The mode of conveyance of the hospitals to the front next engaged the attention of the authorities, and negotiations were entered into with various steamship companies. It was desirable that the hospitals should be conveyed under the protection of the regulations of the Geneva Convention.
After some negotiation and the rejection of larger and more suitable steamers, a coastal steamer, the Kyarra, was selected and was fitted to carry the hospital staff and equipment. The steamer is of about 7,000 tons burden. There were on board approximately 83 medical officers, 180 nurses, and about 500 rank and file, or a total of nearly 800 souls. The cargo space was supposed to be ample, and 100 tons of space were promised for the Red Cross stores.
When ready, the Kyarra proceeded to Brisbane and embarked a portion of the First Australian General Hospital. She then proceeded to Sydney, embarked the Second Australian General Hospital with its stores, equipment, and Red Cross goods, and then left for Melbourne, where she was to embark the remainder of the First Australian General Hospital, the First Stationary Hospital, and the Casualty Clearing Station.
On arrival at Melbourne, however, it was found that she was carrying ordinary cargo, that she was not lighted as required by the rules of the Convention, and that she was already fully loaded. Consequently the whole of the cargo was taken out of her, the ordinary cargo was removed, and she was reloaded. It was found, however, that there was no room for the Red Cross goods belonging to the First Australian General Hospital. Furthermore, a portion of the equipment which subsequently turned out to be invaluable, namely 130 extra beds donated to the hospital by a firm in Adelaide, was nearly left behind. It was only by the exercise of personal pressure that space was found for this valuable addition at the last minute. The importance of this donation will be mentioned later in the story.
Finally, after many delays, the Kyarra left Melbourne on December 5 amidst the goodwill and the blessings of the people, and made her way to Fremantle, there to embark the Second Australian Stationary Hospital and its equipment. She finally left Fremantle with this additional hospital, and made her way across the Indian Ocean.
Lieut.-Col. Martin, Commanding Officer of the No. 2 Australian General Hospital, was promoted to the rank of Colonel for the voyage only. He was promoted for the purpose of placing him in command of the troopship.
The voyage of the Kyarra involved calls at Colombo, Aden, Suez, Port Said, and Alexandria. Those on board believed in the first instance they were proceeding to France, and when they arrived at Alexandria, and found they were all destined for Egypt, many expressed feelings of keen disappointment on the ground that they would have no work to do. They were soon, however, to be undeceived.
The voyage itself does not call for lengthy comment. The ship was unsuitable for the purpose for which she had been chartered. She was small, overcrowded, and not as clean or sanitary as she might have been. Her speed seemed to decrease, and was scarcely respectable at any time; there were apparently breakdowns of the engines; and the food supplied to the officers and nurses was not infrequently inferior in quality and in preparation. In consequence an outbreak of ptomaine poisoning took place, and twenty-two officers and others were infected, two of them seriously.