The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Merchant Navy Day to remember seamen killed in the Far East
TRIBUTE: Special day to honour brave UK seafarers lost in two world wars
The 75th anniversary of VJ Day is set to make the annual commemoration of the merchant navy especially poignant for veterans and families of those who perished in the Far East.
Recent research has shown 140 merchant seamen with a connection to Angus died during both world wars, while 136 Angus sailors serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Navy Reserve were lost during the same period.
Montrose Conservative councillor and former sea captain Ron Sturrock says the statistic highlights the level of sacrifice made by merchant navy sailors, especially as ceremonies to mark Victory Over Japan day have been held across the UK.
Mr Sturrock highlighted the fate of just one of the Angus men lost at the hands of Japanese naval forces.
Arbroath-born James Smith Anderson was 3rd mate on MV Behar when it sailed from Melbourne with
“During the First World War alone, there were almost 5,000 British and Allied ships lost and almost 63,000 British and Allied merchant seamen killed in action.
RON STURROCK
a cargo of zinc bound for the UK in February 1944.
However, it was spotted by ships from the Imperial Japanese Navy weeks later and sunk by heavy shellfire from the 12,000-ton Japanese cruiser Tone.
Three crew were killed in the shelling and 104 rescued by the Tone.
If the crew felt any relief at their rescue, it would be short-lived.
Sixty-nine of the survivors were tied up, beaten and beheaded on board, while the remainder were sent to a POW camp in Java.
It is believed none of them survived their captivity.
Mr Sturrock said: “The importance of Merchant Navy Day has grown over the years and quite rightly so.
“It is important that we remember the extraordinary bravery of those who kept Britain and her allies supplied with essential food and material during some of the darkest days of the war.
“During the First World War alone, there were almost 5,000 British and Allied ships lost and almost 63,000 British and Allied merchant seamen killed in action.”
Merchant Navy Day was founded in 2000 and is held on September 3, the day merchant vessel SS Athenia was sunk with the loss of 128 lives just hours after the start of hostilities in the First World War.