Soldiers at sea
Created | Updated Jan 26, 2004
The second world war brought a major break with tradition, when the British Army was called upon to assist with the manning of merchant ships.
The Navy's own DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship) organization, which provided merchant ships with guns and gunners as well as training merchant seamen in basic gunnery, was swamped by the massive demands of the war, and in February 1940 the Admiralty was driven to ask the Army for help.
Five hundred infantrymen were formed into two-men Lewis and Bren teams and embarked in coaster to give them some anti-aircraft defence.
Subsequently, in September 1940, the scheme was expanded to place 2,000 men on coasters at sea and a further 2,000 on ships in port.
Stan Philps was called up into the Army for service with the Welch Regiment, but was surprised to find himself detailed almost immediantly for marchant ship protection.
They sent quite a lot of people to join, about nine platoons, and they were all sent off into this job.
The Army's role aboard merchant ships became a permanent one, lasting right to the end of the war.
In Fbruary 1941 it was decided to expand the scheme to include all merchant ships, deep sea as well as coastal, and in May the organization was put on a formal footing. It's gun teams were transferred from their original infantry units to the Royal Artillery, and formed into the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4rt Maritime Anti-Aircraft Regiments, RA.
