Books/accounts of being crew on a convoy merchant in WWII?

[McBeck]

Hey guys

I have started reading the account of the U564 and its experience and started to wonder if there exist similar accounts of how it was to crew a merchant in a convoy during WWII...
The reason it interests me is that the history books I have, focus on the historic facts, and less on the personal first hand experience.

Are you aware of any books that cover this?

[Gerald]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/U-boat-War-.../dp/1861762879
https://www.crookwellgazette.com.au/...son-crookwell/
https://www.casematepublishers.com/d...l#.XzKNnigzZEY
https://www.naval-military-press.com...diary-of-u564/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/con...val-operations
https://www.history.navy.mil/content...c-convoys.html
http://www.usmm.org/ww2.html
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remem...heets/atlantic
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remem...heets/murmansk
https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/resea...-world-war-two
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...rds-1939-1945/
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/
https://www.rbth.com/defence/2016/03...st-hour_575559
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...icleId=6652091
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/t...e-russian-view
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/the-me...f-the-atlantic
https://www.google.com/search?sa=N&s...w=1536&bih=711
https://www.konditori100.se/SiWW2/sww2st.htm
https://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites...tlantic/aa.htm
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a183840.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_...r_Convoy_PQ_17
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/wa...e-convoy-pq-17

A few links...But as you already know, there are many different books and links on the subject.

[McBeck]

I'll have a look. Didn't expect that much coverage on the first hand experience

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by McBeck

I'll have a look. Didn't expect that much coverage on the first hand experience

I doubt any of the links above will give much on actual personal experiences because merchant navy correspondence was heavily censored.

Below is a link to one experience but you will find that most families allowed their loved ones material to be archived.

I'd be tempted to contact an author of WWII merchant written material and seek their help.

On a personal note I have many memories passed down to me by my father who served in the Spanish Civil War right through to 1948 as well as his discharge book (previously only seen by Steve).

Don't feel I'll be insulted if you decline but you are welcome to a copy should you want one.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...a2248751.shtml

[Kapitan]

Jim if i recall wasnt it Les Robertson who transcribed his father in laws war diary as he was in command of a submarine ?

I know i have it stored somewhere and i am racking my brain do you recall?

It was word war I i think

[vienna]

My father was in the Merchants in WW2, but I know very little about his service; he did, by strange twist of fate, manage to be on the crew of the last US merchant out Vietnam just as Saigon fell and his ship was captured by the Cambodians on the voyage out of SE Asia and they were held about four days before being freed following an attack by US on Cambodia...

I might suggest trying to contact one of the US Merchant Marine Associations to see if they can steer you toward the sort of sources you seek: usmm.org is a good starting place and they have a webpage on WW2 convoys, although no first hand personal accounts:


U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II --

http://www.usmm.org/ww2.html


You might also try the American Merchant Marine Veterans association:

https://ammv.us/


Here, in the port of San Pedro, stands a national monument to those merchant mariners who lost their lives in wartime; it consists of polished marble walls with the engraved names of mariners who died in the various US wars and a bronze sculpture of two mariners on a Jacob's Ladder, one of them reaching down to save the other as they climb:





https://sanpedro.com/san-pedro-area-...rans-memorial/


There is an old Humphrey Bogart movie, Action in the North Atlantic, that dramatizes a convoy voyage. When I watch it, I have memories of the similarities of the movie to the sort of life my father led and of those around him; there is one scene where the ship's Captain returns home, greets his wife and promptly collapses in sleep in their bed, so she gently covers his, closes the curtains and leaves him to sleep; in my father's case he would do the same, seeking the peace of a real bed, however my mother would be right up in a short while nagging him to get up and do house chores...

I also recognize the union hall scene in the movie; I would go down to the hall with my father and I can say, the movie scene was not very far from the actual experiences; the life of a merchant mariner in those was difficult and the men who served were a strong crew...





<O>

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

I doubt any of the links above will give much on actual personal experiences because merchant navy correspondence was heavily censored.

Below is a link to one experience but you will find that most families allowed their loved ones material to be archived.

I'd be tempted to contact an author of WWII merchant written material and seek their help.

On a personal note I have many memories passed down to me by my father who served in the Spanish Civil War right through to 1948 as well as his discharge book (previously only seen by Steve).

Don't feel I'll be insulted if you decline but you are welcome to a copy should you want one.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...a2248751.shtml

Good Jim that you could come in and correct and give a link that can really deliver and that there is no misunderstanding in any way, to give what is needed in one and the same given time..

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

Jim if i recall wasnt it Les Robertson who transcribed his father in laws war diary as he was in command of a submarine ?

I know i have it stored somewhere and i am racking my brain do you recall?

It was word war I i think

Sorry Blair, my mind is totally blank.

[mapuc]

The only book I have read and who was written by a sailor from WWII.

The book was written by a German who was something on Bismarck.

Markus

[McBeck]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

I doubt any of the links above will give much on actual personal experiences because merchant navy correspondence was heavily censored.

Below is a link to one experience but you will find that most families allowed their loved ones material to be archived.

I'd be tempted to contact an author of WWII merchant written material and seek their help.

On a personal note I have many memories passed down to me by my father who served in the Spanish Civil War right through to 1948 as well as his discharge book (previously only seen by Steve).

Don't feel I'll be insulted if you decline but you are welcome to a copy should you want one.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...a2248751.shtml

Hey

Thats a very kind offer Its not what I am looking for right now, but I may take you up on that offer at a later stage

[McBeck]

Originally Posted by vienna

My father was in the Merchants in WW2, but I know very little about his service; he did, by strange twist of fate, manage to be on the crew of the last US merchant out Vietnam just as Saigon fell and his ship was captured by the Cambodians on the voyage out of SE Asia and they were held about four days before being freed following an attack by US on Cambodia...

I might suggest trying to contact one of the US Merchant Marine Associations to see if they can steer you toward the sort of sources you seek: usmm.org is a good starting place and they have a webpage on WW2 convoys, although no first hand personal accounts:


U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II --

http://www.usmm.org/ww2.html


You might also try the American Merchant Marine Veterans association:

https://ammv.us/


Here, in the port of San Pedro, stands a national monument to those merchant mariners who lost their lives in wartime; it consists of polished marble walls with the engraved names of mariners who died in the various US wars and a bronze sculpture of two mariners on a Jacob's Ladder, one of them reaching down to save the other as they climb:





https://sanpedro.com/san-pedro-area-...rans-memorial/


There is an old Humphrey Bogart movie, Action in the North Atlantic, that dramatizes a convoy voyage. When I watch it, I have memories of the similarities of the movie to the sort of life my father led and of those around him; there is one scene where the ship's Captain returns home, greets his wife and promptly collapses in sleep in their bed, so she gently covers his, closes the curtains and leaves him to sleep; in my father's case he would do the same, seeking the peace of a real bed, however my mother would be right up in a short while nagging him to get up and do house chores...

I also recognize the union hall scene in the movie; I would go down to the hall with my father and I can say, the movie scene was not very far from the actual experiences; the life of a merchant mariner in those was difficult and the men who served were a strong crew...





<O>

I will have a look at those links Thanks!

[Jimbuna]

No problem

[d@rk51d3]

Picked up a book from my grandfathers after he passed about 15 years ago.
Just read it today.

“Goodnight, sorry for sinking you.” - Ralph Barker.

Story of the crew of the “SS City of Cairo”, after being sunk by U-68.

Great read.