13 November 2023
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: Attack on a Merchantman by enemy submarines © TheGenealogist
TheGenealogist has announced that it has added well over a million records to its military collections, including rolls of honour, medal awards and war memorial records.
The new War Memorials can be searched from the TheGenealogist’s Master Search or by locating the memorial on the georeferenced maps displayed on their Map Explorer™, which also lets you search the area around where your ancestor lived.
For those with ancestors who were mariners and served in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets, the rolls of honour and medal awards from The National Archives Series BT 339 will be especially poignant. These rolls name the deceased and missing-presumed-dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets and fishing trawler crews who were employed on minesweeping and patrol duties during World War II (1939-1945) and further years up to 1953.
Medal awards
The list of Medal Awards from 1866 to 1970 includes mercantile mariners recognised for gallantry and service. Among these honours is the Albert Medal, initially awarded for saving lives at sea.
Additionally, the Mercantile Marine Officers Nominal List 1916-1920 records recipients of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Medal, along with issues of the London Gazette listing many other medals, citing the deeds of gallantry these Mercantile Marines performed.
The images of these records include the details of these deeds, some of which reveal intriguing stories of shipwrecks, shark attacks and gallant heroes.
Explore with a diamond subscription at TheGenealogist.