In Memory of
ROWLAND SCOTT STARLING
Second Radio Officer
H.M.S. Malvernian, Naval Auxiliary Personnel (M.N.)
who died on
Tuesday, 1st July 1941. Age 28.
Additional Information:
Son of H. J. and Elsie Starling; husband of Eve Starling, of South Norwood, Surrey.
Commemorative Information
Memorial:
LIVERPOOL NAVAL MEMORIAL, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Grave Reference/
Panel Number:
Panel 16, Column 1.
Location:
The Memorial is situated on the Mersey River Front at the Pier Head, Liverpool, close to
and behind the Liver Buildings and the end of James Street. From the end of the M62
motorway follow the signs for the City Centre and Maritime Museum. The Liverpool
Memorial consists of a circular column, faced in Portland stone, on a raised semi-circular
platform; on its summit is a device of reflecting lenses, suggestive of a beacon. The
platform is approached from the promenade by a flight of steps and is surrounded by a
wall. At the head of the steps, at each end of the wall, there is a globe; one side being
a
celestial globe ornamented with the signs of the Zodiac, and the other side being a
terrestrial globe showing the countries and seas of the world. Set in recesses in the wall
are the bronze panels that bear the names of over 1300 casualties. At the base of the
column, facing the steps and the promenade, beneath the Naval badge of the Naval
Crown, wreath, and foul anchor, is carved the inscription: THESE OFFICERS AND MEN OF
THE MERCHANT NAVY DIED WHILE SERVING WITH THE ROYAL NAVY AND HAVE NO GRAVE
BUT THE SEA. 1939 - 1945
Historical Information:
It was impossible during the war for the Navy to man all the auxiliary ships that served
with it. Accordingly early in the war a manning depot was established at Liverpool for
dealing with those men of the Merchant Navy who agreed to serve with the Royal Navy
under the terms of what was known as a T.124 agreement, and became subject to Naval
discipline while generally retaining their Merchant Navy rates of pay and other
conditions.
They served in various types of auxiliary vessels, at first mainly in armed merchant
cruisers, but also in armed boarding vessels, cable ships, rescue tugs, and others on
special service. The maximum number of T.124 officers and men exceeded 13,000. Among
ships a large proportion of whose complement belonged to this service, the
"Rawalpindi"
and the "Jervis Bay" won unique renown from the circumstances of their end; but
men
from over 120 ships are commemorated on the memorial which it was decided to erect at
Liverpool. The great majority of Merchant Navy men, who did not serve with the Navy,
but with merchant ships, are commemorated on the Merchant Navy Memorial, on Tower
Hill, London. This memorial was unveiled by the Admiral of the Fleet, The Viscount
Cunningham of Hyndhope, K.T., G.C.B., O.M., D.S.O., on the 12th November 1952.
Copyright The Commonwealth War Graves Commission