SS Franz Ferdinand, Mesopotamia, 1915 (c)

Photograph, World War One, 1915.

Captioned, 'SS Prinz [sic] Ferdinand captured from Austrians at Aden used as a transport Bombay to Basra The 5th Hants How. Battery sailed on her', Mesopotamia, 1915.

The 1/5th Hampshire Howitzer Battery sailed on the SS Franz Ferdinand from Bombay to Basra in 1915. The Austrian steamer was seized by the British in Aden in 1914. It was subsequently used as a troop ship and hospital ship.

From an album of 210 photographs compiled by Lieutenant Henry Curtis Gallup during his service with the 5th Hampshire Howitzer Battery (Territorial Force) in Mesopotamia during World War One (1914-1918), 1915-1916.

Gallup was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Territorial Force on 28 August 1914 and served in India and Mesopotamia with 1/5th Hampshire Howitzer Battery. He fought in the Battle of Shaiba in April 1915 and took part in the advance towards Baghdad, including the Battle of Es Sinn and capture of Kut in September. Gallup was subsequently held as a prisoner of war in Turkey after his capture at Kut in April 1916.