle":null,"metaOgTitle":null,"metaDescription":null,"metaOgDescription":null,"metaCanonical":null,"addNoIndexTag":null,"_meta":{"__ref":"PrismicMeta:XgIZ8RAAACEA9U7G"}}},"TrustpilotTrustScore:4bdc84ff000064000505d022":{"__typename":"TrustpilotTrustScore","id":"4bdc84ff000064000505d022","trustScore":3.8},"PrismicRelatedDocument:XgIaTRAAACEA9VB8":{"__typename":"PrismicRelatedDocument","id":"XgIaTRAAACEA9VB8","lang":"en-us","type":"article-page-1939","uid":"the-merchant-navy"},"PrismicRelatedDocument:XgIaGBAAACEA9U96":{"__typename":"PrismicRelatedDocument","id":"XgIaGBAAACEA9U96","lang":"en-au","type":"article-page-1939","uid":"the-merchant-navy"},"PrismicRelatedDocument:XgIaORAAACIA9VAa":{"__typename":"PrismicRelatedDocument","id":"XgIaORAAACIA9VAa","lang":"en-ie","type":"article-page-1939","uid":"the-merchant-navy"},"PrismicMeta:XgIZ8RAAACEA9U7G":{"__typename":"PrismicMeta","id":"XgIZ8RAAACEA9U7G","firstPublicationDate":"2019-12-24T14:00:46+0000","lastPublicationDate":"2019-12-24T14:00:46+0000","alternateLanguages":[{"__ref":"PrismicRelatedDocument:XgIaTRAAACEA9VB8"},{"__ref":"PrismicRelatedDocument:XgIaGBAAACEA9U96"},{"__ref":"PrismicRelatedDocument:XgIaORAAACIA9VAa"}]}},"pathname":"/1939register/the-merchant-navy","publicPath":"/titan/dist/","browser":{"name":"Safari","fullVersion":"15.5","majorVersion":"15","osName":"Mac OS","isBot":false}}, Discover the sailors in your family history with the 1939 Register. The certificate number obtained from the index indicates: Certificate numbers with a letter(s) prefix NWS were issued in the colonies. AB. Merchant Navy 1939-1945. To view all records for an individual, select 'ALL' in the Service box. When he talked to my Grandad he was told that he had a bad headache. Merchant Navy Awards 1939-1945 This collection details over 9,000 awards made to those who served in the Merchant Navy from 1939-45. These entries do not simply record a single voyage, but a half year (January to June or July to December) during which the seaman was engaged on a particular ship. However, it was still important to record the movements of merchant vessels and so the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen established this series of cards, now held by The National Archives in series BT 389. Owners and gross tonnage (G.T.) You can find out whether a medal was issued by looking at the markings on the records. The minimum qualifying period was one day. Although the design of this website looks rather old-fashioned, it's still updated and is a good resource for Welsh Merchant Navy records. When the convoy arrived at Durban on 21st March the Commodore recommended that the Armed Merchant Cruisers used for convoy protection were not suitable owing to their slow speed of 12.1/2 knots when the liners carrying 4,000 troops were capable of 18 knots or more. It was the Knights of Columbus Hostel on Harvey Road which was frequently used by the servicemen. Another important archive open to the public is theLloyds Marine Collectionat the Guildhall Library which holds the Captains Registers for the period up to 1948, voyage record cards 1927 to 1975 and runs of theLloyds Registers, Lloyds ListsandMercantile Navy Lists. Military ; Card Catalog ; Member Search ; DNA. Awarded for service between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945, in direct support of land operations in France, Belgium, Holland or Germany, in the North sea, the English Channel or the Bay of Biscay (service off the coast of the south of France could qualify for the Italy Star, see below). If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. All were willing and did their best to help abandon ship quickly in the short time available. Whilst it is only short, it gives a vivid account of life on board ship as a RA gunner during WW2. The cards are presented in alphabetical order by ship's name. For quick pointersTuesday to Saturday 3 hold. This information will help us make improvements to the website. ). Generally awarded if the seaman qualified for one of the Stars. As the U-boat is forced to hide beneath the surface of the sea a cat- . On August 26, 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) took control of all shipping. The steamer Anselm had left Liverpool with Monarch of Bermuda to join convoy WS 9B but hadnt been able to maintain the 12 knots speed. Matthew Towers was 48 years old when he lost his life. Records of Merchant Navy from other sources. Chapter one is called The Idea of the World because it reflects the meaning of the efforts of the ancient's philosophers-geographers to know the shape and size of the Earth, discover its position in space, and find out what is around them. This caused miserable conditions throughout the overcrowded and claustrophobic troopdecks. Search All Records ; . My name was and still is on the wall of remembrance in the Mission to Seaman in South Shields. Discovery is a catalogue of archival records across the UK and beyond, from which you can search 32 million records. In 1939 the Admiralty instructed the Board of Trade, for reasons of security, to prevent masters of merchant vessels from using ships logs or crew lists and agreements to record destinations or ports of call. Awarded for service between 11 June 1943 and 8 May 1945, in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. A merchant seaman qualified serving within a restricted area in the Bay of Bengal. SS Otranto, Capt. The convoy would have various naval escorts during the trip which would join and leave as the convoy passed their bases. v3.0, except where otherwise stated, Merchant Navy ships records: movement cards 1939-1945, Friends of The National Showing 1-30 of 261 records. Become a Member Consult copies of the Mercantile Navy List for 1860 to 1864 in The National Archives reading rooms for alphabetical lists of masters and mates (with certificate numbers) as well as one-line obituaries for deceased seamen. A Clasp would be worn to signify service for the other Star. Suffice it to say the remainder of the convoy including Monarch of Bermuda made the passage safely arriving in Freetown on 13th July to fuel and take on water and sailing on 17th July for Durban. There was no minimum time qualification for a Merchant Seaman. You need to sign in to tag. Second World War (1939-1945) Archival records and resources from the Second World War Archival resources from Canada's participation in the Second World War. The British Merchant Navy fleet was the largest in the world in 1939 and around 185,000 men served in it during the war. Strange that we have sworn coroners statements from my grandfather's inquest placing him on the ship and performing his duties, but the official entry in the log claims he failed to re-join the ship. Wafer it states "he failed to re-join ship" and for M. Towers it reads "died as result of accident". ","spans":[]}]}},{"__typename":"PrismicArticlePage1939BodySliceImage","type":"slice-image","primary":{"__typename":"PrismicArticlePage1939BodySliceImagePrimary","image":{"dimensions":{"width":1200,"height":1882},"alt":"Propaganda poster for the Merchant Navy during World War II. Due to the multifaceted nature of the Merchant Marine, we are very grateful to obtain this collection in order to provide clarity to their service," said Theresa Fitzgerald, Along with this new series have come some new experiences. A total of 254 officers and men lost their lives in the sinking of Anselm, of which 176 were RAF, 70 from other services and 4 crew. However, service was considered military in nature for those who served between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946. Seamen's records ('pouches') are in: BT 372, Crew agreements and log books are in: BT 380, Coast trade crew agreements and log books are in: BT 381, Fifth Register of Seaman's Service is in: BT 382, Crew agreements and log books for requisitioned or chartered Allied foreign ships are in: BT 387, Special Operations Records, merchant seamen, are in: BT 391, Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1872-1992, Have you found an error with this catalogue description? After four months aboard the raider, we were transferred to a prison ship. I myself [Captain Elliot] slid into the water shortly before the ship took up a vertical position stern up and then disappeared completely at 05.59. This was 22 minutes after first being torpedoed. Generally the qualifying service period for the Burma Star could only begin after the 1939-1945 Star had been earned by six months service. Let us know. This number made up around one third of the entire global merchant fleet at the time, with many of the seamen coming from all over the Empire, including India, Hong Kong and West Africa. ","spans":[]}]}},{"__typename":"PrismicArticlePage1939BodySliceText","type":"slice-text","primary":{"__typename":"PrismicArticlePage1939BodySliceTextPrimary","content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":"After the declaration of war in September 1939, the Ministry of Shipping then under the control of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Gilmour took control of the merchant fleet. Voyages in the registers were usually recorded either as: Home trade voyages (repeated or reported voyages). Enter the tag you would like to associate with this record and click 'Add tag'. According to a later report by the ship Cathay, the previous nights U-Boat dispositions siutuated a submarine close to the position of Anselm and which, despite the three corvette anti-submarine screen, allowed U-96 to put in a successful attack at 05.37 when a torpedo struck the port side reserve bunkers of Anselm. There was also no minimum qualifying period if service was terminated due to death or disability while on active duty. Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck Evan McGilvray 2020-09-30 This military biography explores heavily illustrated book presents the details of those ships and describes the fate of those lost between 1939 and 1945. On the 18th the weather worsened to force 6 with a rough sea and short, heavy swell with poor visibility. To determine eligibility for a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD Form 214, or a Report of Casualty, DD Form 1300, customers will be directed to to, View the National Archives Operating Status. Fort Pepperrell was in St. John's and many American servicemen were to resident in the capital city. You can also search: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Consult our guide to records of merchant seamen serving after 1917for advice on searching within registers of seamen and seamens pouchesto establishvoyage details which you may be able to apply to the service of officers.

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