No grave but the sea - the Merchant Navy

Survivors from torpedoed merchant ship

More than 130 New Zealand merchant seafarers are known to have lost their lives, although the true total is probably higher. The great majority of these seamen were sailing on British vessels, and around 90 perished in the Atlantic or Mediterranean. Seven New Zealand merchant ships were lost to enemy action, but these fortunately produced only 11 fatalities. At least 10 New Zealanders died while serving on American or Panamanian-flagged ships, and 4 died on Australian vessels; others were lost on Dutch, Greek, Indian and Swedish ships.

Surviving a German air attack

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Hear seaman Jim Blundell recall a German air attack on his convoy..
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The age of some of the victims is striking. As a civilian industry, the Merchant Navy naturally contained employees who were younger or older than those in the armed forces. For centuries, seafarers had embarked on their careers when barely into their teens, typically as deck or mess boys, or as apprentices (trainee officers). Fifteen New Zealand teenagers are known to have lost their lives during the war, including Thomas Burke and Edward Walls, two 15-year-old deck boys on the Port Hunter, which was torpedoed off West Africa in 1942. These two teenagers were almost certainly the youngest New Zealanders killed in combat during the 20th century.

In captivity

Around 140 New Zealand merchant seafarers were taken prisoner. The first large group of New Zealanders to be captured during the Second World War were seamen (and passengers) from the Holmwood, Komata, Rangitane and other ships sunk by German raiders in late 1940. Some 70 New Zealand seamen from these ships were subsequently released on Emirau Island, after signing an oath not to 'bear arms' against Germany for the remainder of the war. At least 21 New Zealanders, mostly captured in the Atlantic, were interned in a special Merchant Navy camp, Milag Nord, at Westertimke, near Bremen.

For Allied servicemen and civilians alike, captivity in the Far East was generally more gruelling than it was in Europe. In contrast to the Germans, Japan's treatment of captive merchant seafarers was unpredictable and often brutal. The 56 officers and crew of the Hauraki made up the largest group of New Zealand personnel to fall into Japanese hands during the war. While most were interned with civilians in Singapore's Changi prison, 24 of them (mainly engine-room staff) were sent to Japan, where they were forced to work alongside military prisoners in a shipyard and later at a steelworks. Five died in captivity.