Five officers who served with HMAS Australia from when she was commissioned on 21 June 1913, and ...

Accession Number EN0497
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Glass original half plate negative
Maker Unknown
Date made c 1918
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Five officers who served with HMAS Australia from when she was commissioned on 21 June 1913, and were popularly known for that reason as 'the Old Contemptibles', take a stroll on the ship's deck. This nickname was first adopted by the men of the original British Expeditionary Force (BEF) of 1914; it arose because Kaiser Wilhelm II allegedly referred to the BEF as a 'contemptible little army'. Identified left to right: Fleet Paymaster Richard Francis Wardroper, RAN; Fleet Surgeon Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN; Lieutenant Commander Oliver Clive Warner, RN; Chaplain Rev. Patrick Joseph Gibbons, RAN; Engineer Lieutenant Trevor Wilson Ross, RAN.

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