I'm currently listening to part two of three of a recording by one Stan Donovan who was a merchant mariner in WW2. Stan was from Hartlepool. In the first episode Stan is working at the docks as a blacksmith and describes how he ended up on board a ship. His description of the stream of men walking from home to the docks... I was amazed by how vividly he could describe it. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChweUiGCnfSEefn4V8tvTaw