Diary of a Submariner
Able Seaman John Harrison Wheat relished his life onboard one of Australia’s first submarines, the E-class AE2.
He signed up with the Royal Navy (Australia) as a 16 year old lad, and was with the AE2 from her launch in June 1913.
Crew, HMA Submarine, Portsmouth 1914
Now prisoners of war, they were transported to Turkey where the crew joined other Australian and allied prisoners who imprisoned for three and a half years, in a variety of military and internment camps. One in four allied prisoners of the Turks in the First World War, were to die.
Initially held at a military barracks in Constantinople, they were taken by train to Afion-kara-hissar where they joined, amongst others, crew members of the English submarine E15 and where they were put to work road making.
In July new prisoners arrived including fellow Australian’s captured at Gallipoli, and in late September were again moved, this time to Angora.
The group was desperately short of food and clothing, and many suffered from wounds received whilst serving on Gallipoli. In October they were forced to march further north to a prison in Kiangheri, where they spent a terribly cold winter of 1915.
Prisoners of War, Belemedik, c1918
Wheat’s story has survived because he chose to participate in the collecting project established by the Mitchell Library in NSW in 1918. His retrospectively written narrative is also held at the Australian War Memorial, and an extracted version by the State Library of Queensland.
The submarine AE2 has lain for more than 100 years in the depths of the Sea of Marmora. Wheat’s narrative provides us with a clear description of her last days. Rediscovered in 1998, in 2014 an extensive operation was undertaken to view the intact vessel via remote camera.
The extracted version of Wheat’s narrative held by the State Library of Queensland had been transcribed and will be shortly available via the Library's catalogue.
Further reading:
- AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS AND SAILORS FREED FROM THE TURKS (1919, April 9). Sydney Mail , p. 10
- AWM Australian Naval Force (ANF) Engagement and Service Records, 1903-1911
- AE2 Commemorative Foundation
- Royal Australian Navy. HMAS AE2
- The Silent Anzac
- SLNSW Wheat war diaries and narratives, February 1914-ca. 1920
- SLNSW John H. Wheat photographs, ca. 1914-1918
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Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
We also welcome direct feedback via Contact Us.
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Hello I have been researching my great grandfathers role in www1, he was a British POW in Turkey at Belemedik.I have a copy of a photo that until today we have unable to say where it was taken. It is similar to the one on your 'diary of a submariner' blog. Some of the people are also the same. Would it be possible for Marg Powell to contact me on my email address as I would like to compare notes and see if she has any other information? Thank you