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9.
A party consisting of three War Office civil servants, three R.A.M.C. officers, five army nursing sisters, and three medical orderlies was despatched from Hong Kong to Manila to arrange for embarkation and berthing of army families in the "Awatea". The officers had written instruc- tions, which they showed to me, to refuse to permit any military families to occupy dormitory accommodation. I later learned that information had been received by the agents of the ship in both Hong Kong and Manila that certain of the public rooms and closed-in verandahs had been fitted with about twenty bunks each; such accommodation, the R.A.M.C. officers stated to me, constituted a dormitory, and they intended to condemn it all and refuse to permit any army families to occupy it. I accordingly telegraphed to the Commodore-in-Charge and asked for his instructions; the Commodore replied that the accommodation had been certified for use by women and children by the Director of Sea Transport, Australia, and that I should not allow it to be condemned if possible.
10.
I called on the Chief Quarantine Officer of the United States Public Health Service and asked if he could unofficially inspect the ship when examining her for pratique and give me his opinion as to the accommodation, This he finally agreed to do as a personal favour. He later reported to me that, though the accommodation added was rough, yet he considered it such as to permit women and children occupying it to travel in reasonable comfort to Australia. The British army doctors later condemned practically all of the added accommodation and asked that a further ship should be sent to transport the balance of army families to Australia. All this I telegraphed to the Commodore.
11. A telegram from the Commodore crossed mine to him and informed me that the "Empress of Japan" was sailing from Hong Kong to Sydney and could be diverted to Manila if absolutely necessary, but requested that I should not ask such diversion if it could possibly be avoided as vessel was required to reach Sydney by a certain hour, and she could only accomplish this and the deviation if she steamed at top speed all the way, which would be both costly and dangerous. In the meanwhile the Red Cross, who were carrying out the embarkation of passengers and baggage, had embarked the army families who had been accommodated in Manila while those in Baguio were on their way down and there was nowhere else they could sleep save on board. I was summoned down to the ship late on Sunday evening to settle the deadlock which had arisen.
12. I found Colonel Carswell and Mr. Forster, the Red Cross manager, both greatly incensed at what they considered the unauthorised interference of the British army officers. I would state here that I understand that permission for military officers to proceed to Manila as berthing officers having been apparently refused by the United States Govern- ment, the General Officer Commanding instructed the R.A.M.C. officers, nursing sisters and male orderlies to obtain civil- ian passports from the Hong Kong Government.
These pass- ports were visaed without reference by the United States Consulate-General at Hong Kong. Although all travelled in private clothes and did not use military titles, I am informed that the service caps of the orderlies were tied outside their baggage and visible to everyone. Colonel
/Carswell
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