AN OLD SHIP

This is an old photo I found in my mother's album.  The ship at the back is the M.V. Georgic. It is on this ship that we migrated to Australia in 1949.

Printed on the back of this photo is: "GEORGIC" Alongside Princes Landing on Tuesday 11th January 1949, immediately prior to sailing with over 2,000 emigrants for Australia. (The dock was in Liverpool)

The Georgic was the last ship to be built for "The White Star Line". It was launched in Belfast in 1931. Most of "The White Starline" ship's names ended in 'ic' like the Titanic and the Britannic.

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Its first voyages were from Liverpool to New York. There were 3 classes; cabin class, tourist class and third class.

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In 1940 the Georgic was taken off commercial service and became a troop ship.

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In 1941 the Georgic was bombed in the Bay of Suez. She was raised and towed to Bombay where repairs were done and she sailed back to Belfast for more repairs. She was refitted as a single class ship and continued to carry troops.

Mum and I on board the "Georgic" 1949

In 1948 she was converted to a migrant ship for Australia and New Zealand. The Georgic's first trip to Australia was in January 1949 and I was on board with my mother, father and brother.
Families didn’t have a cabin of their own. All the women and young children were on the upper decks with 6 to a cabin and the men and older boys were on the lower decks. So my brother and father were separated from my mother and me for the 5 week journey. However we spent a lot of time on the deck together.

Arriving in Sydney 5 weeks later on 13 Feb 1949.