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Under the Red Duster: The Merchant Navy in World War II
The unsung heroes of the North Atlantic, the Arctic Seas and other Oceans during the war-torn years between 1939 and 1945, were without doubt the sailors who manned Britain's merchant ships. This book contains a collection of previously untold tales of some of the most extraordinary incidents that occurred to the ships and men who kept Britain's vital maritime lifeline open at that difficult time. It describes the horrors of destruction and survival in mid-Atlantic, how lightly-armed trawlers and tramp ships took on attacking U boats - and won - and many other portrayals of the contribution and sacrifices made by merchant seamen.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 17, 2019
One of my hobbies is to volunteer one day a week on board “SS Lane Victory”, a WWll steam-turbine-powered cargo vessel, now a working museum piece, that last saw active service during the more recent war in Vietnam. I also spent a few months on board a similar vessel during my time as a seafaring engineer in the early seventies and I often wondered what life must have been like when ships like these were part of the war machine; this book by Mr Lewis gives the reader a wonderfully detailed idea of exactly that.
He starts with a bit of history about the life of ordinary seamen in Great Britain’s Merchant Navy in the half century leading up to 1939, which was evidently a fairly apalling experience, the jack-tars being underpaid, poorly treated and worked to the bone by their greedy employers who, in the main, had little other than profit as their motive for being in the shipping business. And when that war started the British merchant fleet was also aging and by no means prepared for the terrible ordeal that was to come. Having set the scene, images of poorly fed, badly treated seamen, greasers, stewards and cabin boys heading off to brave not only the elements but the terrors of being attacked by U-boats at any moment, Mr Lewis proceeds to unhesitatingly describe exactly how terrible that ordeal turned out to be for so many brave souls. His research is very extensive and one reaches the last page mentally exhausted and totally in awe of what was achieved by such a selfless bunch of people, and at such enormous cost in both lives and ships and, for that matter, cargoes that were so valuable to the war effort. And how awful to realise how unappreciated were the men of all ranks who returned to sea again and again throughout the war.
I enjoyed this book immensely and now realise what a cake-walk was my own short experience as a a trainee marine engineer, and how comparatively pampered is the modern-day seafarer. This book is by no means a work of literary genius; I have a few small critiicisms about Mr Lewis’ tendency to repeat certain phrases rather too often and his editor(s) could have been a bit more rigorous at picking up the more than occasional grammatical error. But those have little or no bearing on the overall read and for anyone who has the slightest interest in how the Allies won the war, this book will give them a fascinating insight into a lesser known aspect of that victory. It is truly worthy of being called a “good read”.
He starts with a bit of history about the life of ordinary seamen in Great Britain’s Merchant Navy in the half century leading up to 1939, which was evidently a fairly apalling experience, the jack-tars being underpaid, poorly treated and worked to the bone by their greedy employers who, in the main, had little other than profit as their motive for being in the shipping business. And when that war started the British merchant fleet was also aging and by no means prepared for the terrible ordeal that was to come. Having set the scene, images of poorly fed, badly treated seamen, greasers, stewards and cabin boys heading off to brave not only the elements but the terrors of being attacked by U-boats at any moment, Mr Lewis proceeds to unhesitatingly describe exactly how terrible that ordeal turned out to be for so many brave souls. His research is very extensive and one reaches the last page mentally exhausted and totally in awe of what was achieved by such a selfless bunch of people, and at such enormous cost in both lives and ships and, for that matter, cargoes that were so valuable to the war effort. And how awful to realise how unappreciated were the men of all ranks who returned to sea again and again throughout the war.
I enjoyed this book immensely and now realise what a cake-walk was my own short experience as a a trainee marine engineer, and how comparatively pampered is the modern-day seafarer. This book is by no means a work of literary genius; I have a few small critiicisms about Mr Lewis’ tendency to repeat certain phrases rather too often and his editor(s) could have been a bit more rigorous at picking up the more than occasional grammatical error. But those have little or no bearing on the overall read and for anyone who has the slightest interest in how the Allies won the war, this book will give them a fascinating insight into a lesser known aspect of that victory. It is truly worthy of being called a “good read”.
December 16, 2017
The first chapters are marred slightly by a diatribe against those in charge, which is not balanced in giving all the facts, so can't be judged for veracity. But if you get past that, then the accounts of the convoys are fascinating and terrifying reading, with the details being fairly haunting. Well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews