Item 01: J. E. Morrison diary, 13 October 1917-29 October 1918 - Page 24
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[Page 24]
bridge & was never seen again. The losses consisted of crew, troops & nurses. The Chief Engineer of the Destroyer Attack was sent over by us from Alexandria to Taranto. He said he was floating in the water for an hour & saved by a patrol trawler & very bitter re. the management of the sad affair.
Again within 24 hours a troopship Osmania was either mined or torpedoed a few miles from the Aragon. About 400 lives were lost & about 48 sisters. Another very sad affair. We passed within a few yards of them & could see the mast & yard of the Osmania quite plain. Since bodies have been picked up on the beach by the dozens daily. A frequent occurance to see torpedoed ship's crew return to port, some having been out only a few hours & several of our fine & large ships sunk in fact too numerous to mention.
We went ashore & were shown around by the Military probably the largest bakery in the world. Daily output 240,000 loaves per day. The base for the Palastine troops truck loads of bread sent up to the firing line daily. The bakery covered a space of ½ a square mile. Saw Pompey's Pillar a marble monument 160 ft high the largest solid stone of its kind in the world erected 2000 years ago. Also the catacombs, tombs & mummies at the Museum of the old Egyptian relecks of 2 to 3000 years old.