Royal Australian Naval Gunners and Communicators

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) provided gun crews for 375 Australian and other Allied ships. Many of these were Defensively Armed Merchant Ships (DEMS). They were used to protect the merchant convoys facilitating the flow of troops, equipment and essential cargo to the battlefronts in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. Those serving in the Atlantic convoys between North America and Britain, faced some of the highest casualty rates of the war.