Post by Administrator on Jun 7, 2020 12:29:25 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.
It carried troops, shipped raw materials, delivered armaments and supplies to the armed forces. To keep the country from starvation it also transported food to Britain’s home front, and coal and iron and other essential goods to keep factories in production.
In 1914, an estimated third of British merchant fleet crews had been born abroad. The majority were Asian, but there were a multitude of other races, including Caribbean, Japanese, West Africans, 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 as a result of enemy action, with respectively 14,287 and 434 lives lost. 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.
It carried troops, shipped raw materials, delivered armaments and supplies to the armed forces. To keep the country from starvation it also transported food to Britain’s home front, and coal and iron and other essential goods to keep factories in production.
In 1914, an estimated third of British merchant fleet crews had been born abroad. The majority were Asian, but there were a multitude of other races, including Caribbean, Japanese, West Africans, 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 as a result of enemy action, with respectively 14,287 and 434 lives lost. 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