The men of Britain's Merchant Navy, although unarmed civilians going
about their lawful business were the first to be involved with the enemy
in the Second World War. Less than nine hours after the declaration of
war on 3 September 1939, the Donaldson liner Athenia was sunk without
warning by a German U-boat off the west coast of Ireland. From that
moment onwards, British merchant seamen were constantly in the front
line in all quarters of the globe.
For almost six years they faced, without flinching, their own private
hell of torpedoes, bombs, shells and mines, all the while fending off
their old arch-enemy, the sea. Sorely pressed, and often tired near to
death, they kept open Britain's tenuous lifelines, bringing millions of
tons of raw materials, food, oil, arms and ammunition, without which the
country could not have survived. As always, their spirit was
indomitable, their professionalism unchallenged.
The price they paid for their bravery and dedication was horrendous:
2,246 ships lost, 29,180 men killed, and countless hundreds maimed and
wounded. This book tells the story of just a few of these quiet heroes.