Received on Issue one Hammock two Blankets ship PORT MACQUARIE sergeant's mess, boat deck

Date1914 - 1918

Object number00036494

NameReceipt

MediumPrinting ink and handwriting ink on linen-lined paper support on paper

DimensionsOverall: 73 x 111 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionReceipt for a hammock and two blankets from the troop ship HMAT PORT MACQUARIE. Her first journey in war service was in December 1914. She embarked from Sydney, New South Wales with the Royal Australian Navy Bridging Train in June 1915. HistoryHMAT PORT MACQUARIE was owned by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line Limited in London and prior to the war was involved in the transport of immigrants to Australia. She was part of the troop transport envoy that deprted Australia in December 1914 and she left Australia again in June 1915 with RAN the Bridging Train aboard. Their equipment included horses, pontoons, wagons and other vehicles. Once at Port Said in Egypt, the brigade was dispatched to Gallipoli where they landed at Sulva Bay on August 7th 1915 and immediately were set to work despite a lack of proper training in some areas. "There they are to-day, in charge of the landing of a great part of the stores of a British army. They are quite cut off from their own force; they scarcely come into the category of the Australian Force, and scarcely into that of the British; they are scarcely army and scarcely navy. Who it is that looks after their special interests, and which is the authority that has the power of recognising any good work that they have done, I do not know. If you want to see the work, you have only to go to Kangaroo Beach, Suvla Bay, and look about you. They have made a harbour" (Bean, C.,The Hobart Mercury, 28 December,1915.) The Train was Australia's most decorated naval unit of World War I, with more than 20 decorations awarded to its sailors. SignificanceThe receipt for a hammock is reflective of life aboard a troopship during World War 1. Although ships had been converted to accommodate large numbers of troops and equipment, life on board was often cramped. Hammocks were strung up in the mess area over tables and rolled away during mealtimes.