One of the transcription projects was this little book Man's father brought home from World War II. Here is a scanned image of the cover of the book. The book is small, just a bit larger than a 3 X 5 index card. I cropped this pretty close, maybe should redo, with some other object nearby, for size comparison.
As you can see, it is rather worn.
There were 33 pages that were written on, plus 6 additional pages of information on loose papers tucked in here and there. The handwriting does not appear to be entirely that of Man's father.
Son # 3 is very interested in the study of his grandfather's war experiences, he is the holder of many of Art's war artifacts. Due to that interest, I have been sharing the transcriptions with him. He has access to all the scans as well.
Man's father was wounded in World War II. He spent some time in England hospitalized. There are references to that part of his war experience. We are particularly interested in page 24 of this little memo book, which states that he left England on the "Santa Rosa", a US hospital ship.
Of course, when I start transcribing and doing input and linking, I have a bit of a tendency (OK, a HUGE tendency) to going chasing shiny things. It's part of the fun. Even Son # 3 has been chasing shiny things.
Shiny things found that relate to this project were several web pages. I am going to provide the links, go ahead, surf about, have a read, then come back.
Wikipedia page on the SS Santa Rosa. Has a list of war time voyages. The reference to "June 1945 - Southampton" fits with the information found in the little book, which states, in part:
"Arrived Southampton
1730 13th June and boarded U. S. Hosp
Ship "Santa Rosa"
Page where the photo (on the above Wikipedia page) of the SS Santa Rosa was found. Being uncertain of copyright issues, I'll not post the photo here. It seems the poster is uncertain of authenticity. That needs to be noted and remembered.
Web page, by Robert Correll, also has a photo of the SS Santa Rosa. Link provided by World War II researcher, Jennifer Holik. She writes wonderful books and has a web page too.
Now, son # 3 took this shiny thing research one step further when he discovered this Wikipedia page. If you don't click on any other links, click on this one, especially if you are into "the strange things in life". Oh, and be VERY sure to look at the poster graphic! Poster can also be found here!
Done reading? Interesting stuff, eh? I particularly like this little tidbit:
"An old Greek ocean liner SS Athinai was converted into a replica of the Titanic."
Now, if you read carefully, you will know that after World War II the "Santa Rosa was renamed Athinai and began a new career as a cruise ship for Typaldos Lines."
And, that my friends is how you go from a World War II transport to the Titanic. And, that is your shiny stuff for the day!
*Stay tuned for possible further postings on the little book.
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