Five Months at Anzac | Page 2

viewed the convoy from all points.
The day after leaving Albany a steamer, which proved to be the ----,
joined us with C Section of our Ambulance. Signals were made for the
---- ---- to move ahead and the ---- to drop astern, the ---- moving into
the vacant place. The manoeuvre was carried out in a most seamanlike
manner, and Captain Young of the ---- received many compliments on
his performance.
Three days later a message was flagged from the ---- that Major
Stewart (who commanded the C Section of the Ambulance) was ill
with enteric, and that his condition was serious. The flagship then sent

orders (also by flag) "Colonel Beeston will proceed to ---- and will
remain there until next port. ---- to provide transport." A boat was
hoisted out, and Sergeant Draper as a nurse, Walkley my orderly, my
little dog Paddy and I were lowered from the boat deck. What appeared
smooth water proved to a long undulating swell; no water was shipped,
but the fleet at times was not visible when the boat was in the trough of
the sea.
However, the ---- was manoeuvred so as to form a shelter, and we
gained the deck by means of the companion ladder as comfortably as if
we had been in harbour. Major Stewart's illness proved to be of such a
nature that his disembarkation at Colombo was imperative, and on our
arrival there he was left in the hospital.
The heat in the tropics was very oppressive, and the horses suffered
considerably. One day all the ships carrying horses were turned about
and steamed for twenty minutes in the opposite direction in order to
obtain a breath of air for the poor animals. In the holds the temperature
was 90° and steamy at that. The sight of horses down a ship's hold is a
novel one. Each is in a stall of such dimensions that the animal cannot
be knocked about. All heads are inwards, and each horse has his own
trough. At a certain time in the day lucerne hay is issued. This is the
signal for a prodigious amount of stamping and noise on the part of the
animals. They throw their heads about, snort and neigh, and seem as if
they would jump over the barriers in their frantic effort to get a good
feed. Horses on land are nice beasts, but on board ship they are a totally
different proposition. One intelligent neddy stabled just outside my
cabin spent the night in stamping on an adjacent steam pipe;
consequently my sleep was of a disturbed nature, and not so restful as
one might look for on a sea voyage. When he became tired, the brute
on the opposite side took up the refrain, so that it seemed like Morse
signalling on a large scale.
We reached Colombo on the 13th January, and found a number of ships
of various nationalities in the harbour. Our convoy almost filled it. We
were soon surrounded by boats offering for sale all sorts of things,
mostly edibles. Of course no one was allowed on board.

After arranging for Major Stewart's accommodation at the hospital, we
transferred from the ---- to the ----. The voyage was resumed on the
15th. When a few days out, one of the ships flagged that there were two
cases of appendicitis on board. The convoy was stopped; the ship drew
near ours, and lowered a boat with the two cases, which was soon
alongside. Meanwhile a large box which had been made by our
carpenter was lowered over the side by a winch on the boat deck; the
cases were placed in it and hoisted aboard, where the stretcher-bearers
conveyed them to the hospital. Examination showed that operation was
necessary in both cases, and the necessary preparations were made.
The day was a glorious one--not a cloud in the sky, and the sea almost
oily in its smoothness. As the hospital was full of cases of measles, it
was decided to operate on deck a little aft of the hospital. A guard was
placed to keep inquisitive onlookers at a distance, and the two
operations were carried out successfully. It was a novel experience to
operate under these conditions. When one looked up from the work,
instead of the usual tiled walls of a hospital theatre, one saw nothing
but the sea and the transports. After all, they were ideal conditions; for
the air was absolutely pure and free from any kind of germ.
While the convoy was stopped, the opportunity was taken to transfer
Lieutenant-Colonel Bean from the ---- to the ----. There had been a
number of fatal cases on board the latter vessel, and it was deemed
advisable to place a senior officer on board.
On arrival at