Politics, patriotism and protest - Merchant marine

'Massey's Cossacks' guard the Athenic during 1913 strike

Although New Zealand seafarers served in many hostile theatres, some questioned the politics of the First World War. In late 1913, less than a year before the war began, many trade unionists had fought a bitter strike against the shipowners and the Reform government. Although open opposition to the war was muted, some on the political left detested the government and its involvement in a war they labelled an ‘imperialist bloodbath’. They wanted wealth to be conscripted as rigorously as labour.

The ANZACs under the good old Southern Cross make history while Fat stretches himself and soothes his soul (if he ever had one) thinking of our dear boys at the front!

W.T. Young, Federated Seamen’s Union secretary

In late 1916, after the government introduced conscription, the unions representing the deck officers, engineers, seamen and the cooks and stewards sought exemptions for their members. Britain had exempted its seafarers, but Minister of Defence James Allen refused the maritime unions’ request. Instead, he told seafarers to make individual applications. Later, however, a renewed approach secured an important concession. The secretaries of the four unions could apply on behalf of their members and the minister expected that the Military Service Board ‘would give effect to these applications.’

In effect, most members of the seagoing unions, some of conscription’s harshest critics, gained exemption, although the politically charged atmosphere made this a delicate balancing act. Men not in uniform sometimes felt self-conscious, so much so that in Britain the officers’ union, the Merchant Service Guild, demanded badges for its members to denote their service. Ships’ officers reported wearing their uniforms ashore while on leave to assert their patriotism. In 1917 the New Zealand Merchant Service Guild told the Union Company that it would leave it to shipowners to appeal on behalf of men caught up in the ballot ‘as we do not want to make shirkers of them.’

Guild members raised money for war relief, refused to work with New Zealanders of German or Austrian descent, and inscribed honours boards. But politics and monetary rewards encouraged some seamen to smuggle deserters out of the country, usually to Australia.

Union Line menu for officers

We do not know how many seafarers served in the army or navy or what motivated them. Some may have joined up because they had little choice. In 1915 the Institute of Marine Engineers reported that the wartime fall-off in trade had increased unemployment and that 25 members of its Wellington branch had enlisted. A Guild annual report for 1917 noted that of the six members (out of 557) who had resigned to join the services that year, four had joined the army and only two the navy.