Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 92]
(malaria) & a good many out door pa cases. 2 cases of Civilians sunstroke, the sun being so strong & penetrating.
16.5.19
Fresh N.W. winds & cool the temperature having gone down considerable. The coal being of poor quality & the New Bombay stokers of inferior class by what the Chief engineers report, the Transport doing poor steaming. We overhauled & passed the B.I. Mandela, a new passenger boat with 400 passengers aboard for Calcutta to Bank London. We have aboard Gen. Sir Alex Campbell & his wife Lady Campbell going home on the retired list. The stewards department being of poor class & the cooking very poor, in fact never witnessed such poor cooking during my whole career at sea, the reason being no doubt not sufficient white hands in the Stewards department & considering the Anglo Indian passengers are of a complaining nature. It is the most unsocial trip we have had since we commenced trooping. With very few exceptions in all classes everyone seems dissatisfied. The Civilian passengers mix up with the soldiers & cause lots of discontent amongst them so that they the Tommies are also full of complaints. The Civilian passengers have collected £100 to date to p buy extra food stuffs for Tommy in Egypt. A government transport should never be allowed to carry civilian passengers with troops as it is not fair to either. With 2000 troops aboard & 620 civilian passengers, we cannot do justice to either as there is such distinction in the catering.