Hospital Ship Dongola at Gallipoli & Mespot - Capt. Pearson's Photo Album

[ZeZe]

 

Hi

I do not think Captain Pearson’s photograph album of his service on HMHS Dongola has been mentioned before on the forum (I might be wrong), it’s well worth scrolling all the way through. The scans can be ‘zoomed’ into to enlarge details and best of all, some of the R.A.M.C., ships crew & nurses have been named – really helpful.

The album can be found here: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k64w65bc

Used the info from the album & TNA British Army nurses’ service records 1914-1918, 1915 Crew Lists etc to construct a “Dongola” staff timeline covering the Gallipoli period. Haven’t been able to identify for certain all of the nurses whose surnames are given in the album. Some of the Sisters named in photos I haven’t identified for certain – nurses records are often sketchy having been ‘weeded’. Matron Skinner was in charge of the Sisters from 15/04/16; Nurse Franklin (Isobel?) is with her in the same photograph so I guess she was not present at Gallipoli but sailed with “Dongola” to Mespot.

Clark & Lewis could be Catherine Rose Clark(e) & Jessie Euphemia Lewis both NZANS.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/kai-tiaki-the-journal-of-the-nurses-of-new-zealand/1916/07/01/34

[Kai-Tiaki is a very good source of info - the NZ nurses were great letter writers]

 

The H.M.T. Dongola crew list is dated to 28th May 1915. [https://1915crewlists.rmg.co.uk/document/109320]

I’m therefore uncertain which of the ship’s officers continued to serve on H.M.H.S. Dongola in the June sailing apart from those named in the album.

Known movements of H.M.T. Dongola mid March 1915 to mid May 1915 Extracts from:

Diary of service with No. 15 Stationary Hospital on Lemnos during the Dardanelles campaign, June 1915-Jan 1916……..papers of Captain George Abel Collier, R.A.M.C.

link: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/yfvzvc4a.

18th March 1915, H.M.T. Dongola sailed from Avonmouth with 7 officers and 7 men of No.15 Stationary Hospital, arrived at Alexandra on the 26th March. (there is a list of the officers on board from various regiments; K.O.S.B., R.F.A. etc)

29th March, disembarked Dongola at Alexandria.

17th – 20th April to Lemnos on “Hymettus”

22nd April, No.15 Stationary Hospital divided into four parts: 11? officers (difficult to read) and 32 others assigned to H.M.T Dongola.

24th / 25th April, heavy fighting at Gallipoli with much loss of life.

27th April, commenced Operation Theatre on Dongola.

3rd May, Operation tables in use. Ships shelled.

4th May, steamed for Alexandria, about 570 cases on board – 52 died en-route.

12th May, ship (H.M.T. Dongola) left for England.

13th May, R.A.M.C officers & men No. 15 Stationary Hospital departed from Alexandria back to Cape Helles on S.S. “Franconia”.

 

Mudros Embarkation Officer's War Diary: date known of Dongola’s return to Gallipoli.

Saturday 3rd July 1915: DONGOLA Hospital Ship. Arrived from Gaba Tepe.

(https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/278367-aif-and-nzef-deaths-on-hospital-ships/)

Hope it is of interest and useful – It’s ‘work in progress’ with lots of gaps to be filled.

regards

ZeZe

[alf mcm]

Very interesting ZeZe,

I can add Staff Nurse Mabel Henrietta Young, from 21/06/1915. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8448029

I think that @frev will be interested in this thread, and may well have some suggestions.

Regards,

Alf McM

[ZeZe]

Hi Alf McM,

I hoped you would find the post. I have M H Young on the sheet just as 'in transit' as when reading her file WO 399/15781 it appeared she was posted to Malta. Her file was helpful as the Dongola's dates of sailing are recorded in it.

Regards ZeZe

Edited 1 August , 2022 by ZeZe
name

[seaJane]

8 hours ago, alf mcm said:

I think that @frev will be interested in this thread

I'm not sure that your tag of @frev went live, so am repeating it.

[ZeZe]

Hi,

Below is an article re life of Mary Gordon Grigor mainly using Kai Tiaki & ‘Scotlands People‘ as source. (https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/kai-tiaki-the-journal-of-the-nurses-of-new-zealand/1916)

Mary is named in four of the Pearson photos. Couldn't find her at first until I realised she served in the NZANS and then found out she had an ‘eventful’ war. Her’s & I believe all ANZAC service records can be found here:https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/Search/AdvancedSearch

Mary Gordon Grigor (1886 – 1959)

Mary Gordon Grigor was born in the Parish of Birnie, Elgin, Scotland on 20th or 21st November 1886 to John and Maggie Grigor, Maggie’s maiden name was Gordon. John’s occupation given on the birth registration was farm-servant. Margaret died in 1890 leaving John with three children, Charles, John and Mary living at the house and croft, Altglander, Estate of Strathavon, Kirkmichael, Banff, as recorded on the 1891 census return and valuation roll 1895. Mary, aged 14, was still living with her father in 1901 but by the 1911 census John snr. was on his own.

There is a record of a Miss Grigor, (no other details), traveling steerage class, SS “Moeraki”, immigration place, Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 25th October 1907, which is possibly Mary. Miss Grigor, (with details matching Mary), is present on the passenger list of the SS “Rotorua” docking in New Zealand on 21st November 1913, occupation nurse, age 27.

Mary had passed the State examinations of Nurses and Midwives held in December 1912 at Christchurch, New Zealand and qualified as a Nurse in 1913 under registration no. 1320. Her first appointment as a nurse was with the Native Health Nursing Scheme who’s aim, when it was set up in 1911, was to serve the health needs of the local indigenous population, the Māori. In the October 1914 issue of the Kai Tiaki (The Journal Of The Nurses Of New Zealand), Mary, in charge of a camp hospital at Waikato, is battling an outbreak of typhoid with a number of the cases complicated by measles. By the time the camp hospital closed, Mary had herself recovered from the measles, but then contracted typhoid and at the time of writing was being nursed back to health in the Hamilton Hospital.

Mary Gordon Grigor attested in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service on the 20th May 1915, Reg: 22/75, Rank: Nurse, and with very short notice she sailed for Egypt the next day for active service.

In letters to Miss Bagley, (Kai Tiaki vol IX, issues I & III) Mary sets out her experiences since arriving in Egypt. She and a fellow Native Health colleague, Nurse (Catherine) Blackie, sailed on HMT “Caledonia” from Mudros Bay to Gallipoli to evacuate the injured following an attack on the Achi-Baba height which took place on 6th & 7th August.

“We started loading wounded at 3 p.m., and by 8 p.m. had 1375 on board; we were only supposed to take 800, and indeed had only beds for that number, but the list of casualties was so great that they begged us to take them in preference to leaving them lying on the beach. After 1375 our C.O. absolutely refused to take more. There were that week in all 30,000 casualties, many hospital ships being used and twenty-four transports besides; then there did not seem enough carriers. I shall never forget that week; we worked night and day until we reached Alexandria.” Mary was on theatre duty and records how ghastly some of the wounds were with gas gangerine being prevalent. Thirteen amputations were completed on the short journey between Mudros and Alexandria.

Mary’s next trip was on a Hospital Ship taking nine hundred cases home to England where she was allowed five days sightseeing in London. Mary then returned to Mudros on HMHS “Dongola” as a passenger. (this would have been early September as the “Dongola” is reported as docking at Southampton on the 29th August 1915. Mary uses the terms ‘we’ & ‘us’, presumably she was with a party of NZ nurses) At Mudros the returning nurses were then put on as ‘extra staff’, and HMHS “Dongola” sailed on to Cape Helles, embarked over 500 sick and wounded and transported them back to Malta. The returning group of nurses worked hard for a week at the Valetta Military Hospital and were all sorry when orders to embark on HMHS “Delta” for Alexandria were received. In Egypt the nurses were distributed amongst various hospitals, Mary was allocated to the 1st N.Z. Stationery Hospital which was being sent to Salonica.

The HMT “Marquette”, a 7,000 ton transport ship sailed from Alexandria bound for Salonica on 19th October, 1915 with the staff of the 1st New Zealand Stationery Hospital along with the British 29th Divisional Ammunition Column which included officers, men, mules and horses and their equipment. Altogether there were 741 people on board. At 9:00 a.m. 23rd October, Mary was walking on the top deck with Captain Issacs and Sister Sinclair. They saw a straight, thin, green line in the water heading for the ship. It was a torpedo fired from the German submarine U-35. The “Marquette” quickly began to list and sink bow first.

Mary describes the lowering of the lifeboats: “As usual, the launching of the boats was a decided failure. On the port side one was launched on top of the other, I believe, crushing and injuring some between, also the ship by this time had a huge list to port side. On the starboard side (I was there) the first boat launched tipped, and those who were not shot out into the sea then had to get out as soon as it touched water, as there was a huge hole in her, and she filled. Besides, they clambered round her from all sides until she finally submerged, then we all ducked for our lives.” A member of the crew, who was keeping afloat with a piece of board, saw Mary swimming on her own and paddled over to her to share the board. They then made their way towards a semi submerged boat which had several men hanging on to it. Unfortunately, as soon as the group got into the boat it turned turtle and they had to start clambering over the side to get into it again. Mary’s rescuer slipped away suffering from either cramp or exhaustion. She was so sorry that she could do nothing for him. Later a colleague, Sister Rea joined the group, but she too also became exhausted and drowned. Late in the afternoon after about six hours in the water they were spotted, but many died just as two French destroyers and an English patrol boat came to the rescue.

The surviving nursing staff were transferred into HMHS “Grantully Castle” moored in Salonica harbour “where all were goodness itself to us.” A total of 167 of those on board died in the sinking of the Marquette including 10 of the 36 nurses and 19 male Medical Corps staff. They are commemorated at the Mikra British Cemetery, Thessaloniki. After the tragedy nursing staff were only allowed to be transported on hospital ships where the large red crosses painted on the hulls gave them some protection from submarine attack. Nurse Catherine Blackie was also a survivor of the sinking of the “Marquette”. After a few of days rest in Salonica, apart from two sisters needing to stay for hospital care, the surviving staff were back on board “Grantully Castle”, taken to Alexandria and then sent on to the Aboukir Rest Home. They had lost all their belongings, however a fund was set up by the New Zealand nurses in Egypt, the matrons gave a month's salary, and the fund was able to give £10 to each of the surviving sisters. On 4th January 1916 Mary was posted to the HMHS Grantully Castle, she was the only New Zealander on the ship, but was happy as she already knew the matron. By this time the troops had been evacuated from Gallipoli and the hospital ship was used to transfer patients from the Mudros hospital to Malta or Naples. HMHS “Grantully Castle” also returned to England for a two week overhaul in Southampton when another 158 beds were added which gave Mary the opportunity to travel home and visit her relatives in snowy Scotland.

Gazette, 21st September 1916, M. Grigor promoted to Sister. Around this time Mary left the hospital ships, she had probably completed her six months duty. She was working under Captain Dyson in the Reception Station, Mustapha Camp curing difficult skin diseases, she found the cases and treatments most interesting. (William Dyson 1871 – 1947, dermatologist, Manchester Hospital) The next record for Mary is that she is back in England, attached to the staff of the New Zealand Hospital, Walton, but was suffering an attack of rheumatism and convalescing in Sandwich. 

Cablegram, December 10th 1917, from the High Commissioner; M. Grigor conferred an Associate Royal Red Cross. Mary and thirteen other N.Z.A.S. Matrons and Sisters travelled to Buckingham Palace for the investiture with the King.

In the July 1918 issue of Kai Tiaki, Mary had arrived in New Zealand being a member of the staff onboard the “Maheno”, when the ship returned and docked at Marseilles, she disembarked and was posted to a hospital in England “due to family reasons”.

After the armistice, in early 1919 Mary returned home, herself now convalescent, and was placed in charge of a Red Cross Society Convalescent Home, Wellington with space for twelve fellow Sister’s to recuperate after their exertions during the Great War.

Mary returned to Scotland and emigrated to Canada:

Notices of Marriages and Engagements; April 1923 issue of Kai Tiaki: “The culmination of a school-day courtship in Scotland was celebrated on Saturday, March 3, when the Rev. Dr. D. G. McQueen united in marriage, Miss Mary Gordon Grigor, R.N., R.R.C., late of New Zealand, and Mr. Charles Michie, M.M. of Cherhill, Alberta. Miss Grigor served in Egypt and the Mediterranean with the Imperial forces in 1915 and 1916, and was twice mentioned in dispatches. During Gallipoli operations she had many thrilling experiences while serving in troop and hospital ships, and later was awarded the Royal Red Cross while with the A.N.Z.A.C.'s, with which she saw service up to the time of the Armistice. Since coming to Edmonton seven months ago, Miss Grigor has been associated with the Royal Alexandra hospital. Mr Michie won the M.M. on the Western Front. A reception was held for the happy couple at the home of Capt. and Mrs. J. E. Lee, 108th Street, where a few intimate friends extended congratulations.

— From a Canadian Paper.”

Charles Edward Michie (1887 – 1971), born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Charles was drafted on the 5th December 1917 as a Private in the 10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, occupation given was farmer.

The final contact from Mary in the Kai Tiaki journal was in Spring 1929. She was living at the farm in Cherhill, Alberta with three little children and very well in-spite of the severe winter. The Michie family moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1935.

Mary died on 31st August 1959, aged 72, she rests under a military headstone in Beechmount Cemetery, Edmonton, Canada. Charles E. Michie was buried twelve years later next to Mary also with a military headstone.

There was an obituary for Mary printed under the headline ‘First War Nurse Dies’, Edmonton Journal, 1st September 1959. (which unfortunately I haven’t been able to read)

I’m trying to match names to faces in the group ANZAC photo in the Pearson album. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k64w65bc/items?canvas=75

I think Mary is front left. Catherine Blackie should be in the photo. I have found only one photo of her here:https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/kai-tiaki-the-journal-of-the-nurses-of-new-zealand/1916/01/01/36

Elizabeth Wilson here:

https://www.nzans.org/GalleryImages/WW1/S-Z/Wilson_-Elizabeth_22-174.png

The is also a possible match for Sister Elizabeth Wilson (front right). Not sure – any ideas? There could be other nurses of Marquette disaster present in the photo.

regards

ZeZe

[frev]

 

Hi ZeZe

An interesting exercise – a little help in regard to Nurses LONGMAN and SUTHERLAND in your list:

 

*Annie Louisa LONGMAN – NZANS

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/1031979

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/909231

 

Joined HS Dongola 15/4/1916

Transferred from Dongola to 27^th GH, Cairo 12/3/1917

 

Serving on HS Dongola (Aug 1916, together with Staff Nurses C.R. Clark, M.E.J. Kittelty and J.E. Lewis)

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19161005.2.94?end_date=31-12-1918&items_per_page=10&phrase=2&query=a+l+longman&snippet=true&start_date=01-08-1915

 

[Catherine Rose CLARK; Mabel Eliza Jane KITTELTY; LEWIS?]

 

 

*The only Nurse Sutherland that served in the NZANS during WW1 was Mary Sutherland:

https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C56441?n=mary+sutherland&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch&ordinal=1

 

She doesn’t appear to have served on the Dongola though

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/895410

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/1020595

 

 

*Phoebe Jane GIBBS served with the QAIMNSR on the Dongola in 1916:

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/838876

 

 

Cheers, Frev

 

[ZeZe]

Hi Frev,

Thanks for your help & suggestions.

Since posting the spreadsheet I found a Hugha Sutherland 27/06/16 to 11/03/17; no dates for Kitteley (only ‘foreign’ from 10/07/1915). Gibbs is new to me so I’ll add her and then if there are no other ammendments I’ll repost an updated ‘Nurses’ part of the spreadsheet.

Your very interesting article on the “Gascon” was helpful for a database I’m working on ‘Nurses serving on board Hospital Ships at Gallipoli’ which I’ll post soon but first I’ve something on RAMC officers taken POW in 1914. It might be of help to someone.

regards

ZeZe

[seaJane]

5 hours ago, ZeZe said:

RAMC officers taken POW in 1914

Zeze, if you ever extend this to RAMC officers taken POW in 1917 let me know, as I have a lot of information on one particular man.

[ZeZe]

Hi seaJane,

I hadn't thought of extending the time period, I might go back to the subject in the winter. (I had more spare time in lockdown) - did you find the post? here is a link: 

A column for the medical school would an addition worth making. The scan quality is not so good but hopefully it's readable.

regards ZeZe

 

[seaJane]

9 hours ago, ZeZe said:

did you find the post? here is a link: 

I hadn't, so thank you!

[frev]

On 06/08/2022 at 20:55, ZeZe said:

Your very interesting article on the “Gascon” was helpful for a database I’m working on ‘Nurses serving on board Hospital Ships at Gallipoli’ which I’ll post soon

 

 

Glad the Gascon story was of some help - will very much look forward to seeing your database.

Cheers, Frev

[ZeZe]

Hi

Here is a revised Dongola Nurse’s timeline – thanks to all for the additional names & info.

(To Alf McM & Frev, as you have expressed interest – just to let you know I’ve put my ‘Nurses on Hospital Ships at Gallipoli’ list on an old existing post which has that heading)

(will post “Somali’ – “Karapara” timeline soon)

regards ZeZe