From November 2021 - February 2022 the Online Cenotaph team were lucky enough to receive funding from the C&L Gregory Charitable Trust to employ two transcribers. This team was responsible for transcribing a portion of the 11,000 index cards of the Records of New Zealand Seamen, sourced from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga.

The contribution of New Zealand Seamen, better known as the Merchant Navy, made during the Second World War has long been under-represented in both the history of New Zealand’s war time experience and public life¹. For example, their service was only officially acknowledged by the New Zealand Government in 2010, with the establishment of the Merchant Navy Day commemoration on 3 September.  This is despite those who served in the Merchant Navy, facing the same risks as their Army, Navy and Air Force Comrades. They were shipwrecked, captured as prisoners of war, and over 130 seamen were killed during the conflict. This lack of recognition and research has resulted in very few records for this civilian force in Online Cenotaph.  We therefore believe that this ongoing transcription project will have a significant impact on expanding our understanding of this fourth service ².   

Planning for this summer transcription project began nearly two years ago when, in January 2020, Dan Millar, Online Cenotaph Collection Technician relocated to Wellington. The relocation was in part for our ongoing development of Online Cenotaph and also provided the foundation for a partnership with Archives New Zealand. This partnership has enabled us to identify and photograph archival material for those who served in later conflicts, such as Korea, Malaya, and Borneo. It has also allowed us to identify records of those who served with the Air Force, Navy and Merchant Navy. 

These archival records contain a wealth of information relating to New Zealand’s veterans; names, service numbers, embarkation details, medical information, and general information on their service for New Zealand. We have been able to transcribe much of this material with the help of our Visitor Hosts and Volunteers. However, there was one project, the Records of NZ Seamen of over 11,000 pages, that we knew we would need some dedicated transcribers to work on. 

The Records of New Zealand Seamen held by Archives New Zealand, details an individual seafarer’s service, listing their name, date of birth, ships they served on, and the dates of the service. It also acts as a record for those who served as part of the Merchant Navy during the Second World War.

Our two transcribers Hebe Kearney and Aleisha Ward joined the Online Cenotaph team in November 2021. Hebe is a recent graduate from the University of Auckland, and Aleisha is a freelance historian and writer. They dedicated themselves to these records, working tirelessly to decipher handwriting, investigating possible addresses from around the world, piecing together timelines, and making sense of these cards to enable us to create Online Cenotaph records from their work. 

Transcribing these records was a laborious task, and to begin they would each open their spreadsheets and various tabs of helpful resources; Papers Past, Births Deaths and Marriages Historical Register, Google Maps and the particularly invaluable Maritime Index, Gordon Knight (NZMI) - both run by the Maritime Museum. 

The handwriting of the cards was one of the most difficult aspects of the role, in particular the names of ships and ports. Our Online Cenotaph Teams chat would ping throughout the day with various queries for possible ship names and locations. In the end they both found that the handwriting was something they picked up on over time, only having to research the most obscure places. Aleisha recalled how between her and Hebe, they came to affectionately name one of the clerks, ‘that guy’ known for his particularly impossible scrawl. 

Despite its challenges, Aleisha and Hebe enjoyed working on the project. For Hebe it was ‘... the human story side, finding people with colourful stories.’ 

Aleisha also enjoyed the family aspect of the transcription;

‘Whole families who were in the Merchant Navy, fathers and sons, women - it was cool to see that this is clearly their family trade, that the children will join as a boy hand, one child his first embarkation was when he was ten and then served for a long time - 32 embarkations.’ 

They particularly enjoyed learning more about the women who served in the Merchant Navy. Finding around ten women in the cards so far ‘it was a family affair, that their sons were also serving’ said Hebe.

One such servicewomen was Mary Deighton. Deighton was a stewardess with the Union Steam Ship Company for 48 years on her retirement in 1957. She began her service in 1909, and served for 15 years on the Maunganui, during its Pacific run from Wellington to San Francisco. As a stewardess she would have been a part of the stewards department of the ship, helping to take care of serving meals, as well as other housekeeping duties ³. She recalled on her retirement that she quite often had to act as a midwife and nurse during emergencies, as no doctors were carried on board ⁴. In 1928 she delivered a baby girl during a journey between Auckland and Sydney, the baby girl was named Mary Maunganui after Mrs Deighton and the ship she was born on ⁵. Throughout the Second World War, she served on a number of Merchant Navy ships, with multiple embarkations on the Wahine, Matua, and Rangatira, which often transported troops between New Zealand and the Pacific ⁶. Mary Deighton died in 1971 in Wellington at the age of 90. 

Another interesting observation, was clearly the effects of the previous World War, Aleisha found that there was a ‘... lack of birth dates between 1915-1917 especially between Australia and New Zealand, 95% who have birth dates between 1915-1917 were from the Northern Hemisphere, suggesting a lack of people born in New Zealand during the First World War.’  

The number of births registered during the war did decrease but possibly not as much as anticipated. During 1917, the number of births registered was 25,860, or 23.44 per 1,000 of the mean population, which was a decrease of 270 or 0.95 percent, from the year before ⁷. Interestingly, it was 1919 which saw the lowest birth-rate during war years. ‘The number of births registered during 1919 was 24,483 or 21.54 per 1,000 of the mean population. This birth-rate of only 21.54 per 1,000, the lowest point ever reached in New Zealand …’⁸ The 1919 birth rate can be attributed to the reduced marriage rate of the two preceding years and other causes arising out of the war, including conscription introduced in August 1916 and the 1918 Influenza pandemic.  

When asked what they both found interesting about the transcription project, Aleisha responded enthusiastically with, ‘All of it!’ Elaborating that,

‘It has been fascinating, it's been a really fun project, information, history, geography, learning something new everyday.’ 

One particularly intriguing event Aleisha recalled researching further was the capture of Holmwood. The Holmwood was returning to Lyttelton from the Chatham Islands when it was captured on 25 November 1940 by the German raider Komet. ‘The crew and passengers, numbering twenty-nine, and including four women and two children, were taken off …’ captured as Prisoners of War they were escorted to Emirau Island ⁹. Eventually, the naval authorities arranged for the Australian steamer Nellore to pick up the survivors on 29 December ¹⁰. Some of those who had been captured were serving again within 3 months. Aleisha commented that ‘You don’t really understand how close to home the war really was, there were things happening in our waters and on our land that had immediate effect.’ 

While Hebe suggested that ‘[w]hen war is on it affects the whole society, it touches everyone, it's those serving in the Merchant Navy, and their next of kin, and this web of interconnectedness.’ Often they would come across people who were living down the street from one another, which always sparked interesting conversations. Would they have known each other? Would they have supported one another? Popping around for cups of tea?

​We still have much to learn about the Merchant Navy, but Hebe and Aleisha have made tremendous progress in transcribing these records of New Zealand Seamen and expanding our knowledge of the fourth force.  The Online Cenotaph team really appreciated how engaged both Hebe and Aleisha were during this project. They became totally immersed in all things Merchant Navy, becoming the experts amongst our team, sharing stories, and learning as much as they possibly could about the Merchant Navy and the role it played during the Second World War. 

The work that Hebe and Aleisha have begun contributes directly to our ongoing work to recognise the service of all those who served for Aotearoa New Zealand on active service during times of international conflict.

Below is a poem written by Hebe Kearney on the Merchant Navy.

• 
• Last updated on: 21 Mar 2022 | File Size: 17.2 kB

Thank you

Ngā mihi nunui to the C&L Gregory Charitable Trust for supporting this project. The team were able to complete 3,054 of the 11,000 index cards. It highlights that transcription requires a significant investment of time and expertise and we hope to continue to transcribe this set of records over the next few years.

REFERENCES

1] The Merchant Navy refers to the ships and workers associated with commercial shipping companies used during World War I and II;

‘In wartime, ships often operated in dangerous conditions, and were targets for military vessels trying to disrupt commerce and the shipping trade. The seafarers on the ships transporting goods and passengers were civilians. They were not part of the armed forces, nor were they trained in combat, but worked in a range of roles: engineers, radio officers, pursers, and cooks.’

2] The work of the Merchant Navy was so essential to the war effort that they have come to be known as the fourth force, alongside the Army, Air Force and Navy. 

3] Wikipedia. Chief Steward. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_steward

4] 48 Years as a Stewardess, Christchurch Press, 13 March 1957. 

5] Child born at sea named 'Maunganui' Sun (Auckland), 4 February 1928. 

6] NZ History, The Merchant Navy. 

7] NZ Stats, The New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1918.

8] NZ Stats, The New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1920.

9] Missing Vessels, Evening Star, 2 December 1940. 

10] Rescue of 500. Gisborne Herald, 2 January 1941.