Suckling, Charles George (Stoker, b.1893 - d.1984)

Places
Accession Number 3DRL/6226
Collection type Private Record
Record type Collection
Measurement Extent: 1 cm; Wallet/s: 1
Object type Diary
Maker Suckling, Charles George
Place made At sea, Australia, Ottoman Empire: Turkey
Date made 1913-1919
Access Open
Related File This file can be copied or viewed via the Memorial’s Reading Room. AWM315 419/101/014
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copying Provisions Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Description

Collection relating to the First World War service of 2148 Stoker Charles George Suckling, AE2, Royal Australian Navy.

Collection consists of a 42 page handwritten memoir written by Suckling recording his service on the submarine AE2 from the time of her outfitting in 1913; her voyage from England to Sydney; her service in Rabaul as part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) in 1914; her transfer to the Mediterranean; her arrival in the Dardanelles in February 1915; damage and repairs at Malta; and her raids through the strait in April 1915 where she was hit by a torpedo sunk in the Sea of Marmara. The officers and crew, including Suckling, were taken prisoners of war by Turkish Forces. The memoir also describes this time, through to his repatriation following the Armistice and return to Australia in 1919.

Charles George Suckling was the last surviving member of the AE2 crew; he died on 9 February 1984 in Perth, Western Australia.