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Remembered Today:

Hospital ship help


Guest patsymac

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2 hours ago, MKC said:

 

I have isolated only about 16 Australian deaths aboard Sicilia, so I'm curious where the figure of about 40 came from - can you enlighten me, please?

 

 

 

 

Hi Mike

I'm in agreement with Bryn - scanning down through my file on the Sicilia, I have 21 Aussies and 19 Kiwis DOWs, making a total of 40 Anzacs.

Cheers, Frev

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Oops. Turns out my original figure of 'about 40' actually referred to New Zealanders only. On checking again, I find I have 75 Australian soldier deaths aboard 'Sicilia.'

I'll get a list together.

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Meanwhile, though, as an example of the ease that ships' names could be misidentified, the 'Cecilia' in this report is actually the 'Sicilia.'

 

 

sutcliffe.jpg

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1 hour ago, Bryn said:

Oops. Turns out my original figure of 'about 40' actually referred to New Zealanders only. On checking again, I find I have 75 Australian soldier deaths aboard 'Sicilia.'

I'll get a list together.

 

Good one Bryn :thumbsup:

I hadn't looked at this file for quite some time - and have just done some more work on it this arvo - but have only increased the members of the AIF to 30 so far...

Will look forward to seeing your list.

Cheers, Frev

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Good job, Bryn, and Frev .... I'm lagging well behind with only 19 identified, with around 260 identified as having died while aboard ships offshore from, or in transit from, Anzac Cove. Much more work to do on this aspect of shipping, obviously!

 

Regards

 

Mike

.   

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10 hours ago, MKC said:

 I'm lagging well behind with only 19 identified, with around 260 identified as having died while aboard ships offshore from, or in transit from, Anzac Cove. Much more work to do on this aspect of shipping, obviously!

.   

 

Mike - I thought you were only working on the ships going to and from Australia - sounds like we have a lot more files to compare notes on!

Cheers, Frev

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Hi Frev,

 

As you know, my main area of interest is the 'to and from' Australia voyages, but in working on those, other relevant avenues inevitably present themselves, and it would be errant to ignore them. In the database of 'died in transit' personnel, I've come across many who don't fit the voyage criteria I've set myself, but it is easy to include them by differentiating their search term. I've used 'inward' and 'outward' for the Aust voyage group, and others are listed as 'Transfer', as in transfer between locations other than Australia. There are plenty: the WIA/DOW or DOD from Anzac, the KIA from Southland, those lost on the Warilda (cross channel transport), even a small number lost in a sinking while travelling to Ireland on leave. Not having concentrated specifically on the WIA/DOW from Anzac is (I hope!) why I'm so far behind you and Bryn, and why the total I have for Anzac transfers thus far is only around 260 across all ships.

 

Must send you another batch of 'RTA with wife' - it's been a while. 

 

Regards

 

Mike      

Edited by MKC
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Hi Mike

I doubt you’re lagging behind me in ‘Anzac transfers’ – you know how scrappy and unfinished most of my databases & files are!  However, it’s always possible I may have something you don’t have – will sort through them for you at some stage….

 

I’m guessing you’ve seen these:

Sinking of the Warilda: https://www.discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/groupstories/13657

The torpedoed Southland: https://www.discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/groupstories/2634

 

No hurry with another batch of ‘RTA with wife’ – just happy to receive whenever you can…

Cheers, Frev

 

[PS: thanks Bryn – huge list]

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Thanks Frev,

 

No, had not seen your mammoth effort on those two ships, but glad to say I at least had the same fatalities listed. 

 

Look forward to whatever you may sort out. No hurry, of course.

 

Best regards

 

Mike

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  • 1 month later...

Mike,

Prompted by discussion on another topic, do you have Tpr Ion Llewellyn IDRIESS. No. 358, A Sqdn, 5th LH Regiment embarking from Alexandria for return to Australia onboard the SS Ulysses, 15/2/1918.

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  • 1 year later...
On 22/01/2020 at 09:00, Bryn said:

Meanwhile, though, as an example of the ease that ships' names could be misidentified, the 'Cecilia' in this report is actually the 'Sicilia.'

In fact 'Cecilia' and 'Sicilia' are actually different ships, not a mistake.

His Majesty's hospital steam yacht 'Cecilia' 
'Cecilia' was a steam yacht, a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron based in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Owned by colonel Sir Charles Wyndham Murray (22.02.1844 - 01.11.1928). This was a small (188 tons) steam yacht requisitioned as part of the Royal Yacht Squadron at the beginning of WWI. She was for a time on patrol in connection with the transportation of the British Expeditionary Force, and her owner later in the war used her for taking parties of convalescing soldiers out from Netley hospital in Southampton. Being of such a small size she was useless as a regular hospital ship.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/hm-hospital-ship-cecilia-steam-yacht-313433470
https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/158265-plumridge-hospital-ships-and-ambulance-trains/

HMHS Sicilia
Builder/Built: 1900, Barclay Curle & Company, Glasgow.
Type: Passenger / cargo liner / troopship.
Displacement: 6,696 tons.
Speed: 14 knots.
Built for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the first of five sister ships - Somali, Soudan, Syria, and Sardinia. Sardinia was the only one not to serve as a Hospital Ship.
Her maiden voyage was trooping to Calcutta, and she spent the 1901 - 1903 period trooping to the Boer War. From 1903-1905 trooping to India before being laid up in 1905. In 1906 she was again used for general trooping before in 1907 returning to the Indian run. In 1908 she spread her wings to include trooping to China with India.
On 10 Sep 1914 she was requisitioned for service as a hospital ship, and her service included the Dardanelles, having been present at the landings, and on the Southampton - Boulogne run. On 11 Sep 1918 she was returned to her owners, who in Jan 1926 sold her to Kishimoto Kisen K.K., Japan for scrapping.

https://birtwistlewiki.com.au/wiki/HMHS_Sicilia
http://www.nzgrantfamilygenealogy.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=298&tngpage=555
http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=1563
https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/ships/view.php?pid=3479

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So it seems that the yacht Cecilia served around the British coast and was considered 'useless' as a regular hospital ship.

My point was not that was no ship named Cecilia, but that, in the case I was quoting, where soldiers were transported to a hospital ship lying off the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, for transport to Egypt, this was the Sicilia, which made numerous such runs and appears correctly in a great number of documents. The Sicilia is referred to incorrectly in the document below as the 'Cecilia'.

 

sutcliffe.jpg

 

Private Sutcliffe's own record confirms that he died aboard Sicilia.

NAA: B2455, SUTCLIFFE VICTOR BRIGGS

 

 

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