Nomad. Memoirs of an Irish Sailor. Soldier, Pearl-Fisher, Pirate, Gun-runner, Rum-runner, Rebel and Artic Explorer. London: Methuen, 1934. First edition. Pp xi, 289. Ex library copy with stamps in a library cloth binding. Contents in nice bright condition.

Illustrated with eleven plates.

During World War I, Charles McGuinness fought for the English in South Africa. Initially in the Cameroon region. Then in 1916, after hearing of the rebellion taking place in Ireland for independence, he deserts and joins the forces of the Afrikaners against the British. Shortly there after, he was captured by the Germans, and being the Irishman he is, convinces the Germans that he’s really on their side, and so fights with them for a time in the East African Campaign in the jungles of east central Africa. In late 1917, he abandoned the war to return home to Ireland. He embarquesd on the Vasco Da Gama, a Portuguese steamer which wrecks and sinks at the mouth of Delagoa Bay in Mozambique. All hands but one are lost. Charley McGuinness was the sole survivor. Having gone into heavily shark infested waters in this inlet of Indian Ocean, he made it to shore safe.