|
Letters
Searching for WW1 hospital ship February 19, 2009 Hi You are my last hope! I have a medical transfer certificate for my Grandfather, I would love to know what ship he was on but cannot make out the name. I am attaching the cut certificate showing the HS name. Please can you help Kind regards
During the Gallipoli campaign (25th April 1915 - 10 January 1916) at least 22 hospital ships and some 29 troop ships, transports and similar vessels took part in transporting casualties to Imbros, Mudros, Alexandria, Malta and elsewhere. In August-October 1915, over 50000 patients were carried to Malta, Gibraltar and the UK in hospital ships. HMHS Souden, one of the hospital ships, transported a number of wounded troops from the Dardanelle to Malta arriving on the 30th May 1915. HMHS Franconia, another ambulance carrier, was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean in 1915. Another hospital ship to be torpedoed in the Mediterranean on the 26th May 1917 was the HMHS Dover Castle. HMHS Goorkha was also mined on the 10th October 1917 off Malta. There were 362 survivors on board. A whole slew of Hospital ships were used to take injured troops to Malta for treatment such as: Soudan, Dover Castle, Gooraka, Gloucester Castle, Georgian, Asturias, Glenart Castle, Garson, Salta, Devenha etc, none of whom have a name remotely like the one on your cut certificate which is nigh impossible to deceipher. Having the place- Malta and the actual date of discharge, one could expect to easily track down the HS's actual name, not so. I assume your Grandfather served in the British Army, what was his name please Anne? we might track him thru Army personnel records. Am afraid that I am of little use to you in your quest!! Best regards, |
