Anzac Day was only just emerging as a new tradition in 1917. Aboard Australian troopship A70, routine orders for 25 April included a ceremony to mark the landing at Gallipoli two years earlier. While most soldiers were recent recruits, a special meal of bully beef and bread awaited Dardanelles veteran Lieutenant Colonel Robert McVea, Officer Commanding Troops. Injured during the 1915 campaign, he had been posted to the Sea Transport Service to organise troopship voyages.
Then, at 2.05 pm, just as formalities were set to commence, ‘Boomp!’ The ship shivered, ‘from stem to stern’. All aboard instantly knoew what this meant: the vessel had been torpedoed. The engines stopped and the – glided to a standstill. While the men posted as submarine sentries had missed the periscope of Seiner Majestät , it was then spotted by troops on deck. Before the German submarine could launch a second torpedo, however, it was forced to dive by approaching vessels from Britain’s Royal Navy (RN).
