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[Page 4]
[Transcriber's note:
This diary describes the journey of the Bulla from the Bay of Biscay to Melbourne. As the ship moves into safer waters, tensions on board are relaxed and the 24 hour W/O watches are reduced to 6 hours each. With the extra time available to him, Gilroy commences with a description of the ship, the engines and the officers' accommodation, likening this to First Class Liner single berth cabins. He then gives the crewing details and their pay while at sea. Although it is difficult to compare these with today's rates, they do look reasonable considering they are "all found". (Letter post in 1915 was 1d) He then paints pen-pictures of all the officers, including their appearance and character. He includes a description of the quite lavish meals served to the officers and wonders about his weight. He concludes this part of the Book by describing the receiving set used by the W/Os and how it is tuned.
He then resumes the diary of the journey from Cape Finisterre to Melbourne with a stop at Durban. This is journey is relatively uneventful, for much of it they are out of contact with land-based transmitters and meet few other ships, but they do hear of the sinking of the troopship Royal Edward with the loss of 1000 lives. Gilroy is very critical of the RN for not proving escorts for transports going to the Dardanelles. They have a close escape from serious damage when they just avoid a running into a partly submerged derelict. During this period he is asked to assist the Purser in office duties and develops a rapport with him. The Purser, to keep fit, erects a punching ball in the unused horse stables, and he invites Gilroy to exercise with him. At the beginning he has great difficulty in managing this but persists and becomes quite proficient. The Purser also helps by massaging him to relieve muscle aches. He also reports on the wild life they encounter, including birds, fish and marine mammals and he comments on the weather and sea conditions.
Once past Cape Town they travel up the East Coast to Durban. Here they spend five days to re-coal and to take on further cargo which included some of the cargo from the steamer Benalla which had suffered a fire, also 200 tons of bark. During this stay Gilroy spends much time ashore and describes the town and its surroundings. The ship then leaves Durban and heads for Melbourne. This takes about 22 days but there is little happening on board and therefore little to report. One amusing incident he does mention is when he and the Purser attempt to develop rolls of film, when the ship lurches the solutions are spilled and the safelight is damaged. Strangely, he reports that the negatives turned out "rather well". When he arrives off Port Melbourne he is annoyed to find that the PMG require him to report to Sydney immediately, so he catches the coastal steamer Katoomba and the Journal ends when he passes the Bulla on the way down Port Phillip Bay.
Contents
Pages 2 – 9 Description of ship; its fittings and accommodation; crewing details and salaries.
Pages 9 – 21 Appearance and characters of all the Officers; food served in Officer's Saloon.
Pages 21 – 24 W/O schedule for 12 and 6 hour shifts; tuning receiving apparatus.
Pages 24 – 32 Loss of Troopship Royal Edward; passage to Canary Islands
Pages 32 – 35 Passing Canary Islands
Pages 35 – 43 Starts exercise programme with punching ball; humorous antics of some staff.
Pages 43 – 55 Rough weather; little W/T traffic; languages used in W/T; birds, fish, etc.
Pages 55 – 60 More rough weather; details of physical exercise programme.
Pages 60 – 66 Miss hitting derelict; W/T contact with Cape Town; ships in neighbourhood.
Pages 66 – 69 Off Cape Agulhas; change course for Durban; arrive at Durban.
Pages 69 – 76 In Durban harbour; visits city and surrounds; Bulla re-coaled.
Pages 76 – 79 Visit whaling station; Bulla moved to cargo wharf; loads freight and bark.
Pages 79 – 82 Leave Durban; very rough seas; lose Durban W/T contact; hear Geraldton
Pages 82 – 87 Into Southern Ocean; ship readied for arrival; problems in developing films.
Pages 87 – 93 Anchor off Port Melbourne; ordered to report to Sydney PMG.
Pages 93 – 94 Catches SS Katoomba for Sydney; Passes Bulla off Port Melbourne.
N T Gilroy
Book 4 of Diary of happenings while on Transport A45 as Asst Wireless Operator
Commenced at Sea in the Atlantic Ocean travelling 40 miles off the Coast of Portugal on the homeward trip
19th August 1915.
Finished on arrival at Melbourne 9th October 1915.
(4)
[Mitchell Library Stamp]