Margaret Musette Daniels (November 11, 1910 – March 13, 1989)
Between December 1946 and August 1953, Margaret Daniels made a total of thirty-seven voyages back and forth across the Pacific Ocean working on troop-transport and hospital ships. The logs she kept on those voyages form a unique picture of life at sea during the post World War II years, and they include the years of US involvement in the Korean War as well.
When Margaret died her estate, including her log books, passed to a friend, Connie Crest Calvert. Between 1989-1993 my mother, Elizabeth McGowan, was in touch with Connie, and Connie signed over the copyright in these journals jointly to the two of us with the intent that they eventually be made available. At that time, she provided two photo-copies of the entire set of logs, totalling over 400 pages.
My mother began the arduous task of typing the logs into computer files, but only completed the first 23 logs. The remainder are partially scanned and have yet to be typed in.
Apparently, Connie Calvert is no longer alive, and since my mother's passing in 2005, I have lost track of anyone else who might have further information about Margaret. The original log books were supposed to have been given to my mother in July 1990, but they have not been found among her personal effects, and there is no e-mail or paper trail to indicate whether or not the logs actually ended up in her possession. At this point, I fear the originals may have been lost, unless the heirs of Connie's estate still possess them. In this age of the Internet, I hope someday to find them.
Recently, I began to undertake the process of formatting and layout, and am producing a paperback book containing the logs of the first 23 voyages. Eventually, I hope to complete the entire set and make the books available. A pre-release version of this book can be obtained through the print-on-demand service of Lulu.com at this link HERE, for a price that covers the base cost (i.e., without markup).
In the hope of finding anyone with more information, I am including below some relevant information.
Between the years 1946 and 1953, Margaret sailed on ships such as:
Her main ports of call were:
In 1990, a notebook of Margaret's personal letters (mainly to Marge Hall) was handed out in her memory, to a set of friends that included these individuals:
If you are a historical researcher interested in reviewing all or parts of these logs, please feel free to contact me.
If you know any of the individuals named above, please feel free to contact me.
If you want to type in a log from the original scanned sheets, I would welcome your assistance.
rick @ azuma-asobi.com