Beyond the Call of Duty

the long version

BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY This book gives a critical account of every shipping disaster during the Second World War which involved the loss of British Commonwealth mercantile and service women. Just hours after Britain and France had declared war on Germany, the Donaldson liner Athenia was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the Atlantic. The repercussions that followed ensured that mercantile movements were to be largely deployed in escorted convoys for the rest of the war. Many mercantile women decided to continue working for their respective shipping companies while engaged in war work. In four separate cases the George Medal was awarded for outstanding and unselfish bravery. The role of women at sea during the Second World War has not been sufficiently recorded by maritime historians, yet their stories are every bit as courageous as those of men, and are statistically significant. Not only were women involved in the first ship sinking of the War, but they were also present in large numbers in the third-worst Allied disaster (the loss of the Khedive Ismail). That incident was also the worst-ever involving the loss of British Commonwealth women personnel, and the last during the War to involve the loss of women. Superbly researched and lavishly illustrated, each incident is recorded with meticulous detail, together with as much testimony as could be found. Shaun Tyas - 2006