STRATHNAVER

My late mother Isobel Mary Cumming trained as a V.A.D. nurse with the Red Cross and in August 1944 she and 249 other V.A.D.'s along with troops boarded S. S. Strathnaver at Gourock landing in Bombay on 15 August 1944. I am seeking names of those V.A.D.'s and soldiers on board.

My mother-Inlaw Isobel Langford (née Hallett) set sail on the Strathnaver as one of many orphaned children aged 6 years of age from barnardos homes left on 7th July 1939 headed for Fremantle in Western Australia to be sent to Fairbridge farm in Pinjarra. Like many children like her I need to know information on the passenger manifest for this date in question and photos of the children on arrival in August 8th 1939 . She was part of the British and Australian child migrant treaty that housed these children to different constitutions throughout Australia without knowing why they were sent and any information of her family was told they were dead which was a complet fabrication, robbed her of her family history, love, siblings etc. and to a life without any love or how o show these normal feelings to her own family because this was taken from her. Please provide information on this voyage and arrival to Fremantle She remembers they did have photos taken . This ship left Tilbury Dock on 7th July 1939

I came to Australia on the SS Strathnaver with my mother and sister from England at the end of 1960 arriving in Fremantle in approximately January 1961. I was only 6 years old when I arrived in Australia and my sister Terry and I were taken to Fairbridge Farm School where we stayed until my mother remarried to start our new life. I cannot recall how long we stayed at Fairbridge.

Arrived at Fremantle on the Strathnaver, March 1953 sponsored by the Fairbridge Society. Lived at Kingsley Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra. Would like to make contact with any other children who travelled on the SS Strathnaver, sponsored by the Fairbridge Society and lived at Kingsley Fairbridge Farm School - fairbridgewa@gmail.com

My Grandmother Phyllis Harris and her husband Keith Harris travelled on the Strathnaver from Mumbai to Fremantle February 2, 1950. They immigrated during the White Australia Policy. I would love to find photos of their voyage or any stories associated with this particular journey. She is turning 95 this week and I'd love to surprise her with more photos/stories.

My beloved grandparents and my very young mother and her 1st husband Rudi Ernst, travelled from Marseille on their escape from Hitler's Europe. I am not sure of which voyage they travelled on. My grandparents name was Wittgensteiner.

I arrived in Sydney 25 May 1961 on the Strathnaver we were 4 lads aged 20 and 21 migrants from Birmingham England. 10 pound assisted passage. Keith stayed and married a girl he met on the ship. The 3 others went all around Australia. Then after 2 years went to New Zealand. I stayed in N Z and married a Kiwi the other 2 ended up in Canada great days.

In WW2 my grandfather Eric William McDonnell (from Liverpool) boarded the Strathnaver in Greenock on 23rd January 1943 with his fellow squaddies. It took them eight days to load 5000 troops before they departed for South Africa, subsequently to Bombay and eventually Burma.

On the 31st Aug 1946, my mother and brother left their home in Southend in Essex and travelled to Southampton to board the SS Strathnaver bound for Bombay India to meet her first husband who was in Service there.

I travelled on the Strathnaver in the summer of 1956 from Bombay to Tilbury Docks .I was eleven at the time and was travelling with my parents. I want to connect with a friend I made on board. He was of my age and was if I remember right Australian. Hs first name was Tom.

I am searching for my siblings who travelled from Australia to UK on the Strathnaver in 1931 -1932 with my stepmother the name of Mrs Eileen Hewitt . She travelled with family members and all records are missing. If anyone has any information on this family it would help me find my siblings.

I have an Angus & Coote Ship's Bell : Table style engraved with S.S. Strathnaver in very good condition. Please advise if you would like to acquire THANK YOU. 0458995530

On September 4, 1943, my uncle Joe E Mann, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, boarded SS Strathnaver which had been converted into a troop transport, at Camp Shanks, NY, bound for Liverpool, England. Six days after departure, salt water leaked into the fresh water tank forcing the ship to divert to Newfoundland where the troops remained 30 days while the ship was being prepared. After it was repaired, the Strathnaver resumed its journey to Liverpool, only to be forced to return to Newfoundland after hitting a rock as it left the harbor. Eventually, the SS John Ericssen rescued the soldiers in Newfoundland and delivered them to Liverpool. The expected 10 day trip took 44 days. Joe E Mann was later killed in Holland during Operation Market Garden and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Would love to hear of any of my friends who arrived here in 1960 on Strathnaver Celia Powell.

I was told as a child that my dad came back from India as he took ill while serving there . His name was Stephen Francis Baker (frank). I know it's a very long shot but I wonder if anyone ever spoke about him . I never knew him. He died two day's after my 1st birthday.

Left England for a new life in Australia in 1954 at the age of ten a great cabin on C deck very hot nights and that water had a fun trip made my mind open to all things I won a dress up day and the crossing the line day what fun we all had on of my best times on a ship

My parents came from India on this ship arriving in England in January 1947. Anyone else on that voyage?