Description
Object description
Collection of one album, loose album leaves, and loose postcards related to the service of John Walter Beckh, thought to have served on the Union-Castle merchant vessel DUNLUCE CASTLE, used as an hospital ship during the Dardanelles campaign.
The album primarily relates to Royal Naval and merchant ships travelling from South Africa to England starting in August 1914. The ships photographed include: DUNLUCE CASTLE, BALMORAL CASTLE, HMS ASTREA, HMS VENGEANCE, and HMS AGAMEMNON. Also included in the album are photographs of locations passed during the voyage these include Cape Town, St Helena, Tenerife, and Antwerp.
The loose album leaves include a photograph of Beckh, Merchant Navy, Royal Navy, and French ships including portraits of DUNLUCE CASTLE painted as a hospital ship, DUNLUCE CASTLE in Malta harbour, DUNLUCE CASTLE in the Suez Canal with Indian troops on board, HMS EURYALUS in 1914, HMS SWIFTSURE, HMS LORD NELSON, HMS GOLIATH at Cape Helles, the French dreadnaught LA PROVENCE at Malta 1915, LA PROVENCE at Alexandria, hospital ships in Mudros Bay before the evacuation of Suvla Bay and Anzac, and miscellaneous monitors and transport ships taken during 1915. The photographs also cover Gurkha and Sikh troops landing at Cape Helles, a team of nurses rowing near Alexandria in 1917, a horse being hoisted onto or off a ship, horses at Bombay and being discharged at Mudros Bay, and scenes in Valona, Albania.
The collection also includes a set of six annotated print postcards of scenes at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. These include; a hospital lighter loading sick and wounded troops, hospital tents at the entrance to Mule Gully, dugouts and tents in Mule Gully, the Sphinx overlooking Anzac, Walker's Ridge, and Anzac Beach from Walker's Ridge with HMS DUNLUCE at anchor in the distance.
Two newspaper cuttings which relate to the death of Second Lieutenant Robert Harold Beckh, a relative (possibly cousin) of John are also included. Robert served with the 12th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment and was killed on 15th August 1916. The cuttings are accompanied by two portraits of Robert and a poem written by Robert dated 25th August 1915.
The collection also includes one commercial photograph of Queen Elizabeth visiting disabled servicemen and nurses, thought to be taken during the Second World War.