Post by Administrator on Dec 3, 2022 15:01:51 GMT
Forgotten Seafarers of the First World War.
During the First World War the Merchant Navy, the Mercantile Marine, was thrust into the conflict, becoming the supply service of the Royal Navy.
In 1914, an estimated third of British merchant fleet crews had been born abroad. The majority were Asian, but there were many other races, including Caribbean, Japanese, West African, Chinese and Arabs. Such sailors from across the globe also served in Royal Navy vessels. They trained as peacetime mariners but made a vital contribution to the war effort.
2,479 British merchant vessels and 675 British fishing vessels were lost due to enemy action, with 14,287 and 434 lives lost, respectively. Many of their crews have no grave but the sea. Foreign seafarers are mostly memorialised in their home countries. However, here in Britain, their role is largely unrecognised and unsung.
This is their story: LINK
During the First World War the Merchant Navy, the Mercantile Marine, was thrust into the conflict, becoming the supply service of the Royal Navy.
In 1914, an estimated third of British merchant fleet crews had been born abroad. The majority were Asian, but there were many other races, including Caribbean, Japanese, West African, Chinese and Arabs. Such sailors from across the globe also served in Royal Navy vessels. They trained as peacetime mariners but made a vital contribution to the war effort.
2,479 British merchant vessels and 675 British fishing vessels were lost due to enemy action, with 14,287 and 434 lives lost, respectively. Many of their crews have no grave but the sea. Foreign seafarers are mostly memorialised in their home countries. However, here in Britain, their role is largely unrecognised and unsung.
This is their story: LINK