The British War Medal 1914-1920 and the Mercantile Marine Medal	The Great War 1914-1919 as experienced by British Merchant Mariners, Fishermen and Naval Reservists - Historical outlines and other information as background for research	1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-1920 and the Victory Medal
To British people nowadays, if considered at all, the first Great War of the twentieth-century is seen generally not unnaturally as an incredibly blood-soaked struggle on the Western Front in France and Belgium. Other theatres are also sometimes remembered, primarily the disastrously ill-conceived campaigns in the Dardanelles and on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Even then, aspects of these, such as the contribution of aircraft, are hardly known of. There were also lesser military campaigns that the British were involved in, Mesopotamia, Italy and the Balkans for example that might occasionally be named by those with a reasonable understanding. At sea the one and only clash of Great Britain’s and Germany’s battlefleets at Jutland (or Skagerrak to the Germans) can be recalled readily. If pushed, the exploits of German surface raiders in the early months, or Germany’s unrestricted submarine campaigns to starve the British Isles into surrender, are sometimes mentioned. But there was so much more to the war at sea, especially as experienced by civilian mariners, whether they remained in mercantile service or fishing, or, supported the Royal Navy in a bewildering variety of tasks as reservists. Even although in the past Great Britain’s mariners had also contributed similarly in war, particularly through the almost incessant wars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, through the long period of Pax Britannica since 1815 there had been incredible technological changes in ships and weapons, even if political attitudes often remained much the same. Consequently, in August 1914 most civilian mariners seem to have been under the misapprehension that the Royal Navy’s fleets would be all the protection that they needed. After all, this had been the official line from governments for decades. The Royal Navy’s recruitment in war had traditionally been through volunteers and when they were not to be found, forcibly in pressing, primarily of merchant mariners and fishermen. By the middle of the nineteenth century the latter form of recruitment was regarded as inefficient. So, the Royal Naval Reserve was formed in the 1850s, but only for a limited number of master mariners and seamen. In time, these were added to considerably. Others, including amateur seamen, also wanted to serve in Great Britain’s naval defence and eventually, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve came into existence in 1904. The Great War as experienced by the civilian mariners, whether in uniform, or not, has already been written on at length in multi-volume official histories, as well as other studies. This, therefore, is merely an attempt to outline relatively briefly the course of the war and how it affected merchant mariners, fishermen, naval reservists and to a lesser degree, the German submariners that they were linked inextricably to – without glorification. A note on the styles of the three outlines mentioned above would not go amiss. Due to the sheer size of the Mercantile Marine, it was not realistic to deal with merchant mariners’ wartime experiences in depth, mentioning the thousands of vessels by name, never mind, the mariners themselves. Although the fishing sector was tiny in comparison, it was still too large to deal with boat by boat. Nevertheless, an impression of the struggles that the fishermen had both with British naval authorities and German warships, surface and sub-surface, could be made. A tendency already identifiable with mercantile tonnage and crews is even more apparent with the fishing industry, whereby British naval authorities regarded them all as never-ending sources of matériel and manpower. As for the reservists, from the very beginning they were used to fill gaps afloat and ashore and produce increased capacity in all sorts of roles: planned, or otherwise. These changed as the war progressed. Without denigrating others, those in the Auxiliary Patrol in home waters had particularly difficult wars. Excepting, possibly, the Admiralty-designed craft later in the conflict, none were designed for continuous work, patrolling, minesweeping, or on other tasks, but this is what they were required to do: in all seasons and weather conditions. The role of minesweeping, by definition, was dangerous and in time it became known that getting blown up, even in near misses, had deleterious effects on mental health. Patrolling, had its own hazards, especially for those in waters that required detailed knowledge and great navigational skill: such as in the wilds of northern Scotland. Even before the fighting shifted inshore and intensified greatly, operating in areas known to be bounded by minefields and at night, with no, or reduced navigational aids and steaming lights, there was already an increased possibility of collisions. This rose exponentially in the last few years, with small-craft being struck and sunk by their own brethren, other larger Allied warships and also merchantmen: and the survivors, not infrequently, were left to fend for themselves. Of course, there were also German warships, submarines and aircraft (fixed-wing and airship) to contend with. So, this is reflected in a far longer and detailed outline for the reservists’ war. Even then, long lists of small-craft sunk and reservists killed is only one facet of their part in the Great War at sea. Although there were many different variations in these attacks, the sheer number makes repetition in writing unavoidable. Therefore, reading the three main pages in totality may not be to the tastes of all. Similarly, writing fully on the German submariners that sought to cut the western Allies’ seaborne lines of communication would be a daunting task. Nevertheless, sketches have been produced on seven commanders, with the aim of assessing their characters as individuals. Even in this tiny sample, differences can be determined, especially in the way that they treated the crews of the merchantmen, Allied and neutral, as well as the fishing-craft that they encountered. Incidentally, there is also a fair amount of information on many sinkings in these sketches, showing how varied they could be. These sketches are of differing lengths, especially for those that were war criminals that are far longer. Finally, the information on the campaign medals and various badges is also not aimed at glorifying war. While many wore their medals proudly, even if only on Armistice Day annually, others did not and left theirs untouched. Since British Great War campaign medals were named (unlike in the Second World War), through research it is possible to gain impressions of recipients’ service, if not their personalities that remain, overwhelmingly, illusive. Return to top
While I am now semi-retired and concentrate on my own studies on the Great War at sea, I remain available to conduct research on a freelance basis, not only on operational aspects, but also on mariners that served before, during and after this conflict. As before, I can still be contacted on e-mail using len@barnettmaritime.co.uk.