THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY, 29 September 1914 – In the fall of 1914, the Cunard Line’s new ships the Andania and the Alaunia, both built in 1913, transported troops, vehicles and cargo as part of the convoy carrying the 1st Canadian Expeditionary Force to England. Of the 30 ships loaded at Quebec between September 24th and October 1st, 1914 Cunard contributed three other ships: the Ivernia, built in1900; the Saxonia, also built in 1900; and the Franconia, built in 1911.
Duguid, in the appendices to his “Official History of the Canadian Forces in the Great War, 1914-1919, Vol. I, Part 2,” has a table recording statistics for each ship in the convoy carrying the First Canadian Contingent . The 14th Battalion was, as already noted, split between the Alaunia and the Andania. In addition to the troops carried, it is interesting to note the varied cargo carried by each ship.
[1] Details extracted from: Duguid, Col. A.F., “Official History of the Canadian Forces in the Great War, 1914-1919, Vol. I, Part 2, Chronology, Appendices and Maps,” King’s Printer, Ottawa, 1938, Appendix 132, pp. 110-113.