AB. card and his grey suit jacket. Also awarded, with no minimum service requirement, if service was terminated by death, disability due to service or capture as a prisoner-of-war. James Wafer S.S. Samaria (d.14th May 1943). This meant that Monarch of Bermuda with eight other liners and the cruiser HMS Royal Sovereign increased speed from 13 knots to 16 knots. v3.0, except where otherwise stated, Merchant Navy ships records: movement cards 1939-1945, Friends of The National There were no portholes, and ventilation came from the open access hatches which had to be closed at night when the ships were darkened. On August 26, 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) took control of all shipping. Generally the qualifying service period for the Italy Star could only begin after the 1939-1945 Star had been earned by six months service. Our first night there we had doors for beds. are also recorded at the top of the card.From left to right, the six columns on the card will tell you: You can search the records in Discovery, our catalogue, by using thesearch boxbelow. Samaria sailed from Clyde 19th of May to Algiers and arrived 27th of May 1943. If you have any unwanted These records are digitised cards recording the movements of British and Allied merchant ships during the Second World War. At this point the body of Matthew Towers A.B. Merchant Navy ships' records: movement cards 1939-1945; Merchant Navy ships' records: registration of merchant ships; Add a tag. 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. Merchant ship movement card (catalogue reference: BT 389). heavily illustrated book presents the details of those ships and describes the fate of those lost between 1939 and 1945. The ship turned out to be a disguised German raider. To have have kept all the cards together would have rendered them out of alphabetical order (in contravention of the specification) with possible adverse consequences for the list. 1939-1945. In the eleven months on the ship Dad had spent three months in Liverpool. At 8.00 a.m. Matty Towers looked in his bunk and then reported Grandad missing to the Bosun, J. Hynes. Photographs CAPTAIN CHARLES FRYATT At the National Archives, researchers can find information on the United States Navy ranging from the wooden hulled ships of the Continental Navy used in the Revolutionary War, to the deployment of massive Carrier Battle Groups and Navy Task Forces. Most of the masters and mates were from West Wales. In the longest campaign of the war, the British merchant fleet, with its naval escorts, struggled to bring food, fuel, equipment and raw materials from America and elsewhere across the Atlantic,. A register entry for a foreign trade voyage, from BT 124. At 7.45 p.m. the Samaria was about to sail. She was torpedoed and shelled by the German U-boat U30 without warning, becoming the first merchant vessel casualty of the Second World War. Don Fraser, "'Men of a service . Some of these records are alsoavailable on the subscription websitewww.findmypast.co.uk. Please ensure the tag is appropriate for the record. You can search for ships official numbers through the Crew List Index Project. By 1895, they were essentially out of business. The ship left Suez on 27th August via Port Sudan to load commercial cargo at Mombasa for Capetown and the UK. Below is the last movement card for the SS Athenia. Help us improve catalogue descriptions by adding tags. Against J. please
The movement control staff in Durban were receiving signals from London changing the instructions for the destinations of the various troops. The Oil Concessions 15. Search and download ( charges apply) records of World War Two Medals issued to Merchant Seamen (BT 395). After a change of orders she eventually left the Clyde with escorts on 30th June. 10thFeb 2023 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. It sank many submarines, but it also lost a large number of warships. This is the story of my Grandad, James Wafer and his best friend and shipmate Matty Towers. The image you order will usually come with a number of medal records for other seamen. Canada's air support was crucial throughout the war. As the outbreak of World War II edged closer in 1939, the British merchant fleet remained the largest in the world, employing some 200,000 men and women. Whilst it is only short, it gives a vivid account of life on board ship as a RA gunner during WW2. Medals and awards Refer to our research guides: Campaign and service medals Australian military honours and awards Where to look for photographs Catalogue entries for this series have been enhanced as part of a project supported by volunteers. If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Within the Returns of Births and Deaths of Passengers 1939-1963 there are for 1939-1945 also records of deaths of soldiers on hospital and troopships, but it is necessary to know the name of the ship. photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. On the Samaria crew list and report of character, James Wafer and Matty Towers are consecutive number 59 & 60. In the indexes, names beginning with Mc or Mac are usually found under the letter following that prefix. She left on 3rd of August with four other troop ships and three ships carrying military equipment still as part of convoy WS 9B. Become a Member Particular emphasis was put on implementing the convoy system, by which warships would customarily escort groups of merchant ships to deter attacks from German U-boats. Arrangements for those who succumbed to seasickness consisted of 40 gallon drums which slid about the deck with unpleasant splashings. From the mid-18th century, masters or owners of most British-registered merchant ships were required to keep a record of their crew before the ship left port. Use our guide Abbreviations in merchant seamens records to interpret the records. The two Ellerman ships City of Lincoln and City of Edinburgh had to return to Liverpool and the Clyde because cargo had shifted. Monday, July 16, 1945 o First atomic bomb exploded Heat generated by the blast was 4 times the temperature at the center of the sun Blew out windows in houses more than 200 miles away Killed every living creature within a mile o Ruby Wilkening joined several other women waiting for the blast Worried about her husband who was already at the test site No one knew what to expect o . Enter the tag you would like to associate with this record and click 'Add tag'. Discovery is a catalogue of archival records across the UK and beyond, from which you can search 32 million records. But by the time its recommendations were implemented in 1994, the 15-year- old deckboys would have been in their mid-60s, while a seaman of 50 when the war ended would have been 100. In general Second World War Royal Naval Reserve officers' records and post 1950 records are held by CN Pers (Commodore Naval Personnel). The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources. You can also search: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. For details of the Arctic Star see our guide to Merchant seamans medals and honours. A single oak leaf emblem attached to the War Medal ribbon denotes a Mention-in-Despatches; the silver oak leaf, a Kings Commendation for Brave Conduct. He died on 21st Aug 1973. The British Merchant Navy fleet was the largest in the world in 1939 and around 185,000 men served in it during the Second World War. 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. 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. 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. You might also find information about an officer by searching the records of ordinary merchant seamen. (These were originally described as 'Asian seamen' but that is misleading. . ","copyright":"INF13-213 (52)","url":"https://images.prismic.io/findmypast-titan/9794e89f-46cb-4342-8b53-47272a1b0f4b_inf13-213-52-world-war-ii-poster-the-life-line-is-firm-thanks-to-the-merchant-navy.jpg?auto=compress,format"},"caption":"The Life-line Is Firm Thanks To The Merchant Navy Image: INF13-213 (52)"}},{"__typename":"PrismicArticlePage1939BodySliceText","type":"slice-text","primary":{"__typename":"PrismicArticlePage1939BodySliceTextPrimary","content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":"Despite sharing the word Navy in their titles, the difference between the Royal and Merchant Navies was that sailors in the latter were classed as civilians. The first chapter of this books presents the three waves operations of social, political, economic, technological, military and educational aspect of world affairs under the following subjects. However the majority are held by the Maritime History Archive. An incomplete set of captains registers is available on microfilm in The National Archives reading rooms. Before 1747 no formal record keeping of crews on merchant ships existed. Awarded for service in the Pacific Ocean, South China Sea or the Indian Ocean between 8 December 1941 and 2 September 1945. Monarch of Bermuda sailed for Suez with an estimated 2,200 troops on board on 28th June in company with seven other ships and escorted by the destroyers HMS Reading and Piorun (Polish). 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. 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. 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.