A rare photo of the MV Georgic, the last ship built for the White Star Line (the owners of the Titanic) before White Star was merged with their competitor, the Cunard Line, during the Depression of the 1930s. The photo depicts the ocean liner (then in temporary wartime use as a troopship) in its entirety from stem to stern, smoldering and partially sunk following a German bombing on Port Tewfik, Egypt in 1941. No servicemen were lost in the fire. The photo was presumably taken by a civilian or serviceman nearby. Writing on the back of the photo is in delicate pencil, in English cursive. Although the photo was discovered at a flea market in Houston, the United States had not yet entered WWII at the time of the Georgic's bombing in May 1941. This may indicate that the photo might have been taken by either a British serviceman or an Allied civilian. That it ended up in Houston could be explained by war memorabilia trading, the potential British servicemember's family ties to Texas (perhaps by marriage or immigration), or other happenstance. Also possible is that the photo was taken by an American diplomat, contractor, or merchant marine seaman. (Three military units from Texas would later be deployed to this region of Egypt/North Africa -- the 36th Infantry, 90th Infantry, and 2nd Armored -- but not until the following year at the earliest.) Although English is sometimes spoken in Egypt, it's more likely that had an Egyptian civilian taken the photo that the handwriting would have been in Arabic. The photo appears on Velox photographic paper. There are two small strips of very old double-sided tape on the back of the photo (from before I acquired it) that I have been hesitant to remove out of fear of damaging the back of the photo. The tape is old enough that it is no longer adhesive. The aforementioned pencil text on the back reads in cursive: "c. 1941 / Georgic at Port Tewfik / Egypt / North African / Campaign". The name Georgic is in quotation marks. There is smaller unrelated text in darker pencil, likely from the flea market, which lists the item number and its price ($3.00), reading: "1003 / 300". The final zero in "300" is underlined. Finally, there is very faint pencil writing between the above mentioned pieces of text. This handwriting is distinct from the other pencil writing and is also in cursive. The faint writing reads simply: "SS Georgic". The photo itself is in pristine condition.

4.5" x 3" (11cm x 8cm)