The Voyage of 'The 40th General'

October 1916

A Letter from the C.O.

The mobilisation of the 40th General Hospital was (from the point of view of the C.O.) a very different picture from that of the 3rd London.
At Aldershot the stores were collected from the various places and in two days after my arrival at the Depot the stores were ready to be taken over. When the amount of material is considered, this is quick work. To give a list of the equipment would fill a Gazette, but an idea of its quantity may be gathered when I tell you that two trains, each of thirty-six wagons, were needed to carry the equipment - nothing was left to chance, or to be supplied out East, everything from portable tables to 1,040 bedsteads, with spring mattresses and mosquito nets, being taken.

On Wednesday 19th, and Thursday 20th, the stores were loaded on trucks and sent to the port from which they go East. On the 21st we marched off the parade ground for the Government siding, where we entrained for Southampton and sailed the same evening. The various working parties about the docks gave us a good send-off, and Captain Humphris with Col. Cattell came down from London to wish us 'God speed.' The passage was very fine in the Mediterranean and not too hot till the Canal and the Red Sea. The men are comfortable housed and the junior officers are bedded in an Officers' ward. The War news came by wireless each morning till Port Said, and was pinned up in the smoking room; so, except for personal and family news, we were not cut off from the world till we left Port Said.
The N.C.O.'s and men are from various training Depots. Some have been in France, and Gallipoli, and the Cameroons, thus bringing experience of active service; and, as at the 3rd London, everyone did and does his best to keep at a high level of efficiency, and I am sure I shall have the new units' help to make the 40th General a success.

A voyage cannot be described nowadays when regard must be paid to the Censor's pencil, but a couple of points are worthy of The Gazette. When we got into the Mediterranean the Boom was put out for the Deep Sea sounding. One of the men, on his first voyage, enquired from Sergeant-Major Pinfold (who has been a 1st Class Petty Officer in the Royal Navy, and consequently is the authority in the Unit on things nautical) what the pole was for? He said for taking in the mails during the night. Next morning about thirty trusting men called on the Sergeant-Major to enquire for letters. When off Algiers an absent-minded Irish Cleric was gazing at the coast and enquired from Captain Cope, "Is that the West Coast of Africa or South Africa?" This I should think a good 1st for absent-minded enquiries.

There is much musical talent amongst the men on board. Concerts are held every night unless some other entertainment is provided, such as boxing, cock-fighting or pillow-fighting. The voyage would probably be even more pleasant but for the vaccinations and inoculations which must be done. Going into a country of evil repute it is as well to take every possible step to protect young soldiers. The heat in the Red Sea is unpleasant, but on a ship fitted for hospital use anyone who wrote that his experiences were trying would know but little of what discomfort can be on an ordinary trooper. I have seen much along the route which would be of interest but the regulations are strict. I often think of the 3rd London and its cool green lawns, and no doubt before I return will think of them a good deal more.

This is but a short note which may be of interest to my friends in the Hospital. The Concerts on the ship carry me back each time to the Recreation Room, and the men's voices, blending as they do, have an especially strong power of recalling to me the room which can have nothing but the pleasantest memories for the inmates of the 3rd London. I am sure all friends of the past two years will continue their kindness to the Hospital and its inmates. The good behaviour of the patients and the loyalty of the Staff were reward in themselves for any work I did during those two years, and if the workers of No.3 will send me from time to time an account of the doings of their departments I shall be very grateful, and though I may only send a brief acknowledgment it won't be for lack of appreciation, but for lack of time.

I intended posting this note at Aden but we did not call there, going out direct into the monsoon. Those who sing in Concert Rooms, from a steady platform, 'A life on the ocean wave and a home on the rolling deep,' had better try the monsoon in the Indian Ocean in August when it is described by ship's officers as a very strong monsoon, and I think four days' continuous rolling deep will stop their making a song about it. There is an odd feeling in being - as we shall have been by the time we arrive in Bombay - about ten days without a word as to what is happening on the various fronts, or how much the War has progressed.

H.E. BRUCE PORTER