[HMAT 'Ballarat']

The Book of the 'Ballarat'. Left Australia, 19 February - Torpedoed Anzac Day, 25 April, 1917 - With a Few Laughs in Between [cover title]

London, Wightman & Co., Old Westminster Press [Printers], [1917].

Quarto, 52 pages with line illustrations by W. Jinkins and W. Matteson, and numerous illustrations after photographs (including portraits) plus text on the inside covers.

Pictorial title-wrappers moderately foxed and a little marked and creased; short tears to the leading edge of the front cover and the first ten leaves neatly sealed; mild signs of age and use elsewhere; overall, a very good copy.

HMAT A70 'Ballarat' was torpedoed by a German submarine in the English Channel on 25 April 1917 and sank the next day without loss of life. 'This souvenir was practically ready for publication on the eve of the disaster to the ship. But in the subsequent proceedings - the rescue, the landing of the scantily-clad warriors, and their distribution amongst the various training camps of England - all were parted and scattered; so that many photographs, drawings, and MSS. became lost or mislaid'. The last three pages contain a lengthy list of the 'Men of the "Ballarat"'. The verso of the front cover is inscribed and signed by 'Frank, No. 1 Camp, Codford, Wilts' to his parents and sisters on 26 June 1917. A couple of names are underlined in the nominal roll; the first one proved to be our man, 7249 Corporal Frank Shaw Hanton, 14th Battalion. He was born in Adelaide, where he did his six-year apprenticeship as a confectioner, but he was living in Hobart when he enlisted in October 1916. He was on the 'Ballarat' when she was torpedoed. A potted history of the ship and this momentous event is written in pencil (probably by one of the family) on the recto of the rear cover.

Not in Dornbusch (but see 239 and 244 for other troopship journals).

Item #129560

Price (AUD): $350.00
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