Aquitania (1914)
HMS / HMHS Aquitania
Message Board
Messages 75-99

99.
Feb. 26, 2022

My grandparents, mother and aunt departed Cherbourg, France on 1-28-1939 on the Aquitania.  It arrived in the US on 2-03-1939.  I'm trying to identify the port of it's arrival, New York?  I have a copy of the ship's manifest, but it doesn't identify city, nor the port of it's arrival. I would greatly appreciate your help!

Sincerely,
Gary Rostan


98.
Feb. 16, 2020

I have just discovered my father sailed on the Aquitania and arrived on April 8th 1945 with his mother Mrs. M. Butler at Pier 21 in Canada, sadly I know nothing of the trip or were they went to from there. My father passed before I could ask him about these things and when he died was looking for his father and his family, a search his mother would not help with. My nan has now also passed and there are so many stories about what happened to grandpa I fear I will never know the truth or find what is left of my family. My father was born April 30, 1944 and named Malcolm Russell Trevor Butler, my Nan was called at that time Margaret Rose Butler her madden name was Cook, my Grandpa was or is Albert Malcolm Butler Troop no  37763 Recce Regiment Canadian Army. At the time of my father's birth they were married and had been since 1942 or 43 we do not as yet have an exact date.  

It is my hope there is a war bride or another brave sole how went to war that might know something out there, if not some one who can tell me were to look. I have tried asking the embassy for help over a number of years which started before my father died, I have also tried to contact the regiment to find out where Grandpa demobbed to in order to get a starting point but got no reply.

It was important to find grandpa when dad was dying because my dad felt unwanted having been abandoned in the UK by his mother at 16 (she took his passport and flew back to Canada were she married another man and adopted two children, no one ever looked for or questioned where my father had gone, she appeared again two weeks before he died and it was the first and last time she saw me.)

My father's story is not all sad he was loved and at over 50 I am still looking for the missing bits of his life as I promised.

Kind Regards,
Kate Small


97.
Apr. 16, 2019

My father sailed on the Aquitania from New York on 22 February 1945, and landed in Scotland on 5 March 1945. From there he traveled to England, France, Belgium and into Germany. Then over the Remagen bridge. A few years ago my wife and I traveled in Nova Scotia and visited the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. I was amazed to see the wheel from Aquitania and a scale model of the Aquitania. I took several photos of them. My father had already passed away so he did not see them. Do you know of the other trips the Aquitania made in 1944 and 1945? Has any one contacted you about people who were on this ship during the 22 Feb -5 March trip?

Thanks,
Roland West


96.
Dec. 2, 2018

I currently came across an old luggage trunk and was wondering if you could tell me some information on it. I'm guessing it traveled on the Aquitania, but I'm not sure. Below are some pictures.

Justin Henning


95.
Feb. 28, 2018

I have recently been looking through some papers belonging to my late mother, Isabel Tinkler, who served in the WREN's during WWII. She used to tell my sister and I of her time in Australia and sailing back on the Aquitania. I came across the Sports Meeting Timetable from December 21st 1945 when I believe the Aquitania sailed from Sydney to the UK with evacuees, refugees and service personnel on board. The below pages show the names of children and adults involved. I hope they may be of interest to anyone who was perhaps involved.

Regards,
Gill Slessor


94.
Feb. 24, 2018

I have just been browsing through your great website, actually looking to verify a photo that I came across on the web, of the Mauretania in Gladstone Dock in Liverpool in 1953. Well i noticed the ship had four chimneys and I know the new Mauretania (1938) had only two and the old one was decommissioned in about 1935. Then I came across your RMS Aquitania history and photos. Well, I had an uncle who played in the ship's dance band in 1931 (he actually made about 21 voyages to the States). I acquired two photos of the band when my Uncle's brother (another Uncle) passed away. My Uncle's name was Ernest Percy Gordon and he played the ukulele.

Regards,
Keith Woodside

October 25, 1931: Aquitania's dance band. Ernest Percy Gordon is seen second from right.


1931: Aquitania's dance band and passengers. Ernest Percy Gordon is seen center with the banjo.
 

93.
Oct. 17, 2017

I was hoping to locate the passenger list for the Aquitania travelling from England to Halifax Nova Scotia. It departed on April 3 1947 arriving in Halifax on April 18th 1947. My grandparents mother and 2 uncles were on the ship and just wanted to see the list to show my mother. Any information you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Nadine Miller


92.
Nov. 28, 2016

My father, Jack Petty, sailed the Aquitania departing Halifax, NS in March 1944 arriving in Glasgow Scotland (5 days later,) he was a member of the Royal Navy. I am wondering if there is a manifest or anything similar?

Kevin Petty


91.
July 10, 2016

My father traveled on the Aquitania as an infant with his two brothers and their parents from Cherbourg July 20, 1929, to New York July 26, 1929. I have a photo of a small group of passengers who made the voyage. I'm not certain if the photo was taken in Cherbourg or in New York. I am interested in finding any additional information about the voyage.  For example: 
  1. Who was the captain?
  2. Where did the ship dock (I believe they would have docked an a Cunard pier since Ellis Island had closed in 1924).
  3. Is it possible to locate more details about the voyage and the passengers on board?
  4. What was the cost of a trip like this to America? (My grandparents were Czechoslovak emigrants travelling to Pennsylvania).
I did see some information on this web site about a August 1929 voyage of the Aquitania (same departure and arrival ports) and also wonder if the ship captain (W. Prothero) would have been the same one who captained my father's voyage a month earlier? Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Dennis Ragan


90.
Apr. 11, 2016

I am looking for information for a passenger: Maria Romaszowa. She passed the Health and Welfare Assessment #403487, by the Department of Health & Welfare, agent for Canada. She left Stuttgard, Germany on Dec. 12, 1947 on a Canada Immigration Visa Olt. Po 33448 AP, issued in Stuttgard. The ship arrived Jan. 17, 1948 at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The date is stamped by Immigration Canada. She went to Toronto, Ontario I am assuming Pier 21 on the "Aquitania".  I have no other records Can anyone help me?

Jenny Thomas


89.
Apr. 1, 2016

I am trying to get in touch with the Lachance family members who went to Canada as a war bride family. The mother was called Mary and the children were Ellen and Ann. They were going to join their husband/ father Edward Donald Lachance in Ottowa.

Margaret Messer


88.
Mar. 5, 2015

I am hoping to find my maternal great grandfather, Max Robinson, on the passenger list for the Aquitania sailing FROM New York on or about 16 June 1926. I have his passport application from 27 April 1926, on which he states he was sailing on the Aquitania June 16 1926. He was traveling to "Palestine, France, Austria, and Italy" for "Touring." Max was born 19 1862 in Russia and emigrated to the United States in about 1881. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1892, when he was living in New Haven CT. At the time he left on this trip he was living in Brooklyn, and was a widower. He died unexpectedly, on Sept. 3, 1926. while in Palestine; I have a "Report of the Death of an American Citizen" with this information. There is a woman listed on this report, a Mrs. Mindel Steinberg, of Tel-Aviv, but I don't know if she was a traveling companion or perhaps Max was simply renting a room from her. Perhaps she is on the passenger list also? Max is buried in Trumpeldor Cemetery in Tel Aviv.

Although there are numerous sites where New York arrival passengers are listed, I have been unable to find passenger lists for outgoing ships from New York, and would dearly like to see if he sailed on this ship as expected, and whether he was alone or traveling with another person(s). From what I can put together there was likely a sailing at about June 16, as I can find arriving in New York passenger lists for June 11 and July 2, 1926. I would very much like to know more about this voyage. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you for this wonderful site. I particular like the photo "Aquitania seen off New York in 1926."

Robin Schectman

Reply 1
Mar. 25, 2015

Neither U.S.A. nor Canada maintained outbound ships passenger lists.

All ships carrying passengers in or out of any British port were required by law to deposit an official passenger list with the relevant port authorities The records for all these ship passengers travelling between 1890 and 1960 survives within the collection of original British Board of Trade passenger lists. The only place they can be seen is at the Public Record Office in Kew, England. There are British inbound lists, but they are not indexed, nor microfilmed. The original inbound lists reside at Kew. These lists are not filmed, not indexed and they are not available on-line.

Michael W. Pocock
Webmaster


87.
Oct. 21, 2014

My parents, brother (aged 7) and I (aged 10) sailed to Halifax on the Aquitania in early June, 1947. I think we sailed from Southampton. Our birthday, June 7, was on the boat. We had a tremendous welcome in Halifax, as immigrants, with comics, toys, newspapers (with masses of comics) and various goodies. The cars all seemed to have big grins with shiny teeth. We then went onto the States by train. The families' names: the Rev. John Rolles, Mrs. Helen Rolles, Shirley and Christopher Rolles. A passenger list would be most interesting.

Yours sincerely,
Shirley Firth


86.
May 3, 2014

My parents came over to canada on the Aquitania in November 1948. My parents have since passed away and I would like to know if is possible to find out where the Aquitania anchored just outside Halifax harbour due to bad weather. I would like to spread my parents ashes at that spot as it was a new beginning for them.
Could you please let me know if this would be possible. Thank you for any response.

Ian Challice


85.
Mar. 28, 2014

I have just discovered your website while looking up information on the Aquitania.  I have learned recently that I came over to Canada as an infant on March 29, 1949 on the Aquitania.  I have been trying to collect as much information as possible.  I was born in Belfast Northern Ireland, May 15, 1948 and my mother and I left to join my father who had come to Toronto, Ontario in the fall of 1948.  We departed from Southampton, England heading for Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Do you know how long the voyage would have taken?  Also are there any records showing how one would have gotten from Belfast to Southampton? 

Thank you,
Betty Catania 


84.
Jan. 29, 2014

I have a picture of the Aquitania (showing below) which I don't believe you have on your excellent site. It was rather creased and I have corrected that by re-touching it digitally, but the ship itself was not altered.  The pic was in an old book belonging to my Grandfather, who died in 1956.  He served in the South Africa War (it was lodged in one of a set on that conflict) and I guess he put it in for safekeeping as obviously that was much earlier.  He did serve in WWI, and as a pensioner in WWII in a 'Home-Guard' capacity, so was quite a military man (Sergeant Major) and honorary Captain in the latter.  I wonder if he sailed in the ship itself, he was in India too?

We live right on the cliff top, in the second most-southerly house on the mainland, here in Cornwall UK. When Titanic sailed past, the local schoolchildren stood on the cliff and watched her go by.  Unfortunately, they were too involved in the Olympic Games to re-enact it in 2012.  However, the Lizard (Marconi) Wireless Station at which I volunteer as a tour guide, re-arranged its wireless desk in commemoration, as it was back in 1912, when Titanic exchanged Morse Code with the station. Without Marconi, of course no one would have been saved. I am also a radio ham at nearby Poldhu Radio Club, from where the first transatlantic message was sent to Newfoundland, in 1901.  With a bit of luck, Titanic II will be going past in a few years!!

Best Regards,
Barry Lovelock

 

83.
Jan. 2, 2014

My Father, Ronald McBrien, was associated with the Anti Mine Belt that was fitted to the RMS Aquitania prior to her Aug/Sept 1945 sailing to Australia. The ship was returning Australian soldiers home and collecting POW's of the Japanese in the Far East. There were some Admiralty Trials in Loch Striven, Scotland, during May 1945 and I think this was to do with the fitting of the Anti Mine Belt. Father was an Electrical Engineer and was with a team of Navy men on these trials. Father managed to 'acquire' some copies of the AQUI - DAILY which was a newspaper that was printed onboard the Aquitania during her return journey from Australia, she left Woolloomooloo.... see attachment and arrived Southampton, UK in January 1946.

Regards,
Chris McBrien

May 1945: Aquitania on Admiralty trials in Loch Striven. Mellor (left) Ronald C. McBrien (right).



May 1945: Aquitania on Admiralty trials in Loch Striven. Jimmy Green (far left), Ronald C. McBrien (front center).



 

82.
Sept. 30, 2013

With my family, I sailed from Southampton to Halifax on the Aquitania, arriving on April 26, 1949. Because men and women could only travel in the same cabin in First Class, that is how our family travelled. I was 3 and have a couple of hazy memories. I am now writing a family memoir and am trying to find out how much the fares cost for two adults and two children, aged 3 and 4. Does anybody know, or have an idea how I could find out?

Thank you,
Kirsten Ward
Toronto, Canada


81.
July 10, 2013

I'm trying to gather some information on my father's WW2 service. It's quite difficult because he died many years ago.

As a child I remember him telling me that he went by troopship to Egypt in the summer of 1940, sailing from Liverpool, England. I'm positive that the ship he mentioned was Aquitania and in company with the Queen Mary. It was a fast convoy that went to Egypt via the Cape of Good Hope.

I've searched for some time now, but cannot find any information regarding this voyage. I wonder if anybody is able to help, please?

Regards,
James W. Chadwick


80.
Apr. 11, 2013

My two late uncles were transported on the Aquitania to Australia under the Dr. Bernardo scheme, they were about 8 and 12 Yeas old at the time and it was in the early 20s. Their names are Frederick Butterfield and Albert Charles Butterfield. Would you have any other info relating to them etc.

Roy Butterfield


79.
Mar. 22, 2013

I am tracing the family history of my grandfather's half brother Bertie Thomas Douglas. I have discovered that his rank was a 'Plate Pantry Steward' on board the Aquitania 18/12/1934. Can anyone tell me more about his role and any other information that would be of interest with regards to the merchant seamen aboard at this time. (grandfather never knew he even had an half brother!)

Regards,
Sandie Lyons


78.
Jan. 30, 2013

As did J Siderius,  I also arrived Aquitania Pier 21 Halifax 14 March 1949 and would also love a passenger list for that trip.  I do have some ship/private immigration documents.

Arend-Jan Mulder


77.
Jan. 14, 2013

I am trying to get info on the voyage of the Aquitania to Canada (south Hampton England to Halifax Canada) in July or Aug of 1949.  I was a 9 month old passenger on it and might need the to know what day I arrived in Canada in order to qualify for my Old Age Security pension.

Mark Colegrave


76.
Dec. 30, 2012

I am trying to find any information on a Peter Ritchie who served on the Aquitania as a chief engineer and was burned in an engine room fire in the 1950's or early 60's and was transferred to the oddstock burn hospital. Peter is a half brother to my grandmother Alice Victoria Burrows nee McKay. As a child I remember my parents going to visit him after the accident. The McKay/Ritchie family were from Gibraltar. Any information as to where I could find this long shot information would truly be appreciated.

Linda Luck

Dec. 30, 2012

There was a fire in Aquitania on Oct. 12, 1950 while she was at Faslane, Scotland being scrapped. I don't have any other details.

Michael W. Pocock
Webmaster


75.
Dec. 13, 2012

I'm looking for the passenger list for the Aquitania's arrival in Halifax on March 14, 1949.  I believe my father, Stefan Debogorski, and his family were on the ship.  Any other information would also be greatly appreciated (what was the date and city of departure, experiences of the voyage, etc.).  In case he's not on that list, where do I find passenger lists for other dates?

Thank you,
Sue Sych
Alberta, Canada




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Messages 75-99
     
Page published Dec. 16, 2012