Nina Baker – författare

This book is the first complete list of the women professional seafarers in the United Kingdom's Merchant Navy who lost their lives due to enemy action. Detailed profiles have been researched for those women who were Scottish, bringing their stories to light for the first time. Most names on public war memorials are military men s names, with a very few for Merchant Navy seafarers. Among the Merchant Navy seafarers who sailed voyage after voyage, knowing that each one might be their last as so many ships were sunk by enemy action, were a few women. Former seafarer, Nina Baker, researched this book because she started to wonder who the women might be whose names are in the National Merchant Navy Roll of Honour. At the annual Merchant Navy Memorial Day events, some of these names are read out but she knew nothing about the women and their lives. It turned out that the National Roll was itself incomplete. Now, for the first time, complete lists of all known Merchant Navy women lost in the two world wars are provided and are enhanced by biographies of the Scottish women who made the final sacrifice. Nearly all have no grave but the sea. This book will be of particular interest to anyone organising a memorial event, whether for MN Memorial Day or for Remembrance Day.