ments see below
Being a stateless person in 1941 (Estonia had been occupied by the Soviet Union), my Father had to go to sea or report weekly to a British Police station.
One other Estonian ship he was sent to by the British 'pool' in Cardiff, was the Kodumaa
20.09.41-23.03.42 The ship had been re-registered as British (Port of Glasgow).
The Estionian Maritime Museum has a good picture of the Kodumaa.
Kodumaa was lost on the 26th September 1942. Attacked by aircraft. Later went aground.in the River Ouse, Gooleness and capsized. (Voyage - Goole to Ipswich with a cargo of coal).
The 'pool' re-assignedt my Father to the Sweditsh Ship Scotia, 11th May 1942, joinig the ship at Southend. During the 12th May 1942 the Scotia was sunk by a magnetic mine and the crew were put ashore via a British destroyer at Great Yarmouth. One Estonian, M.E.Lass, donkeyman (stoke), lost his life.
The next ship he was assigned to by the 'pool' was the Swediish (as you can speak some of the language) ship Bur, 18th April 1942 to 20th March 1943.
On this ship he crossed the Atlantic Ocean 3 times in British convoys (no medal due to the fact he was on a foreign ship); to get a British medal you had to be on a British registered ship.
From 22nd March 1943 to 17th December 1944 he was reassigned to another Swedish ship, Mauritz, as 3rd Mate. Due to an accident with his back and after being in hospital (Ipswich/Felixstowe), he was assigned on the 25th January 1944 to the 22nd February 1944 as 2nd Mate on the Swedish vessel Frey. The back to the Mauritz.
He was back on the Mauritz from 11th March 1945 to 4th September 1945, mostly convoys to Iceland and on OHMS duty. After the war and Government hire contracts ended; from the 24th October 1945 to 5th June 1946 he served as 2nd Officer on the Benjamin Sherburn.
click below
English (present day)
uk Graham Bartram
ee Antonio Martins/Ivan Sache
ie Vincent Morley
4ie Mario Fabretto