Merchant Marine; the "silent service"

WW2. The Merchant Navy, or Merchant Marine, was often said to be the 'unseen' or 'silent' service. Thousands of Australians served as merchant mariners, shipping troops and supplies around the world and sometimes directly supporting military operations.

Merchant seamen generally signed on to a merchant ship, rather than being posted to one. Australians could serve on ships of virtually any nationality serving the Allied cause.

Thus, although most served on vessels belonging to Australian shipping lines, many were on British or even Norwegian vessels, and a few on American and other ships.

Men who served in the Atlantic convoys sailing between North America and Britain faced some of the highest casualty rates of the war, as German U-boats (submarines) waged a campaign against merchant shipping that reached its peak in 1942-43.

Most dangerous were the Arctic convoys taking supplies to Russian ports, as crewmen of any ship sunk had little chance of survival unless picked up quickly from the freezing North Atlantic waters.

Merchant seamen also suffered heavy losses against enemy aircraft while running supplies to the island of Malta, in the Mediterranean, and off Greece and Crete.

WW2 Merchant Marine Officers hat badge

Many ships had anti-aircraft and anti-submarine guns fitted, thus turning them into Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DEMS), with naval ratings posted aboard to provide gun crews, but in practice these guns were little defence against determined enemy attacks.

Merchant seamen were among the first Australians captured by enemy forces during the war. In 1940, several men were captured by German raiders operating in the Indian Ocean. Merchant ships in this area often sailed unescorted unless they were carrying troops or could accompany a troop convoy, and so they proved to be easy prey. Some men were taken as prisoners of war to Italian Somaliland, but were released when British forces occupied the territory in 1941, while others went to Germany and a few to Italy. In late 1941 and early 1942, several Australian merchant seamen were killed or taken prisoner by Japanese raiders in the Indian Ocean or when their ships were sunk in air or sea attacks in Malayan, Netherlands East Indies or New Guinea waters.

From 1942, many merchant seamen sailed in the regular supply runs around the Australian coastline and to Papua New Guinea, servicing Australian, American and Dutch forces. Many of the merchant ships were Dutch or American, but Australian shipping lines such as Burns Philp, Australian United Steam Navigation and Huddart Parker played a vital role in supporting military operations in this theatre. Several merchant ships were sunk by Japanese submarines or mines, mostly off Australia's east coast, or attacked by enemy aircraft in operational areas, but generally shipping losses were light.

Australian merchant seamen continued serving in every theatre of war. Australia was a significant primary producer, sending bulk agricultural products to Britain and India (along with military supplies), while also requiring military and commercial supplies to be brought from Britain, North America and elsewhere. Shipping lanes, particularly those in the Atlantic, remained dangerous, though not so bad as the worst years for merchant shipping losses of 1940-43. At war's end, it was recognised that merchant seaman had risked their lives playing a vital role in the war effort and they qualified for service medals.

ANZAC DAY MEMORIAL SERVICE 2004 ADDRESS BY CAPT. DENNIS C.A. SANFORD

The Mayor of the Redlands and Members of the Shire Council. Mr. Jon English MP. The President and Members of the Redlands RSL Sub Branch. Representatives of other Ex-Service Organisations, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.

It is indeed an honour for me to address you today on this the 65th year since the outbreak of World War II.

When the first convoy of the Anzacs bound for the Middle East left Albany on I st November 1914, the event of the heroic Gallipoli campaign and the legend was born. An event which we are rightly remembering here today.

But of the Merchant Navy Ships of the convoy, and many others to follow, and the Merchant Seamen who manned them, their endurance and tribulations through the unrestricted "U" boat war fare of the "Great War" was soon forgotten.

It is only in recent years that the wartime exploits of the Merchant Navy and Merchant Seamen are becoming known. It was only in 1991 that Australia granted recognition to Australian wartime Merchant Seamen as veterans in World War 11.

In WWII the first casualty was a merchant ship. the "Athenia", sunk with a terrific loss of life, just a few hours after war was declared.

The Merchant Navy were civilians, yet they faced mortal danger again and again in the service of others and they did not waver. Never, even in the darkest days %%as there any lack of willing hands to man the merchant ships however hazardous the voyage, though the seamen knew. often from bitter experience, the horrors which followed enemy attacks at sea.

They took the troops to the scene of battle and sustained them while they fought, they took part in the massive sea battles which raged in the Atlantic, in the "Malta" and "Murmansk (Russian) convoys, the rescue of the British troops at Dunkirk, the evacuations of Narvick, Crete and Greece, Hong Kong and Singapore.

They played a major roll in the invasion of North West Africa, Sicily and Italy and finally the "D Day" invasion of Normandy 60 years ago. They later took part in the re-capture of the Pacific Islands, they manned the oil tankers, the troopships and the hospital ships, as well as the freighters, they carried food without which whole populations would have perished, and the supplies without which the needs of the fighting forces and the civilian economy which nourished them could not have been met.

They made victory possible, but the price paid was heavy over 5,000 merchant ships lost, 45,000
seamen dead, and 7,000 merchant navy seaman prisoners of war of the Germans, Italians, Vichy, French and Japanese.

I will conclude with this poem:

"On all the oceans white caps flow,
You see no crosses row on row
But those who sleep beneath the sea,
Rest in peace for your country is free"

Capt. Dennis C.A. Sanford