Ahoy! Experiences on the way to war
Soon after the First World War broke out, recruitment for volunteers
began across Australia, including here in Hurstville and surrounding areas. Many
families farewelled more than one relative, as the several identical surnames
on the honours rolls reveal. Not only men volunteered, but women also signed up
for war service abroad as nurses. The service men and women were sent off with
official proceedings, including farewell speeches, musical entertainment and
outdoor games.
The enlistees awaited a several week journey by ship to reach their
destinations at the training camps and war front. For many of them, it was their
first time overseas.
Today, we can retrace the soldiers’ journeys with information from
personal letters, diary entries, photographs and other archival documents and find
out about their experiences abroad.
Hurstville boys on the SS Euripides
The SS Euripides was the
largest Australian troop ship and could accommodate 136 officers, over 2,000
other ranks and 20 horses. Among the signatures on this photograph we can find
those of George Henry Baker and William David Low. George was a young accountant
who initially arrived in Egypt with other Hurstville district soldiers of the
13th Infantry Battalion, in April 1915. George was relocated to
England on board the SS Euripides in May
1916, where he was attached to the Australian Army Pay Corps. William, a clerk
from Forest Road, had enlisted in January 1915, being assigned as a member of
the 4th Reinforcements, 13th Battalion, departing from
Sydney in March 1915.
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| Photo of SS Euripides including soldiers' signatures. Courtesy of Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection. |
Conditions aboard
"The voyage was pretty rough the first night. Sleeping in the hammocks on deck was like sleeping on a clothes line … It is getting hotter every day in the Indian Ocean. We can see nothing but water.”
George Dunstan of Dora Street, Hurstville, St George Call, 25 December 1915, p.5.
Read the full newspaper article here.
Stowaway on a troopship
Maud Butler was a 16 year old girl from the
Hunter Valley who desperately wanted to serve at the front. She cut her hair
short, dressed in soldier’s clothing and stowed away on board of the SS Suevic in December 1915. Also aboard
the Suevic was Alfred Bray, an 18
year old clerk from Hurstville, on his way to Egypt. He witnessed Maud being
discovered by authorities on Christmas Eve, mainly because she wasn't wearing
the right soldier’s boots. Alfred writes in his diary:
“We had an Australian girl on board in uniform and her name was Maud Butler. She was thought a real heroine by all on board and a good collection was realised for her.”
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| Australian War Memorial: P02848.002 |
In this
picture, Maud is surrounded by the ship’s crew and other soldiers after her
true identity was revealed. Alfred Bray may be one of those watching on. Read
his diary here.
Equator crossing ceremony
Accordingly to an ancient sailor’s tradition, 'Neptune’s
journey' took place on each troopship for service personnel crossing the
equator line for the first time. A soldier’s personal account on this ceremony
can be found here.
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| Group portrait of unidentified seamen in fancy dress costume as Father Neptune and his entourage on board the destroyer HMAS Yarra, c.July 1917. Australian War Memorial: EN0379. |
Sport carnivals aboard
Sports carnivals with boxing matches and games such as pillow fights and
wheelbarrow races aboard the troop ships were popular activities for enjoyment
and to ease the boredom of several weeks journey by sea.
This image is believed to have been taken in late 1916 aboard the
troopship Port Nicholson, en route to
England. Local Mortdale recruit, Hedley Mallard is said to be featured ‘keeping
fit’ at the centre of the photograph. Hedley and two of his brothers, Basil Guy
and Walter Lancelot, each served on the Western Front, the latter also
surviving Gallipoli.
 |
| Boxing match aboard the Port Nicholson, 1916. Courtesy of Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery collection. |
Interested in more?
Come and visit our exhibition Remembering them: People of St George &the First World War on show until 31 May 2015.
Follow our Commemorating WW1 and Anzac Day Pinterest board.
Read our other exhibition post "From the LMG collection: First World War memorabilia".
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