Wallet 1 of 1 - Diary and memoir of Chief Officer Isaac John Burch - 1915 -1917

Accession Number AWM2022.6.282
Collection number PR00872
Collection type Digitised Collection
Record type Wallet
Item count 1
Object type Diary
Physical description 48 Image/s captured
Maker Burch, Isaac John
Place made Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Dardanelles
Date made 1915-1917
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Diary and memoirs (photocopy) kept by Chief Officer Isaac John Burch relating to his service as a merchant seaman on SS Wandilla during World War I. The diary, 17 June to 4 October 1915, details the first voyage of the ship after its refitting as a troopship (A62). It refers to the routines of the crew and troops on their way to the Middle East, views of British soldiers taken on board of fighting in the Dardanelles, precautions taken on nearing English ports against submarine and aerial attack. The memoirs contain recollections of various incidents on board SS Wandilla during its time as a troop ship and a hospital ship. It includes a copy transcript of a letter of appreciation from a survivor of the Italian troopship, Minas, which was torpedoed in February 1917.