“Supposed Killed or Drowned By Enemy Action at Sea”: Scottish Merchant Navy Women Who Died as a Result of Enemy Action in the First and Second World Wars

79 pages

Lt Cdr Helen Taylor

Have you ever visited a war memorial, reading the names of those lost in conflict, and wondered, “I wonder what their story was?” I am always doubly intrigued when the name is a woman.

Among the thousands of lives lost at sea, only 56 women in WW1 and 36 in WW2 were lost at sea serving the merchant navy. This book takes 18 female Scottish merchant navy seafarers killed in action during WW1 and WW2 and adds life and energy to the names.

The author does not concentrate on the sea battles, directing the reader to Crabb’s Beyond the Call of Duty (2006) for that information.[1] Rather, the author uses extensive research into Scottish census data and press archives to build the life story of these women. They include details of where the women lived (and offering local insight into the implications of tenement living in Glasgow in the early 1900s) and their families left behind. The author includes excerpts from press and eyewitness reports obtained by the Imperial War Museum to document their last moments. Where possible, the author has included photographs of the women’s homes, the women themselves or the plaques on which they are remembered.

The seafarers were almost exclusively stewardesses, as it was one of the few branches available to women at the time. The author explains the role of the stewardess on board passenger ships, namely managing and supporting female passengers and children.

Fascinatingly, most of the women were career merchantwomen. Of the 92 women identified by the author, only four were confirmed as under the age of 30. These women were hardened sailors, travelling the world and experienced in passenger handling in emergencies. This included taking full responsibility for child passengers, such during the short-lived Children’s Overseas Reception Board (CORB) scheme. Aimed at evacuating children by sea, the scheme was disbanded after the tragic loss of SS City of Benares in 1940. Even when conflict significantly reduced the number of female or child passengers, these women remained in the trade, with one remarking, “If there’s nothing else for me to do I can at least sew on buttons for you boys.”

Of the 18 women’s stories in this book, two jump out to me. The first, 25-year-old Agnes Harris Wallace. Clearly an intelligent and adventurous woman, as a teenager she was selected to attend the world-renowned Girl Guide chalet in Adelboden (having been selected to do the same in 1997, I know how impressive this would have been for a teenage girl from Ullapool). Based on the author’s description of her life before the merchant navy and the speed at which she became a trained nurse and was delegated to manage the nursery on board City of Benares, I imagine that had Agnes been born 100 years later, she would likely be an officer.

The second, Stewardess Catherine McWatt Armstrong (nicknamed Mashie) was a career stewardess, with 20 years of service before she went missing in 1942 during the Japanese sinking of SS Elysia. Not only awarded posthumously with a MN commendation, an extensive media report from one of her crew shows the profound impact she had on her crewmates, warranting a full section of the Sydney Herald on 10 March 1943. The article has been preserved in this book, dedicated to her tenacity and sense of duty despite knowing the risks.

Written simply, the author breathes life and reverence into the names of 18 Scottish merchantwomen, both as a record of service for future commemoration ceremonies but also clearly out of pride to represent the women from her native Glasgow and beyond. This could be a good reference book for schools seeking to bring history to life, Scottish town leaders wishing to add a personal touch to their war memorial ceremonies, or, in my case, an opportunity to look at a memorial plaque and feel more connected to the women who came before me, in service upon the sea.

[1] Brian James Crabb, Beyond the Call of Duty: The Loss of British Commonwealth Mercantile and Service Women at Sea During the Second World War (Donington: Shaun Tyas Publishing, 2006)