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Originally Posted by Kyt  I think one needs to differentiate between the way that the Merchant mariners were seen during the war and the public perception after the war. I don't think that they were seen as lesser than uniformed men - the propaganda machine in Britain was very active in portraying them in a positive light. The Mercant Marine was one of the few non-military units for whom propaganda booklets were published and distributed. Actually, apart from the, I can't think of any other "civilian" profession who had such a booklet published - all the others that I have seen have been on military units or military campaigns.
However, after the war, their contributions were indeed quickly forgotten. I think this was partly due to the lack of films and programmes about them - whereas there have been a plethora of films about all the other services and campaigns, I can't think of a single post-war film covering the Atlantic convoy system. As the public are pretty fickle about these things, they soon forget. |
I am unable to think of any post war movies at the moment however I am sure there were a few.
You might also consider that a great percentage would not/did not know there was a difference between the Navy and the Merchant Navy or Merchant Marine. I have had people ask me: "what is the difference"?
I have always been an ambassador to the behind the lines people (not including MN, MM in this of course) Logistics, Cooks, Mechanics etc. People forget sometimes that the support chain enabled the front line to proceed.