Category: The Merchant Navy

A detailed and very personal account of the sinking of LST 349 on the coast of Sicily in a storm.

The author was a young cadet on the s.s. Quebec City sunk in the South Atlantic in September 1942. An account of the sinking and the survivors' journey to Liberia and subsequent rescue.

The City of Benares was torpedoed while carrying evacuee children. Cornish spent over a week in an open boat with some of them before being rescued.

In 1941 the s.s. Politician ran aground in the Sound of Eriskay with a cargo which included nearly a quarter of a million bottles of whisky. Later celebrated in book and film by Compton Mackenzie as 'Whisky Galore', this is the true and strange tale of what really happened.

The religious tale of a shipwrecked missionary, Ethel Bell. Her ship s.s. West Lashaway was torpedoed on 30 August 1942 and her boatload of survivors rescued on September 18 by the destroyer Vimy which first shelled them, in mistake for a submarine. See also her son's recollections.

The tale of the sinking of the Arandora Star by U 47 while en route to Canada with POWs and internees.

Her ship was sunk in the South Atlantic and her boatload of survivors eventually reached Liberia. She aims to bring home to readers the horror and suffering of the sea war. Reprinted by Chivers in 1969.

The tragic tale of the sinking of a ship full of Italian POWs and of the attempt to rescue the survivors.

The City of Shanghai was sunk on 10 May 1941, while proceeding alone in the South Atlantic. The author took command of a lifeboat, which was only found by another merchantman after 30 days.

The author survived the torpedoing of the Rooseboom on 1st March 1942, after evacuation from Sumatra. His lifeboat was 26 days adrift in the Indian Ocean and there were only four survivors. A second edition was published in 1973.

The Anglo-Saxon was sunk by a German raider in the South Atlantic on 21 August 1940. The two survivors struggled over 2,000 miles to the Bahamas and safety.

Another harrowing tale of the survivors from a torpedoed ship.

Examines a dozen attacks on survivors of merchant ships sunk in the Indian Ocean as well as the naval Sutlej. Reprinted by Images of Worcester and Brick Tower of New York in 1997(ISBN: 1883283183).

The sinking of s.s. Quebec City by U 156 in 1942.

Documents the controversial 1942 sinking of the liner and the rescue operations that were initiated by the same German U-Boat that fired the torpedoes. Details the moral and procedural complexities of confrontations between military and merchant forces, especially in regards to ships such as the Laconia, transporting POWs and operating under the flags of the Red Cross. The consequences of the sinking, which resulted in indictments at the Nuremburg Trials, are also analysed.

Wartime stories of South Africans overseas. The first concerns AB Tony Large who was sunk in Cornwall and rescued, only to be sunk again in the Laconia. This time he survived 39 days in an open boat.

Three weeks into her voyage, her hull mysteriously holed, Dunedin Star ran aground off Namibia's infamous Skeleton Coast. A skilful retelling of her voyage and the fate of the survivors.

A naval surgeon reviews the scant evidence on clinical problems associated with shipwreck and adds his own observations on the cases of 279 WWII survivors. Draws practical conclusions for future use. First delivered as the 1942 Bradshaw Lecture.

The first full account of the sinking in February 1944 of this troopship from convoy KR8 by the Japanese submarine I 27. 1,300 died in the attack 100 miles north-northwest of Addu Atoll.

A wreck divers' guide to the coast from the Mull of Kintyre to Coll. Organised in four geographic sections, then alphabetically by ship name. Each one has a small description of how the vessel was lost. A useful if limited guide, including a number of war casualties. A second edition was published in 2003.

A listing by company of the 1400 merchantmen lost to submarine attack. Details of the attack and crew and cargo losses are given. An excellent reference work.

The real story of the grounding of the s.s. Politician, immortalised in the novel of Compton Mackenzie and an Ealing Comedy film.

Retells the amazing journey of Tapscott and Widdicombe over 2,500 miles in an open boat after the sinking of the s.s. Anglo-Saxon by the raider Widder. The last third of the book describes the recovery of the boat in the 1990s and its eventual transfer to the Imperial War Museum from the Mystic Seaport Museum.

The largest single shipping loss of the war. Her sinking by FW Condor and U 32 is painfully and painstakingly reconstructed.

A full account of a small wartime tragedy when the Fanad Head, in convoy HX235 ran down the Canadian fishing schooner Flora Alberta with the loss of 21 lives on the schooner.

A journalist's vivid account of the City of Benares sinking.

Izzi was one of the US Armed Guard section on the Dutch liner Zaandam sunk by U 174 in the South Atlantic on 2 November 1942. It took almost three months before he was rescued by a US patrol craft, after suffering great privations.

A wreck divers' guide to the coast from the Mull of Galloway to Greenock. Organised in five geographic sections, then alphabetically by ship name. Each one has a small description of how the vessel was lost. A useful if limited guide, including a number of war casualties. A second edition was published in 1997 and a third in 2004 (ISBN: 0951336622).

Covers a completely neglected area. As well as women in the armed services, others served in on board merchantmen in roles as varied as hairdressers and engineers.

An interesting account by a missionary of the aftermath of the sinking of the s.s. City of Cairo when survivors spent two weeks in open boats. Compare this with Usher. By at least the sixteenth (post-war) impression, a preface added some facts and names concealed or changed by wartime censorship.

Spun off from a television documentary, this account is based on interviews with the child survivors of the sinking of the Benares.

When the Dunedin Star was mined off Namibia in November 1942, she was beached and the passengers and crew got ashore. This is the story of their rescue and the chapter of accidents surrounding it. Five editions had appeared by September 1945.

An uncensored expansion of Marsh's wartime work, on the sinking of the Dunedin Star. The co-author has popularised and developed the story from new sources and his imagination.

He joined the RN early in 1939 and served on Valiant. Drafted home in 1942 he was on Laconia when she was sunk and was badly traumatised by the event.

Poon Lim was Second Steward on the s.s. Benlomond sunk in the South Atlantic on 23 November 23 1942. He was the sole survivor and suffered a record 133 days on a raft before rescue by Brazilian fishermen. This is a fictional (and fanciful) recreation of this feat of endurance.

A geographically arranged list of all the submarine wrecks – mainly German – positively identified by divers, with some account of the circumstances of the sinking.

An analysis of 448 wartime sinkings and the factors influencing death or disablement, based on survivor's reports.

The story of the Holt Fleet fully told by a leading naval historian. The fleet included the Glen Line ships used as Infantry Assault ships.

Possibly the best known of the company's ships was Jervis Bay, but many others served gallantly.

Of 36 ships which began the war, 19 were sunk. The fleet saw action from the Far East to the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Over 60 pages are devoted to WWII. The company's ships were heavily involved as auxiliary naval vessels and suffered terribly during the Japanese onslaught. But some survived the war and the proud record of all the company's ships is ably described.

The history of the small ships of the Straits Steamship Company during the war from the eastern peace of 1939–41, to the devastation of the Japanese assault.

A solid record of a major shipping line.

Although not stated in the book, this record of a shipping line at war is a reprint of a book published in 1948 as Blue Star Line: Record of Service.

A ship by ship account of the wartime career of the Holland–America Line fleet in exile. A second edition appeared in 1950.

Fifty-one of just over 100 ships which started the war were lost.

A chapter of 20 pages covers the company's war history, especially the activities of the AMCs Awatea and Monowai.

A history of the Southampton, Isle of Wight, and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. Several of its ships were requisitioned and served honourably from Dunkirk to Normandy.

Includes a 48-page account of the war. Some ships were taken over as AMCs and Pretoria Castle was rebuilt as an aircraft carrier.

An illustrated history of the ships of the Clan Line.

A history of the shipping firm. Five of their ships were converted to AMCs; six of the fleet were lost. The war is covered in 15 pages.

The story of Eagle Oil from 1912–1954. It concentrates on major events and especially both world wars. Ships of the fleet figured in many dramatic actions, none more so than the famous San Demetrio and Ohio.

A company history celebrating the first 50 years. Most of the 40 pages devoted to WWII concentrate on the company's Persian operations, but brief mention is made of the tanker fleet and of the development of PLUTO, the Pipe Line Under The Ocean which supplied the Normandy beachhead.

The company owned or managed 26 ships and the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company during the war. The service of each ship is recorded in two chapters on WWII.

An episodic account of the chequered history of this New Zealand Shipping Company, which includes the story of the sinking of the Holmwood by the raider Komet in 1940.

City of Cairo was sunk by U 68 while alone in the South Atlantic in November 1942. This tells the epic story of the survivors.

War memoirs of a Royal Artillery gunner. A significant chunk of the book is devoted to his sinking in Laconia and subsequent rescue.

The author was one of the two survivors of the Lulworth Hill, torpedoed in the South Atlantic on 19 March 1943. While proceeding independently from Cape Town, she was sunk by a U-boat and her 14 survivors dwindled slowly until only two were alive when rescued after 50 days by the destroyer Rapid.

An interesting reflection on how he used the Internet to track down the fate of two great uncles lost when the ship was torpedoed in the Caribbean.

Built in 1940 she was sunk in the Red Sea in 1941 and is now a favourite dive site. Her full history is covered.

Somewhat confusingly arranged. A chronological list of ships sunk or damaged and in which Sunderland seaman were killed. Confusingly it also includes the names of some men who survived the war, but who may have been discharged injured. Gives a brief account of the circumstances of the action or sinking in each case.

A fascinating and unusual approach which looks at what happened after sinking of merchantmen.

Bell was an 11-year-old missionary's son on the torpedoed s.s. West Lashaway sunk in August 1942. His mother's story and their privations were recorded at the time. These are his recollections with some account of the intervening years and his attempts to meet crew members of U 66.

A wartime mystery. The s.s. John Barry was sunk off Oman by U 859 in 1944 while carrying huge quantities of unacknowledged silver. Soon after U 859 was sunk in the Malacca Strait and it is claimed may have been carrying uranium to Japan. An interesting tale of sinkings, salvage, suspicion, and skulduggery.

When the Avila Star was sunk in 1941 while travelling unescorted in the South Atlantic, the survivors endured great privation.

The City of Benares was sunk while carrying evacuees. Although the results of the attack shocked Britain, there was bungling and incompetence on the British side.

An empathetic account of the Italian emigrants who were killed when the steamer was torpedoed, while being deported to Canada. Published as a parallel text in English and Italian.

A reference guide to the wrecks with details of the wreck and the circumstances of the sinking.. An excellent guide.

A reference guide to wrecks with details of the wreck and the circumstances of the sinking. Covers Orkney and Shetland. An excellent guide.

A reference guide to over 300 wrecks with details of the wreck and the circumstances of the sinking. Republished in 2008 by Whittles as Shipwrecks of the Forth and Tay. ISBN: 978190444576.

Originally published as a one-volume work in 1986, this expanded edition gives a full account of war disaster. Populist in tone it has some excellent contemporary pictures.

Essentially an illustrated fundraising pamphlet which dwells on the courage of the lifeboat crews

A school project by Class 2F, in support of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. It explores the sinking and the fate of Lifeboat 12 through new personal information from survivors.

PALMER, Ralph. A Shopkeeper at Sea. One of the Last Ships Out and Leading Them Back Home Again. 36p. St Peter Port, Guernsey: CIC, 1985.

Published to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the liberation of the islands. The brief autobiography of a Channel Islander who served in the Merchant Navy.

TUBB, Ron. Red Duster Recollections: A Merchant Seaman’s Experiences in World War II. 112p.,  Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2004. ISBN: 1903953626.

Born in Bridgend in 1916, he rose from Apprentice to Master Mariner. In 1940 he joined the passenger liner Nestor, carrying evacuee children to Australia. Later he was assigned to the Euryades on which, in 1941, he was involved in a hazardous rescue at sea. He then served on the Antenor, a troop ship bound for the Far East. He next transferred to tankers, serving on the MV Cymbula. His seagoing career ended suddenly in 1944 when, whilst serving on the MV Amastra, he became unwell.

WILLIAMS, David L. Lifeline Across the Sea: Mercy Ships of the Second World War and Their Repatriation Missions. 158p., illus. Stroud: History Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780750961356.

The safe exchange of wounded servicemen, sick POWs, diplomats and civilians was a dangerous activity. Some fifty mercy ships engaged in these repatriation voyages, each of the exchanges arranged individually between Allied nations and the Axis belligerents, through neutral intermediaries such as the Red Cross.

EDGES, George. Diary of 35 Days Spent in a Lifeboat with Fourteen Men on the Atlantic after Torpedoing, August 10th to September 13th 1942. 16p. [n.p.: author, 1942].

A privately printed copy of the original log kept in the lifeboat by the Chief Officer of the Blue Funnel motor ship Medon. She was sunk in August 1942 in the South Atlantic by an Italian submarine while sailing independently.

KAPLAN, Philip & CURRIE, Jack. U-boat Prey: Merchant Sailors at War, 1939-1942: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives. 128p., illus. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2014. ISBN: 9781783462940.

Images of some of the most imposing merchant ships are used, accompanied by a strong narrative describing the various roles performed by the merchant crewmen and the wartime context in which they worked.

UPTON, Vernon G. A. Upon Their Lawful Occasions: Reflections of a Merchant Navy Officer During Peace and War. xi, 444p., illus. Leicester: Matador, 2004. ISBN: 1904744257.

Upton served in the Merchant Navy from just before the outbreak of World War II. A personal account, the author briefly traces his early life in Japan and Canada before beginning his training as a midshipman. He describes his 27 wartime ocean passages in nine British ships, and provides statistical records of the sinking of 1,836 merchant ships and the destruction of 350 U-boats and 13,444 of their crew members. In addition to the casualties of British ships he covers Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, American, and non-belligerent losses. An interesting study.

ELPHICK, Peter. Life Line: The Merchant Navy at War 1939–1945. 224p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Chatham, 1999. ISBN: 1861761007

A modern assessment of the courage and sacrifice of the men of the Merchant Navy and the conditions under which they served, with a large set of well-told tales of the trials and tribulations of their wartime lot, from sinkings to poor food and conditions. A good account.

BLAKELY, Al Ethelred. Convoy to India. 214p. New York: Trilon, 1953.

A black American soldier in a Port Company, with pretensions to being a poet, records his impressions of life on a troopship going via the Atlantic and Suez to India, and of India itself; the whole is interspersed with his poetic gems.  Pseudonym of Alfred Egbert Blake.           

BARTY-KING, Hugh. Girdle Round the Earth: The Story of Cable & Wireless and Its Predecessors to Mark the Group's Jubilee, 1929–1979. xvi, 413p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Heinemann, 1979. ISBN: 0434049026.

A very detailed history from the laying of the first cross-Channel cable in 1851. Two chapters are devoted to the company and its cable-laying ships in WWII.

WOOLFITT, Susan. Idle Women. 221p., illus. London: Benn, 1947.

The author was recruited by the MoWT under the Women's Training Scheme in 1944 to work on canal boats moving cargo round England. Presents an idyllic picture of life on the Home Front in the last year of war. Reprinted in 1986 by Baldwin with a new introduction and new illustrations (ISBN: 0947712038).

HANDBURY-GRASSICK, George. Down by the Head. 223p., illus. [Stockport]: Lane Publishers, 2003. ISBN: 1987666399.

The author went to train as a DEMS gunner in 1940. This records his active wartime career.

MURRAY, William. Atlantic Rendezvous. xviii, 317p., bibliog., illus. Lymington: Nautical Publishing, 1970. ISBN: 0245598944.

Murray was a radio operator on the Tribesman, which was sunk by Scheer in December 1940. He was transferred to Nordmark and eventually escaped from prison camp. An interesting autobiography.

ARNOTT, Robert H., & SMITH, Ronald L. Captain of the Queen. ii, 332p., illus. Sevenoaks: New English Library, 1982. ISBN: 0450048918.

The autobiography of a captain of the Queen Elizabeth II. He joined the Merchant Navy in 1940 and the first sixty pages describe his exuberant but relatively trouble-free wartime career as a midshipman and junior officer with the Blue Funnel Line.

SCOTT, Harry. The Radio Officer’s War: Ships, Storms and Submarines. 193p., bibliog., illus. London: Createspace, 2013.  ISBN: 1493697218.

A biography of Ian Waddell. He joined the Merchant Navy as a Radio Officer in 1940 and made fourteen Atlantic crossings before dying when the tanker Narragansett was torpedoed and sunk in March 1942. Based on his diaries and letters which are quoted at length.

LOANE, Bill. The Koolama Incident. viii, 165p., bibliog., illus. East Perth, WA: CDC Graphics, 1992. ISBN: 0646081004.

In February 1942 the Koolama was bombed by Japanese floatplanes and beached off the Australian coast of the Kimberley Plateau. Guided by Aborigines, ninety-three men walked 160 kilometres back to civilisation. A tale of gruelling courage. Reprinted by Rosenberg in 2004 (ISBN: 187705819X).

MARTIN, Roy. Ebb and Flow: Evacuations and Landings by Merchant Ships in World War Two. x, 184p., bibliog., illus. Brook House: Southampton, 2010. ISBN: 9780955744129.

A labour of love which faithfully records what is known about the role of the Merchant Navy from the Norwegian campaign to the Pacific War. Reprinted in 2012 by Fontwell  as Merchantmen in Action: Evacuations and Landings by Merchant Ships in the Second World War (ISBN: 178155045X).

THOMAS, Gabe. MILAG: Captives of the Kriegsmarine. Merchant Navy Prisoners of War, Germany 1939–1945. xii, 320p., bibliog., illus., index. Pontardawe: Milag Prisoner of War Association, 1995. ISBN: 0952549808.

A full but scrapbook-like account of a neglected area

WINSER, John de S. Coasters Go to War: Military Sailings to the Continent, 1939-1945. 144p., illus., index. Preston: Ships in Focus, 2009. ISBN: 9781901703566.

The book details the convoys, cargoes and challenges faced by almost 500 coasters of ten nationalities which supplied the Army in France and Norway in 1939-40 and again in Northern Europe from D-Day onwards.

MASON, Alfred Grossmith. Arctic Warriors: A Personal Account of Convoy PQ18. 224p., illus. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2013. ISBN: 9781783030378.

The author was Navigation and Gunnery Officer on the ss Empire Baffin. This account is based on his contemporary diary.

MANN, A.J., One Jump Ahead: Escape on the Vyner Brooke. 18p., 150p., [n.p.], 2020. ISBN: 9788619517712.

Mann was Second Mate on the s.s. Vyner Brooke. This is his personal account of his escape from Singapore, the loss of his ship, and his subsequent flight through the Dutch East Indies.

ROBINSON, George W. A Slice of Life at Sea. [6],111p., illus. Broughty Ferry: Moira Brown, 2017. ISBN: 9781521471654.

He joined the Merchant Navy in 1924 and this autobiography covers his early years at sea up to 1931. There is then a final section on his survival in the North Atlantic when the s.s. Carlton was sunk in the North Atlantic by an Italian submarine in the North Atlantic in 1941.

COOPER, Malcolm. The Ocean Class of the Second World War. vi, 210p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2022. ISBN: 9781399015530.

The sixty Ocean Class ships were a British designed wartime class which preceded the more famous Liberty ships. An excellent account of their design and service.

ROSENDAHL, Bjorn Tore. Allied Seafarers in the Second World War. 273p., bibliog illus., index. Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, 2018. ISBN: 9788202566302.

This is the first time the history of the seafarers from most of the Allied maritime nations has been gathered to one anthology. The many contributors describe the story of seamen in the merchant fleets of the USA, Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Greece, and Yugoslavia. The history of Chinese and Indian seafarers on Allied ships is also explored.

EDWARDS, Bernard. Survivors of Enemy Action: Experiences of Merchant Seamen 1939-1945. 188p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2023. ISBN: 9781399042208.

This prolific author again uses personal accounts to demonstrate the courage and bravery of the men of the Merchant Navy.

ANDERSON, Alex. Hunter to Hunted - Surviving Hitler's Wolf Packs: Diaries of a Merchant Navy Radio Officer, 1939-45. 320p., illus. [n.p.: author], 2023. ISBN: 9781805411413.

Aged nineteen he joined the Merchant Navy in 1939 serving on an Antarctic whaler. He spent the next five years on Atlantic convoy duty and four of the seven ships on which he served were sunk. Well-written and very readable.

MELHUISH, Arnold. Commodore Robin Aveline Melhuish. vii, 79p., illus. Gairloch: Wordworks, 2013. ISBN: 9780956465740.

Originally published for family and friends by the son of his first cousin, this brief biography is republished on behalf of the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum and recounts his service in WW1 and the Royal Indian Navy, but focuses on his service in WW2, notably on Arctic convoys.

HALL, Ivan. Christmas in Archangel: a Memoir of Life in the Merchant Navy 1939-1946. 244p. Bloomington, Ind.: Trafford Publishing, 2009. ISBN: 9781425119706.

An autobiography. He went to sea aged 16 in 1939 and travelled to South America, on Arctic convoys – where his ship was frozen in at Archangel in the winter of 1941/2 – took part in the Mediterranean invasion convoys and finally served in the Indian Ocean.

EDWARDS, Bernard. Running the Gauntlet: Cargo Liners Under Fire 1939-1945. x, 208p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2022. ISBN: 9781399097864.

An excellent collection of case studies of duels between fast but lightly armed merchantmen and German U-boats and surface raiders, by this experienced author.

DAVIES, J. D. Britannia’s Dragon: A Naval History of Wales.288p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: History Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780752470139.

An account of a little explored area with good coverage of WW2 ranging from the defence of Wales to the service of Welshmen in the Royal Navy.

MILLER, Ian Alexander. Voyages Into Eternity: Memoirs of the Miller Family From 1812 to 1955. [xii], 308p., bibliog., illus.  Edinburgh: Pentland, 1997. ISBN: 1858214467.

A grand sweeping family tale which includes his merchant seafaring in WWII. He travelled  all over the world and was torpedoed twice.

ROBINS, Nick. Wartime Standard Ships. xii, 177p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2017. ISBN: 9781848323766.

An excellent account of the design and construction of these prefabricated ships. Covers Axis as well as Allied ships and is well illustrated.

HENSHAW, John. Liberty’s Provenance: The Evolution of the Liberty Ship from its Sunderland Origins. 128p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Sea-forth, 2019. ISBN: 9781526750631.

The Joseph Thompson shipyard in Sunderland developed the design pre-war from which the Liberty ships grew. This book demonstrates that link and offers a detailed design comparison. Also looks at those ships spe-cially adapted for everything from hospital ships to mule transports.

EDWARDS, Bernard. Churchill’s Thin Grey Line: British Merchant Ships at War 1939-1945. 235p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2017. ISBN: 9781526711663.       

Uses the same structure as his other books on the same topic. Individual case studies give a good picture of the experience of merchant seamen at war, but this is at the price of giving a fragmented picture of the merchant navy at large.

MALCOLM, Ian M. Dangerous Seas 1939-1945. v, 227p., bibliog., illus. Broughty Ferry: Moira Brown, 2017. ISBN: 9781520753775.

A compilation of four short Kindle Books. These are Dangerous Voyaging and Dangerous Voyaging 2, both based on brief accounts of individual convoys, often with a personal story. Fortunes of War briefly lists the war service of merchant ships chronicled in Vol. 14 of the Marine Observer for 1937, plus descriptions of three wartime voyages made by a friend, Douglas Cameron. The final volume, Mined Coasts, is a list of British merchant ships damaged or sunk by mines, with brief details of the circumstances.

WELSH, Robert. Through Salt Sprayed Eyes. vi, 248p., illus. [n.p.,c.1995]. ISBN: 9780956298508.

The author served as a radio officer on a variety of merchant ships in the Battle of the Atlantic. He offers a mix of potted history and personal anecdote. Reprinted by the author in 2008, ISBN: 9780956298508.

HUGHES, William Henry. Master Mariner. 96p., bibliog., illus. Wrexham: Bridge Books, 2006. ISBN: 1844940306.

Born in 1886, he went to sea aged twelve. He saw service in both world wars on Irish Sea ferries and was on the RMS Scotia at Dunkirk, where he won a DSC. The book is based on his recorded recollections.

CARVER, Ben. The Merchant Navy: Ships and Trains in World War II. x, 102p.,bibliog., illus., index. Reading: Finial, 2008. ISBN: 9781900467407.

The book arises from an interest in the eleven ‘Merchant Navy’ Class locomotives rescued at the end of BR steam in the 1960’s. He gives brief well illustrated war histories of the ships of the eleven companies represented by the surviving locomotives.

A good solid operational account of their wartime role as troopships.

A fictionalised account of a journey on a troopship from England to Port Tewfik via Durban, recorded by a Royal Engineer.

A profusely illustrated history and description of this great liner's role as a troopship.

The author was an armed guard on liners repatriating Italian civilians and some POWs from Abyssinia. His three voyages in this role in 1942–43 are compressed into one in this account.

Throughout the war this famous lady sang to every troopship arriving at Durban and created an indelible memory on those who saw her. This claims to be an updated and revised edition of a book first published in 1964 in South Africa.

The author's experiences with an A/A battery serving on troopships. During the year covered by the book, he was involved in the evacuation of France and took part in two major troop convoys, one to Suez via the Cape and one to Freetown.

Some reminiscences, enlivened by cartoons, of an OC Troops who served in troopships from 1942 onward. Explains the routines and some of the happenings of life aboard such a vessel.

Charlewood joined the London agents of the British India Company just before war broke out. In 1941 he went to sea as an assistant purser on the ss Matiana bound for Calcutta. An Atlantic trip followed then Sydney via Panama and on to Calcutta where he joined the trooper Neuralia in January 1942. After a spell trooping in the Indian Ocean Neuralia moved to the Mediterranean and took part in various landings. In 1944 she returned to the UK for D–Day. After a brief spell ashore he went on the ss Pundua to Ceylon, now in the RNVR as a supply officer. An engaging if very personal little tale.

An illustrated list of American troopships, with details of their war career, it includes British ships which carried US troops on more than one occasion.

On his father's death in June 1939, he went to train at HMS Worcester. After training he went to P&O and joined the trooper Strathnaver in early 1944, making several trips before war's end.

The author's war memoirs. He was master of the Transylvania when war broke out and after several temporary commands spent most of the war in the trooper Circassia. The illustrations are drawings by his brother Muirhead Bone. An additional signed drawing appears in a limited deluxe edition of 160 copies.

An autobiography which covers WWII in 20 pages which condense the fuller and earlier Merchantman Rearmed below.

The third volume of the author's autobiography covering the years 1913–1960. Much of it is devoted to WWII in which he commanded first Franconia, but then spent the bulk of the war on over 50 trooping voyages on one or other of the Queens.

His memoirs with 30 pages on WWII. These are mainly a series of anecdotes about his experiences as a Chief Officer on troopships in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean.

Volume One covers England's East Coast from Northumberland to Kent; Volume 2 the South Coast from Sussex to the Isles of Scilly and Volume 3, Wales and the West. Each sinking is fully described and gives details of the state of the wreck. Although most are German and from the First World War, there is much interesting material on the Second World War and British boats lost in those waters are included.

A meticulously researched and detailed guide to the 285 wrecks off this coast.

West was on Britannia when sunk by the raider Thor on 25 March 1941 in mid-Atlantic. He was one of 38 survivors who reached Brazil after a 26-day voyage.

Some 230 of the passengers and crew survived the sinking of the s.s. City of Cairo only to face dramatic boat journeys.

A comprehensive guide to the voyages and conditions for the troops. The very readable narrative is constructed around contemporary diaries and official records.

BURKETT, Molly. Once Upon A Wartime VI. 96p., illus. Grantham: Barny Books, 1998. ISBN: 0948204699.

Wartime recollections. Pat Kingsmill was a FAA pilot and describes being shot down during the Channel Dash. Another chapter describes the experience of a merchant seaman sunk in convoy HX229.

A memoir by a member of the Pay Corps, much concerned with a voyage to the Middle East via the Cape in 1940 on HMT P12 - the Empress of Britain.

An interesting account of the WS5A convoy attacked by Scheer.

The wartime cipher officer of the Aquitania describes how she, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary operated as troopships. Based heavily on his wartime diaries.

The Belgian liner Leopoldville was torpedoed off Cherbourg on 24 December 1944 with great loss of life to the US 66th Infantry.

A well-researched account of a revolt by RAF personnel over squalid conditions on the troopship City of Canterbury which they were meant to board at Capetown.

Contains 40 pages on her wartime career. US title and title of 1971 second UK edition: The Queen Mary: Her Inception and History.

Queen Elizabeth was completed soon after war broke out and spent her first six years wandering the world as a troopship. This period is briefly described.

An anecdotal history with various factual and tabular appendices. The P & O Fleet was savaged during the war but won permanent fame in the last action of Rawalpindi.

The miserable tale of the anti-Nazi refugees transported to Australia on the Dunera.

A comprehensive convoy by convoy account of this major series of convoys carrying troops to the Middle and Far East. Also includes details of the early troopship convoys carrying Dominion forces.

Half on WWII and half on the Falklands War.

Canterbury was a Southern Railways passenger ferry converted for use as a troopship for D-Day. Limited edition of 150 copies.

The autobiography of a ship's doctor. Over one-quarter of the book is devoted to his wartime experiences as surgeon on the liner turned troopship Queen Elizabeth.

A heavily illustrated pamphlet which examines the transport of New Zealand troops overseas.

A well-illustrated and detailed account of her wartime role.

The troopship Rohna was sunk in convoy by a glider bomb in the Mediterranean with the loss of over 1,100 men, mainly from the 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion. Republished by Red River Books in 2002 as Allied Secret.

A composite picture of a typical but fictional ship of the Norwegian Merchant Marine in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Largely written before the war, this explains the working of the Merchant Navy. A perfunctory final chapter covers the hazards and changes caused by war.

A tribute to the Merchant Navy. Various incidents are described with fictitious characters and ships, for security reasons. The last part of the book describes training and conditions in the Merchant Navy.

In 1939, aged 16, he joined the Merchant Navy's Gravesend Sea School. In 1940 he joined the Wellington Star as a deck boy. After a three-month trip to Australia she was torpedoed and sunk off Portugal and Holden spent some days in a lifeboat. Shaken by this he spent two years ashore. In that time he trained as a radio officer and eventually joined the trooper Empire Pride. After two runs to Algiers he joined the tanker Thorhild and made several Atlantic crossings. In 1944 he joined the Hardingham as Chief Radio Officer. She sailed regularly to North Africa and later Italy. At the end of 1944 he was declared unfit for service and hospitalised.

The author trained as a radio operator and went to sea in 1937. He was on ss Cornwall in the Indian Ocean when war was declared. In early 1940 he joined Rangitiki briefly as a relief, then Middlesex for a voyage round the world. She was sunk early in 1941 at the start of her next voyage. He moved next to the trooper Northumberland and after a year with her joined the Shell tanker Darina. She was sunk in mid-Atlantic. After his rescue he was declared unfit for further sea service.

A good history full of personal reminiscences.

The Norwegian freighter Lidvard was interned in Dakar in 1940. This is the tale of that internment and of the ship's escape to Bathurst in 1941. Includes a victim's view of the abortive attack on Dakar.

An updated version of his pre-war book Ships at Work, to explain the Merchant Navy and its work to the layman. Many line drawings.

A guide to trade as it was and might again be.

A popular illustrated guide.

Richard Humphreys was a 30-year-old Second Officer with Ellerman's in 1939. He survived three sinkings in three years and took part in one of the strange plots to blow up the Iron Gates. Put ashore as a Marine Superintendent in Liverpool, he managed a number of coastal trips and to teach navigation to the RAF in Wales. In late 1943 he joined a Sam ship in Baltimore and made several difficult voyages to the Mediterranean in support of the Anzio beachhead. In early 1945 he joined the Samdonard as Chief Officer where he served contentedly for six years. A loving reconstruction by his widow.

About half the book summarises the war at sea from the Merchant Navy's point of view. This is followed by tales of individual acts of bravery and some essays on the role of the Merchant Navy.

He joined the Merchant Navy in Glasgow in 1941 on the Baron Renfrew on a six-month trip to India and Port Said. After only a week's leave he was off again on a trip which took him round the world and lasted a year. Next came a "short" 15-week trip to the West Indies followed by joining the Baron Yarborough for the Mediterranean and Italy. In November 1943 she was torpedoed on a Gibraltar–UK convoy but managed to make port although 30 of the crew had died. Early in 1944 he joined the Baron Forbes, running whisky and port to and from Portugal. In May his apprenticeship ended and he became Third Mate. By September he was eligible for a three month course for his Second Mate's certificate and after passing he joined the Baron Douglas bound for the Mediterranean and Takoradi. He arrived home in May 1945 as the war ended. A nice mix of anecdote and fact.

A look at some of the actions and events which brought great credit to the men and ships of the Merchant Navy.

A popular booklet for the general public. The US edition lists the author as J. L. Hodson and is titled, British Merchantmen at War

The official story of a vital link in the seaborne supply chain.

Gives the date, cause, and position in which loss or damage occurred, in tabular form, as known in 1947.

Covers the war in 30 pages, including the sinking of the Lancastria in 1940. After this, the author was an officer on the Queen Mary.

The adventures and experiences of a representative of the Ministry of War Transport from 1942-45. Initially he secured French shipping in North Africa for the Allied war effort, but his duties soon expanded.

Description of life aboard a tanker and how it operates in a first person "factionalised" form.

The bitter memoirs of a young Irish Geordie who went to sea as a stoker in 1938 and had a hard war in the Atlantic and Arctic, including PQ18 and two sinkings. In 1943 he was put ashore as a severely disturbed hard case.

This collection of stories tells of the extraordinary incidents that occurred to the ships and men who kept Britain's vital maritime lifeline open in the North Atlantic, the Arctic Seas and other oceans during World War II.

A writer's humorous account of six months spent as a supernumerary in the wartime Merchant Navy. The dust-jacket gives the sub-title as 20,000 Miles…..

Arthur Davey captained the Union Steam Ship Company's Awatea, the fastest and most luxurious merchant ship in the southern hemisphere in the 1930's. This biography records the careers of both the ship and her most famous master. She was sunk off Bougie while acting as a troopship. Her war service is well recorded.

A fictionalised account of how the author went to sea, but as a result of a chance wartime meeting showed a natural aptitude for broadcasting tales of the hardships facing merchant seamen at war.

First given as BBC talks by Laskier, a serving merchant seaman, these are transcripts of recordings about his life as a merchant seaman at war. US title: My Name Is Frank

An attempt to demythologise the war at sea and to look at the dissent and conflict as well as the bravery and devotion.

An autobiographical account of life at sea in the Black Gang of various tramps and tankers around the world. The war provides a rarely mentioned and only incidental backdrop to the highly scurrilous exploits of the author. Later issued in paperback as Running.

Includes the story of the sinking of the Arandora Star in July 1940 in the Atlantic, when full of internees being sent to Canada.

An enchanting autobiography. He joined the Holt Line as a midshipman in 1941 and learnt his profession in an adventurous war, including being sunk by a U-boat.

Biography and autobiography of a father and son who served largely with the Ellerman Line. During the war he was a captain and the son and author a cadet. The father very spasmodically kept a diary which reflects the pressures of war and convoy and is reproduced. Later in the war he served in the Pacific supply train.

A Canadian pastor's missionary work at sea. The early chapters tell of his youth in the war years, when he served in a merchantman caught up in the Jervis Bay action then served for a brief spell in the RCN. US title: His Path Is in the Waters.

A heavily illustrated social history which tries to convey what it was like.

The three sailed as apprentices on Antilochus in 1943, bound for South America and recall their introduction to life afloat.

An autobiography in two parts. The first, Down to the Sea, describes his career in sail and steam. The second, In Durance Vile, describes capture by the German raider Stier, time spent in German prison ships, and then as a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Japan where he feels he was relatively well-treated.

A general account of how the Merchant Navy operates and some of its history. A few of the better-known actions of the first 18 months of the war which involved merchantmen are described.

A layman's guide to the merchant navy; its ships, its men, and how they operate in wartime. Profusely illustrated.

A series of vignettes describing life in the wartime Merchant Navy.

A miscellany of information built around the oral reminiscences averaging three to four pages from predominantly merchant sailors.

A tribute to the Merchant Navy at war.

A well illustrated propaganda booklet describing the dangers faced by the convoys sustaining Britain with food and munitions.

Little of the war, but lots of atmospheric tale tales of a young New Zealander in the Merchant Navy

A fairly routine meander through the role of the commodores and a retelling of their role in some of the more spectacular convoys.

Lively stories and colourful characters reveal the bravery of ordinary men at war, from Captain Jim Fryer's ship towage work on Calais roads and Dunkirk beaches, and saving lives of survivors from the bombed hospital ship Paris, to PO Jack Hicks' quieter but equally memorable posting steering a clinker-built boat on a hush-hush job from the Thames to the north-east, his crew consisting only of an inexperienced co-man and an incredibly efficient WREN.

A basic official source. Also covers the work of troopships.

A detailed and well-drawn account of one round trip to Aruba on a tramp tanker in 1940. The author was a radio officer on the s.s. Venetia. The feeling for atmosphere is as good as the feeling for facts is shaky. What appears to be a second edition was published in 2011 by The History Press as Flying the Red Duster: a Merchant Seaman's First Voyage into the Battle of the Atlantic 1940. ISBN: 0752459007.

Contains short histories of the shipping lines which did or do sail from Liverpool. There are many references to the fate of merchantmen in WWII and to the port itself.

Opens up an un-regarded topic. Thousands of New Zealanders served in the Merchant Navy and a series of recollections bear testimony to their experiences.

A polemic on the conditions of seamen and the state of the merchant Navy pre-war, despite which seamen have risen to the occasion and deserve better treatment post-war, in recognition of this.

An autobiography, including some account of the author's wartime experiences. It is, however, principally a vehicle to allow him to return to the theme of earlier books, the future of the Merchant Navy.

A potted history of the freedom of the seas, followed by a polemic on the war at sea and the condition of merchant seamen.

A chronological and histrionic account of the war at sea, full of Hun pirates facing modest British tars. This is followed by a series of vignettes in the same vein. A shortened edition of the book was published by Allen & Unwin in 1964.

Allen had a busy war, notably in the Mediterranean and for 18 months on MAC ships.

A large and poignant reminder of the cost of the war. Volumes 1 and 2 record the names on the Tower Hill Memorial, with age, panel reference number, and some biographical details. Volume 3 covers other memorials from Halifax to Hong Kong along with individual graves.

A propaganda pamphlet on the work of a group of dedicated people. The Missions were available with tea, support, and sympathy wherever merchant seamen landed.

Retells over a dozen dramatic incidents of the war at sea.

The memoirs of a seaman whose career involved many brushes with "our shipowner enemies." Some 40 pages describe his wartime career, including a tanker during the Normandy Invasion.

Foss rejoined the Merchant Navy in 1939. He was torpedoed twice in one night in 1940, served in Malta convoys, Atlantic convoys and the Far East, serving finally with the Fleet Train in the Pacific. A member of Moral Rearmament he spent much of the war apparently resolving the problems of others from Prime Ministers to donkeymen.

A history of the Irish merchant marine in WWII. Although Eire was neutral, her seamen suffered grievous losses. A very full history written by a serving seaman, not always organised to best advantage. A revised edition was published by New Island Books in 2000.

An autobiography. A RNR member, he joined Salopian in 1939 as Supply Officer on the Northern Patrol. After her sinking he joined Breconshire running to Malta. When she was sunk he joined Bulolo in May 1942 for the Mediterranean invasions then D-Day. She sailed for the Far East at war's end.

A detailed and sometimes tragic history of the Children's Overseas Reception Board.

Essentially a revised and extended edition of The Fighting Tramps.

Welsh merchant shipping companies began the war with 164 ships, of which no less than 123 were lost during its course. This book gives good accounts of the loss of 20 of these, mainly owned by Reardon Smith and Evan Thomas Radcliffe & Co., in convoy, alone, to submarine and raider, including Scheer in the Jervis Bay action.

A series of individual tales of bravery is used to paint a picture of the harsh life at sea in wartime conditions.

A very full listing, compiled in the 1950s and including captured vessels, but not those missing or lost due to weather or collision. A second supplementary volume was published in 1991 in a limited edition of 500 copies covering losses outside the scope of volume 1.

The biography of a remarkable woman. During the war she was the only British female seagoing engineer and travelled the world, saw action, and was irrepressible in pursuit of the career she loved.

A study of how the lessons of World War I affected the management of shipping and the ports in WWII. The book is much concerned with the organisation of the Merchant Navy in wartime and the arrangements made to receive and distribute imported goods.

The autobiography of a merchant seaman. About 30 pages record his war service as Captain of the Marella. He describes graphically the aggravations of being ordered hither and yon by government and Navy in the chaos attending the collapse of empire in the East.

A propaganda account of the fate of the ships of the Ropner fleet in the first year of war. Firby and Otterpool, Heronspool, Stonepool, and Rockpool all suffered at the hands of the Germans - but hit back. US edition also includes [In] The Wake of the Raiders.

Describes the New Zealand Merchant Navy, the ships and their role, the men and their jobs, and some wartime incidents.

The memoirs of one of the gallant troop called from retirement. Rear Admiral Creighton guided 25 convoys, mainly across the Atlantic, and was sunk twice before spending the second half of the war in shore appointments.

The author was one of a small number of women recruited by the Inland Waterways Section of the Ministry of Transport to run barges during WWII. A good tale of an odd backwater. A revised edition was published by Baldwin in 1994.

The role of lascar seamen is rarely mentioned. These brief three- or four-page autobiographies tell of courage and suffering, heavy losses and an indifferent and prejudiced post-war world.

The volume marks 70 years of growth and prosperity for the firm. It largely avoids the Bank Line Fleet's war history.

A full history of the company, which also includes Captain Chubb's wartime memoirs.

150 years of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. Ltd. The book describes all the company's vessels and there is a chapter on their extensive war service. Ten of the company's 16 vessels were commissioned.

Royal Mail Lines entered the war with a fleet of 31 ships which served all over the world. Some were commissioned into the RN.

Describes how they operate and includes material on their war service.

A brief account of the war service of the ships and men of the Shaw Savill line. Several of their ships were taken over as Armed Merchant Cruisers, the most famous being Jervis Bay.

WWII is covered in 30 pages which inevitably rely heavily on the company's earlier war history.

Almost half of the 30 Port Line ships which started the war were lost in action. Commodore W. G. Higgs appears to have undertaken most of the research for this small pamphlet.

The war story of each of the company's and associated companies' ships. The most notable and best covered of these is the AMC (later LSI) Westralia.

The ferry service continued although some of the ships were converted to minesweepers. They were also used at Dunkirk. All is lovingly described.

A chronological account in which each chapter recounts the involvement of a company ship with the enemy.

Tankers were prime targets for U–boats as is shown by this brief account of a fleet which lost two–thirds of its ships.

A record of the major wartime incidents which involved the Ben Line's ships. Inevitably most of these were sinkings.

The autobiography of a 17 year old going to sea in WWII to service in the Merchant Navy. Gives a good account of being sunk and rescued in a North Atlantic convoy.

The concluding volume of this authoritative and widely admired history includes much material on the war years.

He went to sea in 1936 and served his apprenticeship with the Henderson Line. During the war he served as a deck officer on British and Dutch ships and presents a convivial picture of nomadically touring the globe on tramps and tankers.

A short chronology is followed by short accounts of each ship arranged by the routes they had served.

A vividly anecdotal account of an action packed and rumbustious life.

A pamphlet containing pictures of all the passenger vessels of the Southern Railway's Fleet. Many are also pictured in their wartime role and this is briefly commented on.

Includes a short chapter on the fate of their ships in WWII. Depending on their location in April 1940 they worked for either the Allies or the Axis and over 60 per cent of them were lost.

A well-illustrated and written coffee table book with 30 pages on WWII. Names such as Africa Shell, Ohio,and San Demetrio are well known but the book ranges much wider than these often told tales.

Recounts some of the more dramatic events which befell their tankers during the war.

WWII is covered in some 60 pages which recount how the company's ships faced all the hazards of war.

The war history of the Clan Line.

An account of 25 years in the life of the General Steam Navigation Company. Although their ships were mainly involved in coastal trade, some saw war service as far away as Australia and the Falklands. Eight vessels were at Dunkirk.

The two authors treat the 19th and 20th centuries respectively. The war service of requisitioned ships of the Canadian Princess Coastal Fleet is briefly chronicled. A second edition was published in 1976.

The story of Cable and Wireless Ltd. at war. Their undersea cables were an essential link in communications and their cable-laying and repair ships did vital work.

Walton joined the Merchant Navy as an apprentice in 1944 and the relatively peaceful last year of the war on Atlantic convoys and the escapades of youth are described with relish.

Almost half of the second volume is devoted to the wartime activities of this shipping line, which lost 16 ships during the war to bomb, mine, and torpedo.

A detailed, scholarly account with limited but useful material on WWII.

Twenty tales of the merchant seamen of South Wales at war.

The wartime story of the Donaldson fleet is covered in less than ten pages, although a full account is given of Salacia's part in the TORCH landings. Published in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.

The Blue Star Line lost 29 of its 38 ships in the course of the war, to submarine, raider, and shipwreck. This is a chronological account not only of those losses, and the fate of the survivors, but also of the many incidents from Malta convoys to the evacuation of Singapore in which the Blue Star ships were involved.

Only 20 pages cover the P & O ships splendid war service, possibly the most famous of them being the Rawalpindi.

A fleet list with a short biography of each vessel. Packed with detail of their operations.

Individual accounts of the 33 Elder Dempster ships sunk in the war and of the hospital ship Aba.

An autobiography much concerned with his yachting experiences. Includes a large section on his wartime career as a young man on the Celtic Star on the South America run, when he was torpedoed and sunk and of a later recreation of his merchant voyages in a his yacht.

Dramatic tales of the gallantry of the wartime Merchant Navy.

Looks at well-known actions such as PQ17 and Pedestal but has chapters on much less well-known but no less dramatic acts of heroism.

War memoirs of a chief engineer who served in tramps all over the world and escaped being torpedoed in convoy.

He was a merchant seaman throughout World War II. He served as an engineer on a variety of ships, sailing to all parts of the world. He survived air and torpedo attacks, storms and crew members ranging from plain stupid to totally insane – particularly when in the grip of the demon drink.

The autobiography of a merchant mariner. Before the war he served as an engineer with Elder Dempster. Much of the book recalls his wartime service on William Wilberforce.

The autobiography of a distinguished mariner. In 1939 he was First Officer on an Eagle Oil tanker and travelled in many convoys. For the last two years of the war he served with the Pacific Fleet Train. Largely anecdotal and somewhat disconnected reminiscences.

He was the sole radio officer on a small tanker involved in the Malayan beachhead landings and the post-war clean-up operations in 1945-46. A series of adventures takes him ever closer to Hong Kong, where awaits him the best adventure of all. Having survived the trauma of war and childhood abuse, Gordon finally finds love and compassion in the arms of Anni, the sampan girl.

Personal account of World War II experiences of a British Merchant Navy Radio Officer. Includes the story of the Scottish Heather torpedoed in convoy ONS154.

The lightly fictionalised wartime autobiography of a boy sailor focused on Arctic convoys, and growing up in a chaotic wartime environment.

A series of essays and short stories on the Merchant Navy. The first volume has articles on Graf Spee and the Altmark, as well as on everything from nature study at sea to the superstitions of sailors. The second and third volumes, which are noticeably less informative about the state of the war at sea are subtitled "The Merchant Navy Annual."

A slightly incoherent but lively tale of forty years at sea. During the war he made his way up the officer ranks and sailed widely.

Herself an evacuee, the author describes the experience of the children sent overseas. Has some atmospheric accounts of their voyages.

From 1943 until 1951, Ian Malcolm was a radio officer/purser with Alfred Holt and Co., owners of the Blue Funnel Line and the Glen Line. The voyages on the Liberty Ships Samite and Samforth, described in the book, were made in wartime and followed by a year on the Samnesse: trading mainly between Italy and East Africa. Subsequent voyages were made to the Continent, Far East, Australia and Indonesia.

The author was an escort with the Children's Overseas Reception Board. This describes her 20,000-mile trip to Australia on the Batory, which carried 400 children to safety.

Barely sixteen, he went to sea in 1941 as a Cadet Officer. This is an enjoyable autobiography which covers his life from childhood on the Clyde to service at sea from 1925 to 1948.

McBrearty served in seven vessels from the Arctic and Atlantic to the Mediterranean and British Coastal waters and has something interesting to say on all of them. He was in the Jervis Bay convoy, but saw action on many other occasions.

In praise of our gallant seamen, who are quite capable of bloodying the odd German nose.

A substantial work by a freelance writer, himself torpedoed four times. Descriptive rather than analytical and prone to reciting lists.

Contains a brief but fascinating account of his war service, which included the creation of the Ceylon Escort Force.

A very full autobiography. Born in 1921 he went to sea as a deckhand and by 1945 had risen to Third Mate. A frank account of wartime life and pleasures before beginning a post-war career with Shell.

Tales of the quiet gallantry of the men of the Merchant Navy.

His seafaring autobiography from 1937 to 1949. Describes a successful career in which he rose through the Blue Star Line to become a Chief Engineer, seeing lively wartime service in every ocean.

Although a general history, there is a substantial account of their war service.

The daily diary of a Union Castle steward. On the outbreak of war he was serving on Windsor Castle. Later he served on Roxburgh Castle and for over two years on the hospital ship Llandovery Castle and finally on the Samtrent. The book is very well-illustrated but the diary amply demonstrates the boredom of war.

A charming little tale of the last of the wooden-walled Newfoundland seal steamers. She was chartered to carry an expedition from Canada and the Falklands to Graham Land in Antarctica, to re-establish a base and by extension British Sovereignty. It proved both dangerous and exhilarating.

A solid account of this often neglected area.

Presented as an alphabet ranging from Athenia, Briarwood, and Commodore to Yards and Zealand. A propaganda leaflet.

A set of gentle tales recollecting life at sea, which includes some wartime memories.

A series of anecdotes and reminiscences by a merchant seaman who thinks of himself as an adventurer, many previously published in The Nautical Magazine and Sea Breezes. Very disorganised and difficult to follow.

"It is the purpose of this book to bring to general public notice outstanding examples of heroic fortitude." Vivid and imaginative reconstructions of these brave actions with many asides on the present state and future needs of the Merchant Navy.

A brief account of the "glorious Red Ensign" which, with the help of the Royal Navy, makes sure that "slices of bread are put into hungry English mouths." Various episodes are described in detail.

A general history with 40 pages devoted to WWII. Also some comment on the present state and future needs of the Merchant Navy and merchant seamen.

A history of convoy, the second half of which reviews the practices and prospects of the present war.

The biography of a Sunderland master mariner born in 1899, apprenticed at fifteen and who retired in 1964. His busy war service is fully described.

An autobiography with good coverage of a Master's life at war.