Historical information

A commemorative publication from the voyage back to Australia aboard the ship The Ceramic in 1920. It departed Tillbury, UK 12th March and docked in Freemantle on 27th April 1920 and then went onto Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The Ceramic was a transport vessel built in Belfast in 1913 for the White Star Line to transport frozen produce and apples from Australia to UK. It was taken over by the Australian Government for troop transport in October 1914 and could carry over 3,000 troops.
This trip in 1920 there were 1467 on board, there were women and children as well as 439 soldiers returning home. The publication has articles of life on the voyage as well as poems, stories, photos and drawings compiled on-board.
Notable events such as crossing the equator, a baby competition and stopping in Bombay were some of the photos.
Was with other World War 1 memorabilia that has come from Private John Basil McLean, 2nd Reinforcements, 37th Battalion, A.I.F.
J.B. McLean (Service No. 13824) was from near Maffra, Victoria and enlisted on 22 January 1916. He embarked on 16 December 1916 for Europe. His full war record is available from AWM. He spent time with the Australian Field Artillery (Pack Section). At the end of the war he worked for a year at the A.I.F. Headquarters in London before returning to Australia on the 'Ceramic', arriving Portsea in 1920.

Significance

A record of a soldier's journey home after World War 1.

Physical description

An onboard publication x 28 pages, to record the journey home from World War 1.

Inscriptions & markings

On the cover in blue ink 'J.B. McLean 1919'.