Gardenerbill Posted 21 September , 2012 Share Posted 21 September , 2012 When my grandfather was posted to 9th East Lancs in November 1916, the battalion were already in Salonika so he must have travelled with other unit reinforcements across France through Marseilles and by troop ship to Salonika. I know the troop ships Canada and Arcadian carried troops bound for Salonika, what other troop ships sailed on this route and are there embarkation lists for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 2 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 2 October , 2012 So far in searching on this site and generally on the internet I have found the following troop ships operating in the Mediterranean: Arcadian Canada Franconia Huntsgreen Malwa Marquette Omrah I will continue looking for more and try to come up with a definitive list. If any one else knows of other ships I would be very interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 2 October , 2012 Share Posted 2 October , 2012 My grandfather sailed there in November 1915 on HMS Terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 3 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 3 October , 2012 Thanks Kate, I will add HMS Terrible to my list, incidentally if you follow the link below there are pictures of HMS Terrible and some background information. http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_terrible.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 5 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 October , 2012 Found another one, the 'Royal George' took part in the Gallipoli landings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 15 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 15 October , 2012 I found a post in this sub forum on a Ben Noot who was posted to the 27th Casualty Clearing Station and sent to Lahana, Salonika in March 1916, sailing on the "Ionian”. According to the ships list web site; the Ionian went onto trooping duties to Bombay via Suez in 1914. In 1917 she went to Canadian Pacific, but returned to trooping in October of that year. On 21/10/1917 she was sunk by a mine laid off Milford Haven by the German submarine UC.51 with the loss of 7 lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinrowlinson Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 Asturias left Salonika on the 14th Dec.1916 and arrived Malta on the 21st. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 Kath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 22 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Kath, Thank you for the link to a most interesting forum thread. Do you know if any of the contributors created a definitive list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 22 October , 2012 Share Posted 22 October , 2012 Sorry, Gb, no. Kath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 8 December , 2012 Share Posted 8 December , 2012 In some cases men were not allocated to a new unit until after they arrived. There are some burials in Greece of men with units which did not see service in Salonika at all. Seemingly they died before they were allocated to a new unit. It has puzzled more than one able researcher, however!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 10 December , 2012 Author Share Posted 10 December , 2012 I have just found another ship; Charles Packer (author of 'Return to Salonika') Sailed to Salonika in the SS Minnetonka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerpig Posted 21 February , 2014 Share Posted 21 February , 2014 Interesting to read of HMT Minnetonka. My grandfather, Walter Horace Banks (ex P & O) served with the Merchant Navy 1914-1920 aboard Minnetonka and Minnekahda as a store keeper ( I have written about him on this site before). He, as did many people then, collected postcards and his album reveals the places the Minnetonka docked. Many cards from Marseilles, Bizerta, a large collection for Salonica 1916, Port Said, Alexandria, Gibraltar, Naples and many from Malta. Also a few pages of postcards showing the 1908 Messina earthquake. He never talked about it much but this album is in a way, his record for me. Later on he was on the Minnekahda which has been easier to research with crew lists on Ancestry and other sites. The postcards then are mainly from Rouen, Avignon, Lyons, Le Havre and Paris and New York, some posted, most not. I am glad he kept them as it is not easy to find Merchant Navy service information for that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 21 February , 2014 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2014 I found this postcard just from a google search, it is purported to be the HMT Minnetonka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johnyboy Posted 10 March , 2014 Share Posted 10 March , 2014 My Grandfather travelled on the Lake Manitoba (or Lake Manatobar as he refers to it in his diary) along with nearly 1500 others. They left Marseille at 6-30am on Sunday 31 October 1915 and arrived in Salonica on November 9th after a scary journey at around 6knots. They had assumed their destination to be Egypt but the ship changed course as they approached Alexandria and progressed to Salonica. He paints a vivid picture of life on-board including lectures on the dangers of wine and women. He also mentions that one of the lectures was attended by the Colonel who warned them of the presence of submarines in the area and the possibility of their being sunk. He told them that the water was warm and their lifejackets would keep up for 24 hours. He reminded them to behave like British soldiers. The alternative being to be shot dead for cowardice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory harbour Posted 23 March , 2014 Share Posted 23 March , 2014 Hi All Does anyone know about the sinking of The Marquette? My Father was one of the survivors, but I have very limited information. He was in the RHA, 29th Division. Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjharris Posted 1 May , 2014 Share Posted 1 May , 2014 Dear Greg, The Marquette was a New Zealand ship and because 10 nurses died from the sinking, there is quite a lot of information around. Try putting marquette and nz nurses in google. I think there's a book about it too. For everyone else, here is my list of transports in the Mediterranean. Alaunia Aragon B7 A11 Ascanius Canada Caledonia B2 Cardiganshire Carmania Carthage Claxton Clan McGillivray A15 Derfflinger (renamed Huntsgreen) Devanha Esmeralda Ermine Haida Pascha Huntsend Ionian A1 ss Itonus – s.s. ss Karroo Liberty Kildonan Castle ss Lutzow A25 Mashobra Minnesota ss Minnetonka ss Minnewaska Oxfordshire Prince Abbas Princess Dover Royal Edward Saturnia Seang Bee ss ss Seang Choon A31 Southland cheers Kirsty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony osborne Posted 1 May , 2014 Share Posted 1 May , 2014 Kirsty, thanks for the list - may be useful. A Great Great Grandfather was aboard a ship which was torpedoed (so the family story goes). A search through your list may give me some clues when i can get to a bigger screen. All the best, Ant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbill Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 Gardenerbill - your postcard is H.M.T. Minnetonka. A very similar card was produced depicting Menominee. KateH - To add to your list - the ships of the Atlantic Transport Line - Minnetonka Minnesota Minnewaska Marquette Menominee Manitou Michigan Minneapolis. My grandfather was Master of the Menominee during the Great War. Marquette was built in Glasgow. All these ships were British registered, but American owned. I recommend Jonathan Kinghorn's website 'Atlantic Transport Line', also his book 'The Atlantic Transport Line 1881-1931'. Gingerpig - I would be very interested if any of your ancestor's memorabilia shows onboard scenes, ships, and scenes at Lemnos/Mudros, Alexandria, Marseilles and Toulon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 23 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 June , 2014 Currently reading 'History of the Surrey Yeomanry' "A" Squadron, attached to 27th Division, sailed from Marseille to Salonika in two parties on the 26th January 1916 aboard S.S. Port Lincoln and a 'South American cattel steamer' named Itaura. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 24 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 June , 2014 On the 4th November 1915, the surrey Yeomanry "B" Squadron sailed Marseille to Alexandria also in two parties on the "Melville" and the "S.S. Georgian" and then on the 24th November to Lemnos on the "Knight Templar" with the 28th Division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 24 June , 2014 Share Posted 24 June , 2014 This site might fill in a few gaps: http://www.movcon.org.uk/History/Documents/DID/D-MCHS%200290.10.htm TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codenwarra Posted 20 July , 2014 Share Posted 20 July , 2014 Hi All Does anyone know about the sinking of The Marquette? My Father was one of the survivors, but I have very limited information. He was in the RHA, 29th Division. Many thanks. The Marquette was torpedoed in the Aegean Sea at 9:15 am 23 October 1915 by the U-35, about 67 kilometres south of Salonica. Her troopship number was B13. On board were the No 1 New Zealand Stationary Hospital. There were 36 nurses of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service, of whom ten were lost. Most of these nurses were from the South Island. Mary Gorman Nora Hildyard Mabel Jamieson Mary Rae Lorna Rattray Margaret Rogers Marion Brown Helena Isdell Catherine Fox Isabel Clark Survivors were picked up after 2pm by the French destroyers Tirailleur and Mortier and the British destroyer Lynn The loss of the Marquette is covered in some detail in chapters 14, 15, 16 and 17 of "Anzac Girls" by Peter Rees, 2014 (paperback edition) Allen & Unwin. Also published as "The Other Anzacs" in 2008. This will be the basis of an Australian Broadcasting Corp series to be screened in Australia in August See also Wikipedia which appears to be have some of the same information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory harbour Posted 24 July , 2016 Share Posted 24 July , 2016 Thankyou KJharris and Codenwarra for replying to my query about the sinking of the Marquette, I have been able to find out more and can understand why this terrible event impacted so much on my Father's life, he certainly was one of the lucky ones to survive that war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthelookout Posted 26 July , 2016 Share Posted 26 July , 2016 Hi All, Not sure if you are still creating the list of transport ships in the Mediteranian but I found out that my great great grandad travelled from Marseille to Salonika on the H.T Megantic. He embarked at Marseille on the 15th December 1916 and disembarked at Salonika on the 21st December. He was in the Army Service Corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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