Friday, 6 November 2015

Poem ~ Loss of Ramazan, Troopship - Saturday 6 November 1915



Impression sketch of another Indian troopship Malta - by Jamie. an original image can be seen at: http://empirecall.pbworks.com/w/page/67839369/Williams-G-G-Pte-3355-embarkation


Close to the Island of Antikithera,
That lay in the Aegean Sea,
Disaster saw a British transport,
Sunk by a submarine.

The island between the larger
Landmass Kithera,
And NW Crete five miles long,
And two miles wide.

An official press announcement,
Given some weeks
Later, on 5 November 1915,
Said how shellfire hit.

Constructed 10 years before,
The Ramazan, built
1905 in Middlesborough,
Was a steel steamer. 

On 6 a.m. 19 September 1915,
A submarine attacked -
Small boats were destroyed -
Over 400 were aboard.

The troops being transported
Were Indian soldiers -
They numbered 380 survivors,
With only 75 saved.

Along with 28 of the crew,
They reached
Antikithera in the dark,
To be welcomed.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Transport Lost - Sunk By A Submarine - Indian Troops Drowned. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 6 November. P.9. Col.4. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11975530/Daily-Telegraph-November-6-1915.html [Accessed: 6 November 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 6 November 2015). 



#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1IndianArmy

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