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The contribution of men and women associated with the Armadale-Kelmscott, and Serpentine-Jarrahdale districts' to World War One. With 4,349 articles and counting. If you would like to contribute to this wiki please contact us

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View alphabetical listings of all soldiers, nurses, and sailors in the BirtwistleWiki.

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Focusing on pre-war life, these categories help to give a picture of the community.

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These categories look at life during the war, tracking movements, wounds, and deaths.

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Many soldiers travelled together, fought together, and were remembered together. This is a great starting place to look at the interactions between soldiers.

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

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Featured Ship: HMAT A11 Ascanius }} Main page test History Name HMAT A11 Ascanius Owner Ocean Steamship Company (Blue Funnel Line) Builder Workman Clark & Co Ltd, Belfast Launched 1910 Completed 1910 Fate broken up at La Spezia General characteristics Type Passenger/cargo (refrigerated) Tonnage 10,048 tons Length 493 ft (150.27m) Beam 60.4 ft (18.41m) Depth 28.6 ft (8.71m) Propulsion twin screw Speed 13 knots (24 kph) Remarks Owned by Alfred Holt & Co, Liverpool, but leased in 1914 by the Commonwealth until 30 Jul 1917, after which time she was under the control of the British Admiralty. Ascanius was part of the 1st Convoy, carrying the South Australian 10th Battalion, and the 11th Battalion from Fremantle. Between 19 Apr and 12 May 1915 she was converted at Cockatoo Island Dockyard to transport 1,820 troops and 12 horses. This ship completed nine transport voyages from Australia. After the war she serviced the refrigerated meat trade between Australia and Liverpool, before being used again as a troopship during WW2. She was torpedoed on 30 Jul 1944 by U-621 while a member of Convoy EBC-54, in the English Channel south of Portsmouth while on its way to the Normandy beaches where it was to act as a depot ship. Despite being damaged, she was able to make it to port for repairs. After WW2, the Ascanius carried Jewish emigrants from Marseilles to Haifa and was sold in 1949 to Italy and renamed San Giovannino. The plan had been to carry emigrants from Italy to Australia, but she had to be laid up due to her age and was broken up at La Spezia in July 1952. Soldiers carried Fremantle to Alexandria 31 October - 5 December 1914 Sailed on 20 October 1914 from Adelaide. While many of those aboard jumped ship during he night of 5 Dec 1914, the formal disembarkation took place on 6 December. 'A' and 'B' Companies had travelled on HMAT A7 Medic with the rest boarding the Ascanius. John Harold Coffen Alfred Cecil Clarence Curtis John Charles Hutchinson † Herbert Frank O'Neill John Alexander Spilsbury Fremantle to Port Suez 9 June - 2 July 1915 Sailed on 24 May 1915 from Brisbane, Queensland; and on 27 May 1916 from Melbourne, Victoria. Sharing this voyage with our boys was the 7th Australian Field Ambulance, with many of them fated to get to know them better in Gallipoli and France. While the ship arrived at Port Suez at 11:30pm on 29 Jun 1915, they didn't disembark until the morning of 2 Jul 1915. † William Barge † Charles Barnett Joseph George Benton Snr Arthur Percy Thomas Boyle Edward Briggs † John McLeod Brown † Oswald Chorlton William Edward Clarence Green Walter Hayward Frederick Hobbs † John Hobbs † Stephen Henry Horrocks Henry Richard Keefe † Basil Kelley William Alfred Leaver MC MM Reuben Douglas Naughton Henry George Price Reginald Grove Sexty MID Post WW1 men † Roland Parker Shelley † Samuel Simpson Thompson Arnold Thorp Sidney Tugby Hospital Ship Mudros to Alexandria 7 - 11 August 1915 William John (Bill) Hart Hospital ship Mudros to Malta 25-27 August 1915 George Sidney Cook Mudros to Alexandria 27 - 30 December 1915 Victor Thomas Emanuel Compassi Leslie James Godfrey Angus Lindt † Ernest Edward Lockhart Harold V Marshall † Victor Henry Marshall † Robert Melville Salter Frederick William Scott England to Fremantle 17 March - 30 April 1916 James Francis Ottaway served as a member of th=e Nursing Staff Melbourne to Devonport 27 May - 18 July 1916 39th Battalion George Alfred Hill Eric Oswald Strang Hugh Gibson Winning Melbourne to Devonport 11 May - 20 July 1917 George Alfred Hill Francis Joseph (Frank) Steffan England to Fremantle 9 February - 17 March 1919 Frederick George Gibbs Eugene Anthony Gillespie picked up at Gibraltar on 14 Feb John Macarthur Livingston Melbourne Hubert Randolph Matthews Mount (Mont) Alexander Taylor Sidney Tugby Other Voyages 10 November 1915 from Melbourne, Victoria 25 October 1916 from Sydney, New South Wales, disembarking at Devonport, England on 28 December 1916