MKC Posted 28 November , 2018 Share Posted 28 November , 2018 This may have come up before, however it won't hurt to raise again if it has. These is a very well researched and nicely written 2012-dated article on the history of the Australian ship Kanowna written by Frev (who participates on this forum) at: https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/groupstories/3400 Some excellent detail. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 28 November , 2018 Share Posted 28 November , 2018 Certainly Kanowna has featured before: TSS Kanowna Australian troopship A ship's life - The Kanowna Story - Australian ... Staff Nurse Lindsay Gray - Women and the Great ... Soldiers More results Moonraker (Never quite sure if all these links, including those in "More results", work effectively after I've tidied up the Copy & Paste into the form above?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 29 November , 2018 Share Posted 29 November , 2018 Thank you Mike for your nice comment! I just this week received some information from the Grandson of one of the Australian POWs (Briant, 16961) from Turkey who was picked up by the Kanowna in 1918 – who said: “It was a wonderful sight to see the old Kanowna waiting for them.” Always interested in any new info to add to my file… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteStarLine Posted 29 November , 2018 Share Posted 29 November , 2018 Thanks for these details Frev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKC Posted 29 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 29 November , 2018 Hi Frev and Moonraker, I was unaware of Frev's blog before your post, Moonraker, so thanks for that: a plethora of interesting reading! I must remember to use the GWF search facility more diligently. Frev, I was curious about the identity of Kanowna as D16 in the title to your article, as I don't remember you making mention of it in the article itself. Would you care to elaborate, please? Regarding Sister Alice Bull, she is of particular interest to me, as she is one of several nurses profiled in my unpublished manuscript 'Warriors' Chapel' about the 123 individuals commemorated on the board at St John's Bairnsdale, (Currently waiting on hearing back from a prospective publisher.) Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 29 November , 2018 Share Posted 29 November , 2018 55 minutes ago, MKC said: I must remember to use the GWF search facility more diligently... Happy to have helped. I'm one of those who have never got to grips with the GWF search facility and I prefer to Google two or three appropriate words plus "Great War Forum" - which gave me the basis for the link in Post 2. And if can remember being involved in a particular thread (which wasn't the case here), I include "Moonraker". Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 30 November , 2018 Share Posted 30 November , 2018 12 hours ago, MKC said: Frev, I was curious about the identity of Kanowna as D16 in the title to your article, as I don't remember you making mention of it in the article itself. Would you care to elaborate, please? Mike – the title used on the DA website (the actual title of my Kanowna file) includes all the designations the Kanowna had during her many voyages – and as you’re no doubt aware the troopships leaving Australia at the start of the war were issued with an A number, but many of those returning from 1918 on were issued with a D number – and the Kanowna was given D14 (not D16). If you ever come across a soldier returning on a D numbered ship, but absolutely no other mention in his record of what that ship was (for example D23 only) – give me a yell, as I’ve put together quite a list over the years whilst building my many databases! Best of luck with the publication of your book – and great to hear that the St John’s Bairnsdale Honour Board has nurses on it as well… Cheers, Frev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKC Posted 30 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 30 November , 2018 Thanks Frev, for the clarification and the offer. I've been doing similar/the same (your list is probably a long way ahead of mine, though - I have only 111 entries), but had not come across D14 before (my ham-fisted typing mistake: D16 was Barunga). Am I assuming correctly that the D14 designation would have been applied post-hospital ship service, so as far as Australian transportation is concerned, for the voyage commencing in the UK in August 1919 and ending in Sydney in Oct 1919? 'scuse my ignorance, but what is 'DA' website? St John's has five nurses, all names I'm sure you'll be familiar with: Louisa (Lonie) Bicknell, Mabel Baudinet, Alice Bull, Emma Chauncy, and Agnes Jackson. Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 2 December , 2018 Share Posted 2 December , 2018 Hmmm, it would be a very reasonable assumption that post hospital ship would be when the Kanowna was first given D14, but I actually have it noted as the trip departing Suez 22/7/1918 (arriving WA 24/8) – it was a long time ago, and I’m afraid I have no note as to where that came from! Sorry about the DA abbreviation – Discovering Anzacs – the website you linked to in first post Ta for the other 4 nurses names, I’ll make a note of their listing on the honour board in their entries in my nurse’s database. Cheers, Frev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 2 December , 2018 Share Posted 2 December , 2018 Mike – thank you so much for inadvertently picking up a huge error! Turns out the D14 wasn’t the Kanowna at all – but the Wandilla. I have no memory (or excuse) of just how I stuffed this up – considering the amount of years gone by, and nothing in my notes. But you got me thinking that it didn’t seem right that the Kanowna would have a D number for those dates (as listed above from my D Ships list). So I needed to know one way or the other, ‘cos I hate being responsible for misinformation (especially considering the amount that is out there on the big wide web!) So, I looked for some patients that returned on the Kanowna on the dates I had listed, and checking out the below 2, found they transshipped from D14 to the Kanowna in Egypt, so the D14 pretty much had to be the Wandilla, not the Kanowna! Google then found confirmation from a recently posted diary…. 1. Bendigonian (Bendigo, Vic), Thur 5 Sept 1918 (p.21): NEWS OF SOLDIERS Private George Stock, of Eaglehawk, who was wounded in the leg six months ago in France, arrived in Fremantle by the hospital ship Kanowna on 24th August. …………………………….. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/89099864 George Henry Stock (1562) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8092367 Page 11: RTA per D14 30/6/1918 England Page 27: RTA per Kanowna 22/7/1918 Egypt 2. The Daily News (Perth, WA), Sat 16 Nov 1918 (p.3): OBITUARY THE LATE SAPPER F.J. PHILLIPS ………………..Sapper Phillips was brought home on August 24, 1918, from the hospital ship, Kanowna… https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/81776325 Frederick James Phillips (2154) https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1989138 Page 82: RTA per D14 30/6/1918 England Page 96: RTA per Kanowna 22/7/1918 Egypt HS Kanowna Voyage Report: 21/7/1918: …invalids embarked from Hospital Ship “Wandilla”. Google found the following: https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/188337 William Thomas Greaves (4795) 1918 Diary: RTA on Wandilla and Kanowna Page 14 of Service Record: RTA per D14 30/6/1918 England I think the only place on the internet I have the Kanowna listed as D14, is in the title on the Discovering Anzacs website – and as I can’t actually edit the title (an annoying aspect of the website) – I will get around to deleting the whole thing and re-entering it (when I have time to re-link all the service records) Once again, many thanks. Cheers, Frev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKC Posted 3 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2018 (edited) Hi Frev I replied to your post the other day, but it seems to have evaporated into the ether! Nice detective work, and thank you for the correction. Very helpful. It led to me look more closely at the file of the only patient I had uncovered for the Kanowna at that time, 6211 Percival Corben Acton (NAA 3019438), to discover the 'D14' reference on page 6 of his file, which I had missed on first reading. So you have saved me from a blunder, thank you. The diary you indicated is of particular interest, as it shows Wandilla discharging in Alex, then patients travelling to Suez by train to embark on Kanowna. Sensible. Pity the admin people making out the entries didn't always enter the ports of embarkation, only the country in many instances. Regards Mike Edited 3 December , 2018 by MKC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infoseeker Posted 25 October , 2022 Share Posted 25 October , 2022 Interested to find Louisa Bicknell mentioned above. I have been looking at her war experience since finding her on a memorial in Kyneton, Vic, (with a great uncle of mine). There is a story that she started a hospital in Bairnsdale (from newspaper article), was it St John's? Also where does the name Lonie come from? Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 25 October , 2022 Share Posted 25 October , 2022 Hi David You'll find the info I have on Louisa Bicknell attached to her profile on the Discovering Anzacs website here: https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/88986 I have a vague memory of querying Mike re 'Lonie' believing that it was probably meant to be 'Louie'. St John's was her church. Cheers, Frev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infoseeker Posted 25 October , 2022 Share Posted 25 October , 2022 Hi Frev What a wonderful overview of Louisa's life. Thank you so much for the reply and link. An amazing woman and a tragic ending. Kind regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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