On August 26, 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) took control of all shipping. Records we hold This website Search Some copies of the latter have been digitized and put online by theMaritime History Archivein Canada. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 261046 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. They were first recorded on board vessels in port from 1851 (1861 for Scotland) and from 1861 measures were taken to record mariners at sea. Modern entries giving wholesale name-changes to a ship's multiple set of cards could not be made to historic records. Dad signed off the ship on 8th May. Numbers were allocated to the certificate of service in BT 130 are as follows: We hold indexes to registers of certificates of competence and service for cooks, 1913-1956 in BT 319. . The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. 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. On 5th July when she was 300 miles astern of convoy WS 9B she was torpedoed by U-96 under Capt. A little after 1.30 a.m. the last person to speak to Grandad was Able Seaman M. Towers. (These were originally described as 'Asian seamen' but that is misleading. Merchant mariners or merchant seamen are assigned to vessels that primarily transport cargo and passengers during peacetime. Main image:Allied convoy crossing the North Atlantic in 1942 during World War 2. The two aircraft carriers escorting the convoy lost aircraft due to crash landings, considered by Admiral Somerville to be due to lack of training and experience of deck landing to a regrettable degree. 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? Most of the masters and mates were from West Wales. The cards are presented in alphabetical order by ship's name. The ship had to wait in Aden until the Monster liners Mauretania, Ile de France and Nieuw Amsterdam from convoy CM 15 had passed through ahead of her to disembark at Suez before she did. This enabled them to arrive at Freetown on the 25th for fuelling and water before sailing on 28th for Durban. Ships & Convoys. ","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. Although the design of this website looks rather old-fashioned, it's still updated and is a good resource for Welsh Merchant Navy records. Consult series BT 128 for details. Against J. List view Image view. Operations in and around the Dodecanese, Corsica, Greece, Sardinia and Yugoslavia after 11 June 1943 would also qualify. The third statement, quite surprising, from W. Orr, is missing from the official records although he is listed as giving evidence to the inquiry into Matty Towers death. Matthew Towers was 48 years old when he lost his life. We weren't sorry to leave there in a cattle truck three days later, when we were taken to Drancy Prison in Paris. As well as the registers of certificates of competency for engineers at The National Archives (in series BT 139, see above), the National Maritime Museum holds registers for the following years and certificate numbers: The National Maritime Museum holds the registers, bearing numbers 5001-41021 (reference RSS/CO/1-6). After the First World War King George V, in recognition of the contribution made to the British war effort by merchant ships, granted the title of Merchant Navy to non-military sailors. It sank many submarines, but it also lost a large number of warships. ). Subscribe now for regular news, updates and priority booking for events.Sign up, All content is available under the Open Government Licence The staff had been working 48 hours without sleep planning the convoy and then tearing up the plan and movement orders as changes took place. As fast as they drew up new convoy plans, the instructions would change. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources. This information will help us make improvements to the website. There was also no minimum qualifying period if service was terminated due to death or disability while on active duty. What ship was Admiral Harold Stark on during D-Day? American Merchant Marine Databases includes: . British seamen who served under the T124X agreement; British seamen who served under the T124T agreement; Non-British seamen who served under the T124X agreement. The image you order will usually come with a number of medal records for other seamen. With all of Britains oil arriving by sea, half of her food, and most of her raw materials more than a million tonnes per week, in total- the smooth functioning of the merchant fleet was integral to the nations survival. Search The Gazette for lists of masters and mates who passed officer examinations. 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. After the outbreak of war, Germany declared that every vessel of the British mercantile marine was to be regarded as a warship, meaning that the sailors of the Merchant Navy faced tremendous risks. recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. World War Two 1939-1945 - Archives New Zealand Skip to main content Our reading rooms are open. Show all records. Let us know. Our first night there we had doors for beds. His brother Francis David Short was in the First War but I have no details on his service. For details of the Arctic Star see our guide to Merchant seamans medals and honours. At this point the body of Matthew Towers A.B. Enter the tag you would like to associate with this record and click 'Add tag'. He survived. The poster shows an ultra-realistic drawing with a coxswain at a ship's wheel, and an officer with binoculars drawn by Charles Wood. At first it was voluntary and applied only to foreign-going vessels. AB. Fort Pepperrell was in St. John's and many American servicemen were to resident in the capital city. He died on 21st Aug 1973. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from For example, MacDonald will not appear under the letter M but under D. At Halifax she embarked American troops to Reykjavik in Iceland and arrived back on 17th October a total journey time of three months. The ship turned out to be a disguised German raider. Research guide C12: The Merchant Navy: Ship registration and Custom House records; Research guide E1: . The story was hand written and falling apart but I have typed it up for preservation. You may be searching for a ship on dates before or after movement cards were in use on that vessel. Help us improve catalogue descriptions by adding tags. A silver rose on the ribbon bar signifies the award of a bar. The Atlantic Star was also awarded to those awarded a gallantry medal, with no minimum qualifying period. This is the story of my Grandad, James Wafer and his best friend and shipmate Matty Towers. v3.0, except where otherwise stated, guide on Merchant seamens medals and honours, World War Two Medals issued to Merchant Seamen, records of merchant seamen serving after 1917, Abbreviations in merchant seamens records, Friends of The National Results 1-2 of 2 View Record Name . It lists nearly 24,000 Welsh merchant masters, mates and engineers who were active between 1800 and 1945. MERCHANT NAVY SEAMAN'S SEA SERVICE RECORDS Sea Service Records . We can either copy our records onto paper or deliver them to you digitally, Visit us in Kew to see original documents or view online records for free, Consider paying for Military ; Card Catalog ; Member Search ; DNA. MO has 20th Century military records for discharged and deceased veterans. Monarch of Bermuda sailed on Christmas Eve for Liverpool via Trinidad arriving back on 21st January 1942. Maurice John Case MBE: 20 . This camp bordered on primitive in every sense of the word. 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). On 13th December the weather reached gale force which repeated the heavy rolling and misery in the troopdecks experienced on the first leg of the voyage. Order records to view when you visit. v3.0, the Lloyd Lists which are available at the Guildhall Library or the, record of voyages (certificates up to 1888 only) dates are for when the records were filed and are not arrival dates sometimes records were filed after a series of voyages, date of death (certificates after 1888 only and only sometimes), date, number and place of issue of the masters certificate obtained, any other special qualification, including the steam certificate from 1874, name and number (taken from the Mercantile Navy Lists) of each ship (date of engagement and discharge as master or mate and the destination of each voyage), any special awards (for example, war service), pasted-in summaries of the qualifications and service from 1851 of masters who were still active in 1869, green for skippers and mates of fishing boats. At 05.55 all the boats but one had cleared the ship, by which time the foredeck was completely submerged and the water almost up to the level of the promenade deck. Historically many vessels have had their names changed, sometimes on more than one occasion. privacy policy, Registry of Shipping and Seamen: War of 1939-1945; Merchant Seamen's Service on Royal Navy Ships. We also found evidence after 1943 of his return to the Army, promotion to Captain and his service in India, near Karachi. My mum told me that he did serve. The passage to Durban took longer than anticipated because the route diverted to sail closer to the African coast and the convoy speed dropped to 6.1/2 knots to enable the RN escorts to rendezvous with a tanker for refuelling at Point Noire. Samaria sailed out of Liverpool on Friday 14th of May 1943 and was on the Clyde Monday 17th of May. If a seaman is not listed, it may be because they have not claimed their medal entitlement. 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. The men went to their boats in an orderly and quiet manner. In early 1945, in the face of advancing British forces, the camp was evacuated, and we were marched to Marlag und Milag Nord, from where I was later repatriated. was taken ashore by the military authorities for burial. 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. The minimum qualifying period was one day. 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 these instances the cards have been separated and placed alphabetically according to the name shown without a deletion. You can also search: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. In the indexes, names beginning with Mc or Mac are usually found under the letter following that prefix. Domestic and Foreign Policy (1945-1958) 17. Archives, Open Government Licence Research guidance for records relating to World War 2. AncestryDNA Activate a Kit ; AncestryDNA Learning Hub ; What's Included in Your Results . This information will help us make improvements to the website. When he talked to my Grandad he was told that he had a bad headache. A register entry for a foreign trade voyage, from BT 124. Merchant Navy service Records of pre-World War I and colonial service World War I service with the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force an War gratuity cards for World War I and World War II Records of Navy service after 1970 Other contacts We hold the following records about service in the Royal Australian Navy: Merchant seamen who were discharged from the navy between 1940 and 1972 had their records filed in what became known as 'seamen's pouches'. They sailed up the Irish Sea to join with the Clyde portion to form convoy WS 9B. Gunner and T. Moulton Sectionman. After the outbreak of war, Germany declared that every vessel of the British mercantile marine was to be regarded as a warship, meaning that the sailors of the Merchant Navy faced tremendous risks. . 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. For information on how to order an Official Military Personnel File for a veteran who separated from service before 1957, . I was held in Stalag X-B for two years, and I will never forget that smell it lingered constantly. 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. 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. George Smith died later of his injuries. By war's end 410 merchant ships had been built in Canada. Genealogical enquiries should be made in writing and search fees are 30. William Gibb and Sgt Fox found my Grandad's body in the South West corner of the West Huskisson dock. The column on the right of each record contains a reference number to the entitlement file held by the Registry of Shipping and Seamen.