Sea Hazard (1939 - 1945) by Houlder Brothers & Co Ltd

I picked this up this interesting volume in the local Oxfam bookshop, and in the front cover is a note from the Company and an acknowledgement from Commander T. Culliford RN. It is an account of the significant incidents that vessels of the Houlder Line (and associated companies) encountered during the Second World War, which mostly were sinking at the hands of German U-boats - It describes itself as a second volume following a similar collection publishedat the end of the first war.

I have had a long fascination with the war memorial process and this example has many interesting features.

First there is the level at which you choice to read it - is it a humble tribute to the crews of the companies vessels, or is it an exercise in PR (either commercial or political - perhaps directed at the new Labour Government with its nationalising tendencies - a subtext to this record of vital service to the nation might be "Hands Off"). Also was the volume, produced and sent out at the Company's expense, written down against tax? But maybe I should be less cynical.

Then there is Apprentice J K Thornton's questionable "distinction of being 'the most torpedoed man'" with a total of 4 vessels falling victim with him on board. This is linked to a comment on the fact that many of the crew had been serving during the first war and so served again in the knowledge of the fate awaiting them "Facing unknown danger calls for courage, but fighting known peril merits the description of heroism."
There is also a clear attempt to match the service of the armed forces, common of many civilian occupations to answer the question "what did you do in the war, Daddy?" 

It is clear that part of the pressure of the Battle of the Atlantic was that the torpedo would hit out of the blue, in most battle situations there is a distinction between times of active engagement and times away from the front - yet for these vessels weeks of ordinary 'business as usual' must have been impregnated with the gut twisting tension of waiting for that torpedo (similar things are seen when civilian populations are subjected to prolonged bombardment).

Although this is not really a comment of the memorial process,  the size of the crews is amazing - by modern standards these vessels were tiny - yet in one example it records that 78 out of the 81 crew on board got off safely - now some of these were steam vessels and tending the engines was therefore a more labour intensive task than today, but even taking that into account these are high manning levels.

This volume gives a useful insight into a oft forgotten and always, I think, difficult to capture theatre of the War.