Page 1
12°
" .. ' ' ' I
- '~ .. , .... ,.~ ,.::, 4,,
18°
'? Arada
0
Blanga L. Leopold II
18°
B E
24"
24°
0 0
300 ~---,...,...----- _::3:_6 o--..------,--~42;=__o _______ --r48_o ________ ST4 ____ -, ___ 6\0 ______ 7 200
I
I ,
30°
A
',· '
R
J Gabredar I ' ... --,
' ,.., ~',
A B 1 A
INDIAN I
OCEAN
,o Kuria Muria Is.
Denis
Pra,tm Sllhoudle • ,: SF.YCHELLE 5
• / • Mahe African Is
A i f I : DJ<rmhv, m ran e s. • • I o Pio/le
• •• Mnri'1 J.nmf.e
Alphonse !
0
Bijou/I<'~ 'Saini Frani;oi<
"' Coetivy ,
00 EQUATOR
P rovidence I .
A ldabra I . c!:> . / St t'iem ! i.,'Cerl 1. Assumption J. o 0 °Cosmoledo I s.
A stove I .. Farquhar ls.
0- ~ ;• Jfaintira110
"- Miandrit•azo
Beto ) -~ I /llalaimhan ~ Morondqt·a
~ \.J., C St Vincent BusscJs <la I ndia
I l , ,le /'Europe
C. Andnamanao
C. Ste. M arie
(~: 42° J. '' ~ 2,. IA-'4 48 54°
I
I
•. Agalega II
----t---------·--t-----, 12°
I
t ----+--------; 16° Caroado.$ Caraios S/ioal, ;,
; .
RudriguC'z o 20° Mauritius
l(J Reunion
60° 66°
Page 2
- J/+9 -
the Vlolfn.re Director ancl ::. Welfr~re Officer had ,irr ived
nt Port Said. The refugee survivors wero t~ken to
155 Trnnsi t C,:'.m1J of the British 1~rmy, and on October
2nd they were entrc::.ined for El 8hn. tt camp. There were
456 survivors and very great credit is due to the officers
of the 1Empire Pc.trol 1 and to the naval nuthorities who
came tc. the rescue, to sr.ry nothing of th0 Flight te:im
who w2re with the last t,:i lec.ve the shj_p, h·1vin 6 betm
neu.rly twelve hours on the burninc. vessel, that so few
lives were lost in circumstances where one elight indeed
hPve expected f~r .ore.
Insri te of the t 1me r..nd EcnerL us help t;i ven to
these ~:ooplC? r y r 11 concerned they novert.h~luss ':'.. ttom.1.)ted
to rur.ke off with much of the transit c2u1, pro:'.)erty , including
50 enting utensils ~nd 100 pieces of tent wrll c~nvass.
This w~s recover\d ~t tho g~te .
The d:snnter )f the 'Eri:Jire P:: .. trol 1 nc::.turally
received he.:ldlines in r.11 J;C.per s, end in llue cour 8G
Lieutenrnt Arlene Wr.ldhnus w.'..'!.s 6ivl,n the high United
States .'.'IW..,rd 0f the .Su.Ldiers .1i:ed::1l for hur outstanc.ing
ccn uct, whi e l2tcr still Cr.pt',in B2.kcr rcct;;ived the
\1. B. E.
Page 3
- 350 -
Tc.e Medic.:!1 nspect of flights.
There has been one major medical flight in the
annals of MEO repatriation, when 70 Yugoslav T.B. patients
returned to Yugoslavia with the 7th Yugoslav flight.
The story of the Medical -side of tbi<3 flight and also
the report on snallcr but equally inportant occQsions
involving the return of the sick are given fully at the
end of the history of the Ho~lth Division.
Page 4
- 351 -
The return of the GrGek Refugees from Ethiopi~ nnd the Belgian Ccmf:io .
In the co..s8 of the Greeks in Ethiopi,t and the
Bulgic,n Coneo, num~Jering sor.1e 4,500, repa trie .. tion was
not so brief ':. thing 3.S the r:10ves which were a.lready
t~king ;lace in the Middlu E~st . It will be rcmenbbred
thc.t :✓Ir . S.K. J,~co·· .. , laft on his tour c,f the Africcm
c.:.1:1ps, both Polish c..nd Gr~ck, in the Autumn c,f 1944, but
by the tiLH; he returned in June 1945 it w::s many uon ths
sincG he h,~d visited the Greek C2.my.1 s, ·:,hich hnd teen the
first en his journey.
Clea rly it w~s necessary once again to send n
rcpresentativ~ to th~se ~re~s, but whose t~sk this time
wrJulJ be s~1lcly th:1..t , f 2..rr:.nging c.nd ~otting under
1.rny ; l:.n s f,Jr -chG rat urn c;f the Greek rGfugees. It
vr s c.ereed that Ethio_·ii" should be t~:kGn first, ~:nd to
this end : ir . H. P. Height on loft by c.ir for Addis Abe.be.
c n July 10th 1945 . Within due C')Urse he h~1.d. m3de the
£1cqu:· .. int::ncG ,,f the British .'/iilit'2ry 1.Usslon to Ethio1]i<',
with ,'r. Pil·1v.,_chi, the Grec1' Charge D1iff,!ircs , ~nc1
These r fug~~ , wure in t'lo i,1-:c(;s, Addis Ab'ibr~ t'..nc.
Dirednw.'.l, united by c .. rail·Nny , which went on C.<.Xm tc, the
Fr1.:nch S, ~lilt.1nd p .1rt )f D.jibcuti. The <:.ist:.ncos t u be
coverec1. c culd not Ju com1i~re<.l with those which were tc be
Page 5
- 35,2 -
:.,et with le.tar in the Belgi~'.11 Con&,o, but they Wt)re
lengthy, even so, .:md nade difficult by limitaticn ..:.f
transport and undevelc,ped torrc.in. The d ist:mce from
Addis Ababa t o Djibouti was in the region of 200 miles
~s the Crow woulc make it, but 300 miles or m0re by
the time m['.n hD.d gone ::. r ound the moun t2.ins with his
r ailway line . Dir;;.<.lnwa w2 s :1 nor\, str .-::.. ighforward
por~osi tiun, oeing abuut 150 miles frvm the iJurt .
Mr • .Hl1ighton reports Pie.king a survey of these
c nm1Js , nm.!.. journeying to Djiuuti wher0, he snys, he fc.,und
the hez.~t so intense thc:. t hG wondGred v.rhether it ~voultl be
2. 6v0d thing t~ move the rcfu£c~s ~t such~ tim~. Howovc
the Governor :p r om: :.rnd full c.".. ssist:mcc, an·:1. plans vrent
nhcad . Fortuni:!.tcly c~11 these;: refugeL.s h:d been r1..;cist0r c:·
by Hr. j .:;cobs ~ .. ,.;. much work v::i s disy.:;ensed with on his
c.ccount .
Following requests f1)r st: ff Mr . Heighten wo.s
j '...i ined on 1- ugust 8th by ;,1r . Euh:rscin Brown rmc.. Miss
Mnrion Slor-m, who ster pcd frorn the plrmc nt Addis ~tb2.bt' .•
On 1 u gus t 12th l>'ir . Hei ghton was er llcd to C.:'..iro ,-::.nd
Mr. Emerson Brown and MisJ Sloam c ,irried on . On
August 31st 1945 two further flight te=-.. -n ~ t;rsom1cl
arriv0d at Djibouti upon request, while on Se~tember -
14th l2nclc:i:l yet rmother two at the smnc 11ort . The::se
new IJ8r sunn2l Were Dr. Omr Cr8LCh, of the USP HS, two I
Nurses, iHc.rg.:-Nret Sc[lllon o.nd Thor~ .t\i tken, mid .'/Iiss
Evelyn Rt-.UCh ·t s Adjutr nt.
Page 6
- 353 -
We hrvc ;Jlre;:dy socn thc.t the 'C ap Touran6,
sc.iled on Se~tembcr 12th 1945 with 346 r(:;fue ,Jes c:'.nd that
nn 16th Sept em b,:ff the ss I K112.ndalla I sniled with the
rt::m::iinin&, 764. We hi.-:ve L-:l so s~Gn sc.1mething of the
difficulties which were cncountcrod by the:: l.ifebo3.t ce.pacit:r
regulation which divided this flight. All told, it w2..:.:;
not ~ happy oper:i.tion, six j)(:,rsons (7..ying 0n route, thoir
clep~.rtur,J very prob:;.bly h".ving much to C,·, Vii t:1 the try ing
conditions cf the move .
The oa~p outside Djibuti is reported ns being ,
1~2..rticul;~rly 2. t -chc..t so.:.son) ·. □ost unfortunatu pl''C 8 in
which t c: s c,j ourn . C0.:--1,Ji tions rvere extr emely poor J
rc·ttlin;:_: m0re like thus'3 of a p(;!l.:::.l settl01::-.en t. ThG en tire
er.mp sE;ems t\:., h~:.ve beun blown with sc.n<l whichever w:-1y rn0
turned, the heat was intense with little tc, relieve it.
It w.·~s in these b~rr~cks th2t t1.7 110rscns d.icd en the night
f ' t ,, 1/".),, 0 ri.Ut.,US ,c. ,:,~ .
Hv,h.VE.'I', the fli 6hts fin.J.lly dup·~rte,J , Dr . Oma. Creech
t'.ctlne .. 1..s OC Flight for the 1Cc:::., Tour.::.ne 1 , along with
Miss Slc~m and . : j .,,., Sc anlon , ~md i\Ir. Er.i1ersc;n .Brovm t~.king
the second ship, with l!Iiss R:...uch an..! i,li"s ~·,l tkcm .
15 tn 1945, r:.nc'. the s s ' Kh:1..nd.:1.llc. 1 0n 21st . T nc c.e refug01;.; s
were disGt1barlccd c!n<l t· 'lrnn tc El Sh,::: tt c c.1. p, t .1or :-i tt. awc.i t
their turn in th0 morc-1 norru:l re:;_.,,. tri a t 1..,L 11ro gr[:.J.1ilt1t: which
no.<.l by then :)cvn est;'_blisht-J:-.~.
Page 7
-
-
- 354 -
The Greeks in East lLfricn a.ncl the Belgian Congo.
On 18th .i-1.pril 1945 the Bc~lgim Consul in CE:iro
wrote to UNRRA ,".!. sking fur informatiein th;,.t he mi£ 1-: pnss
to the GGvernor of the Belgio..n Congo r .. s to wh..". t ::ilnns
UNRRA was m.:.king for the rcr:c.trir; ticn of the Greek refucees
in th::.t territory. In reply the Chi~f of the !\IEO snicl
tha.t UNRR,~ hr.id accepted rasponsi bili ty for ths sc peoJlc,
but th.at the :movement wculd be n slt:-;w on8, much c:-.1ndition':ld
by tho size of the area involved nnd the cc.p8.city cf the
Greek islnnds to absorb the refugees.
Th:1.s inforr.F'.ticn found its way to Er.st i1.fricr and on
June 7th 1945 i,Ir. Brutc.,n, head cf the E'.1.st .cifricnn
Refugee Hdr.iinistrrtion, addressed 2.. letter to UNRRH
offering the full assist::mc0 0f the org~.niz::iti.-n. "It
should be rer,l ised, 11 he wrote, 11 thc..t the refugees will
have to tr,:,.vel by lr.tke steamers, r3.iJ and lorries, encl
the co-opGt' ,c1. tion of the Directors of Refugees in the
territories cc,ncerncc:, with rcr..:.trd to st'1E;ing car"" s,
r~tioning etc., will be necess2ry. x
When the UNRR;i. represontei. tivo, Mr. H.P. H0iEJ1ton,
set nut for Ethiopia it w~s with~ letter in his ~ocket
·which re~ds in pc.rt, 11 Upon completion ,1f your r.1issic,n
to Ethioi)i'.1, r..nd when in your opinion it is 2c1visr.ble,
you will proceed ta .Nr.irc'Ji r~nd t c such other :)oints
in the Belgi,-.1.n Cong0, Run'.:.l.di Urundi, Ugcnd-:t -:-nd T~.nganyikt.
x For these lotvers see DP File 583/3
Page 8
- 355 -
t.s are necessar; to plan .. md arr2.ngc for the rep£.tric.ticn
of the Greek refug8ES in thnt areJ. You will, of c ourse ,
work closely with the East ;1.frican Refugee ndministration
.:.nd ,::,.ppropri:::.te civilian and mili tary o..uthor ities ••••• 11
On i-,ugust 31st 1945 the UNRRi~ repres·entative
arrived in Nc.i robi. He cabled , 11Agreed th,.t UNRRJ~ accept
full re:s ronsibili ty of refugees r.?.t port. 1VIovement to
:,orts urnler the direction of EAR.A. Evncuc.tion in two
batched inavitnble. Target dates Decembor 1st 1600 January
1st 1700, using D.:i.r es S2.l~m11 an<.l Momb&SL.'. f:,;.ch dn.te. rr x
Clec..rly th.~ mover:!ent ( f ti1ese refut;el'S was to be a.
fr..r iengthiGr ,,pE.!re.tion the.n th:1t cc=~rricd ,;Ut in Ethiopia,
indeed the leni.;thic st unC:.e ctr1ken ·by thG ?.IEO .
No real conception 0f the nreas involved c3n be
hc..d rdthl.,ut sor.w r< nd-picturc of these E::st Africcn
territ~ries, ov~r which were sc2ttored 3500 Grcok refugeos.
If we turn t0 tho m~p we s6e th~•t the refugee camps weru
situ:-.:ted fur the most in the ncrth ::n( S<)uth of the
Belgie.n Con6o, many of thGrn ,:,.long the be.n.ks uf the four
groa.t lnkt: s which run from north tc., south fown the
G&Stfn•n bc-rder of the Congo for ::: distance i.,f some 800
miles . On tho cc.st siue of these lnkes is Ruanda iJ rw1di,
v:here als:., c. numbGr of those refugees t:G r e living. ~ls
may be aypr&ci~tetl tistances were fnr gr~ator tlmn had
hithertr., b 't'::n ox oricncuJ, antl travel 11c,t ,1ftcn undert·'.ken.
x Seo DP Fil€ 583/3.
Page 9
- 356 -
It may bo s12en 2..gain from the mc!.p tru:•.t these
camps were m.:my hunllr8ds of miles fr om the Ea.st 1.fricn.n
coast, where cle arly thG refug8cs v, uld hc.vo t c be moved.
Well ov<',r a thc usand c f them were as f c.. r ,~field c.. s
Stnnleyvj_lle in the North Ccngo ancJ. Jc..dotville .?.nd
Eliz.:.' bethville in th.::.. 0outh. ThG :·jo ssibl~1 ~-•Orts •ere
f12w, nnd :myw::i.y h.:.d t c, be chosen with c.n '.".ppreci<'.tion 0f
trrvel :nd c ci:nmunicr .ti r.,n f u.cilities . ..:lso t o be
considered was the import~nce ~f ~cc orn0Jat i 0n ct ports,
i ,,,r tho t a CE, rt::..in 2.riwunt cf w.:--d tinv would h:::tvt':: t c be
ffXfl(.:C t0d w.~s cGrtain. KAR1-i. h~c, alro ·.1.t1y :..l r o.vm up c.
tent.:i..tivc.: plan by tho tir.w the MEO rc:pr csEnt:.'..t ive ;:-,. r-ri vod
and the ports chosen i.n c cn junction ·with E11.Rf,.:, wer&
Dar es Sa l;:<.lm in T~ngunyiko. ?.nd. r.fombo. sn j_n Keny,:-,. Colony;
they we:rl; ind2 c11 '\.bout the cnly tvw ports th-::.t cculd be
chosa1. Thr ,:·ughout Se 1:,tt:.m'Jcr :,--L:ns wc:nt ahe2.d , and grGr:t
credit must go to tho EAR.:.., military nnd civili,.n officials
f or their assist.'lnce without which little c _ uld h:ive oeen
,:.chieved.
If w0 1-:1ove west fr om N2.iro:)i WiJ c ,J:.10 t o the S(~mll
t own of ~i t;or.w. on the Ee.st side:: ~-, f Lc..ke T.'.lngo.nyik:_--, .
Here thE;re wc.s :-i lro::tcly 2. c r, ,1~, of 520 Gr eoJ,:: refugee s whc,
rod be en livint~ there sinco June 194.3, ::ncl it W':.s this
C".mp tha t w~:.s chosen t c be the m:..in link r..J.nd tr,.nsit
pl~ce f or tha refugees corning from thu Ccngo ~nd SGtting
.,ut across T!:1.ng:myik2.. f or tho co :-. st. This sm.~.11 t c,wn
of Kieo□:·· had a population c,f about 4<000, with an <.::stirnated
Page 10
-
- 357 -
Europenn contingent of 20. It wo.s just near here,
3. t Ujiji, that Stanley met Livint:stone, unc in Kigor:ia
is :-:. m emorial tu this occasi0n . The town is now· th(j
r;n~in thor~mt;hfare for tre.ffic from the nc,rth to the
Bolginn Cong•J, Rh0<lesia and South .i,.fr ica. Two trains
weekly run from Dar es Salaam tc this town, ~rriving
on Thursday and d.::ndays., n. liistance of solJc 800 niles
if a Crow carc:d to make it. Vlith thE.. ~Jxi.stcmce ,;f a
ra.ilway and a re c, r,lr.r trn.in service, therG w;:.,s a reo.r1y
r.ic.de way tc; thG C')nst. i.nd with tw~1 L'.ke steamers c. weelc
crossing from ... 1 ·0ert1illc to Kigoma on Thursc.ny and
Sc:.turdc~ys, a j ,.)11.. .ay of twelve h(;Urs, there was the link
between Kigomc:. an the transj_t camp .::mu tho distr.nt C::mgo.
The Groek Refugee en.mp its elf lD.y tw•:i miles outside
the t wn of Kig:-;□a . It consisted of houses 1.1:~cle fror.1 mu~1
and wa ttlc, Hi th tho. tchcd r ocf s c'..nd plast0r wc-.lls. i~:i.l
buil::lings equi~JGC. with electric lieht, while outc.cor
l,'.trines were 2\..~oquatc .'.lnd there wr.s a good water supply.
1~ Greek Orthodox church, 'J. 50-bod h) s r, i tal, c. sto,:ehuusC:: ,
nnd gon ral o.dmin:i str~tive c;fficcs macl8 this c.. c 1~:!Tli)~ ct
littl1;;. er.mp.
hft0r chuosing Kigor.1r~ ns thr1 tr~si t c·~up there
remo..inod the iuportc.nce of setting up st::.ging c.::r\1s
:lt thG 11 orts, , . ..11· ;_tf nc•...-~r th2 j_lorts as •. ossj_blc: . These
stc.ei11r c'Un -.. s h" l t t, '.Je on rogul;,r cm1111unic,.tion lines,
Page 11
-
•
- 358 -
co.vable of acconodating at lea.st 500 to 800 refugce:s,
nnd the whole task wn.s m£'.de oasior by chc,osin6 existing
camps.
R.:;turning enst ther0 is to 1.' -:; f c,und · :i.. little
pl.:'..ce c.:i.lloct Mc.kindu, c.mounting t.:i nothing bt: tween
rh.:.irobi o.nd Mombasa, nbout one hundred miles frou. the
one ..-1.ncl sc,me two hunclrod from the other. The E1.RA
ho.d used this c.r .... a ns r.. st.?.ging camp when too Greeks
hnd first cone through on their way to the Congo. J..t
the time t) f pl.:mninf there vrnre .'.".. hundred. Polish rcfugc:es
e..nd twelve Italians in this cr.ap, but its possibilitie s
were considerable. A well-appoint0J h0s pitel could t~ke
60 - 70 patients, while there were £,; ooJ. huts w~~llecl with
hessian which wero remc.rkably cool, :.:ncl thore Sl: cned no
dr.ne8r c, f over-crowding. Th8 c ~~mp its elf was very is cJlc. tud
th0 r :..'. ilway sto.tion being the only builc.linb r1hich indic,:,.tcd
ther .... wc..s any r e:.:-.son to stop ~t a.11. 1'4c:~rby we. s [' native
villr.,.::e o.nu l1alf c.. dozen smr:•.il shops _-_, ,..med by Inc~i.~-..n
merch:1.n ts.
This c:unp, ,.,_t 1kkinc1u, although .'J. long wn.y frcm
Mor.1b:~ sn., was nevE.;rthclGss chosun n.s thu most sui tc..tle
site for sta[:ing the refugce:s who wr..uld ultimntE:ly
embnrlc ,~ t i\fon~ba , • There: rcn::-.inetl to be sclectec1. a cc:r11p
sooewh0r ~t Dar cs SQlnnm.
here the stD.ging C::!.mp decided u~.r')n wc::.s n lit tlo
ne'!.ror tlw.n tVJo hurv.:'..red miles from the ~:,ort; it w:--.s
in f[:.ct two kilo□ e:tres from the Centro of tho tcwn of
Page 12
- 359 -
Dar es S:-:lnn.m, ~d it was cc.lled the Pugu Roe.cl trnnsi t
cc.mp. Herc the builclings V/tH'C formorly we.rehouses f;f
st0el anc. n,:.sonry, with concr,2:tG floors. Partition had
divided the sel.'."1..rge enl.1)ty buildings into more normr.l dwel.1ing
pl~ces. Locnl medical authorities reckoned th~t 726
::iersons o ould be s:-.f ely ~ccornoc!a tee. There was r.. good
water sup1Jly, mid excellent kitchen, fine food stor,:'.ge
nrr.'.".ngements, showers, elE;ctricity and t> • . 30-35 b8d
hospital.
Thoso wert.: the: thr(,'G ~t:1ging cc..mi., S c..rc,und which
the rc-patric'..1.tion j"Jl:ill wc:.s to turn. By the.: ti□G thGse
plc .. ns h· /! been sc ttled it w1.'.s tht encl of Sc)tembor nnd
the Repatrio.. ticn Di vision, Cr:.iro, were n1: .lcinG arr:mge •.. un ts
to send tho perso e1. who could be involved in this
c,p~rr.tic,L . Thus during the first fortnip ht of Oct l.. b(;;r nine
ReJ:ntri:.:. tion c~nd 1\'1edico.l J;E.rsonne;l :lightc..J 'J t Ik.1robi
e irport, in two flights; those good p0oplE.: W(;r!J S1:;pn.ratod,
Miss Mabel Grumlcy of tho USPHS, gcint, to Kigo□e. as
Nurse, Mr. fl:-,rc"'ld J -:i.coby, Mr. Bo..hari, :kiss Stew."'.rt 2.nd
the USPHS Nurse, 11lj ss Piette, going to Mr..:.kindu, nn.:1
Mr. Emerson Brov 1., Miss Trumble, l'vir. Nicolakis an1.. the
USPHS Nurse, Miss Ethel McClung going to PUt'.U Ro::.cl
Cnm11 nt Do.r ~s Sl:1 lF.'.run.
Plnns still remained that the [}iier2.tio11 wc,uld te
,·ccowplishcd in two flic.;ht~, ono0 lE! vinE D~r es Snl·wu 1.".bout
Deccr11ber 1st ~nd th- c th, r lc-"vine iior,d.J'.: S," t.b• ... ut Jnnur~ry 1st.
Page 13
..: 360 -
But u:.iny changes were to come, ,r.nd the l u. st rofuge0s
were no"t t1.., get o.wny before three r:ionths cf th1;; new
year h~cl p£'..ssed .
For tbe month of Octob~r the UNRRA p6 rsonnel rcrcJort
on idleness, Ln excess of leisuro. In tr1G c ircu1:ist:.nces
this was to be expected. These cn.mps hr-t(l "i.)een run for
some ye:c.rs by EAR,\. .::md '.llrenc.:r had their Cl'!::p ~dciinistr r':. tion
st?..ff. Th:1.t there should. s1owly f0rr:Jont c.. resentment on
both sides wr.s 2.lso 2.. fairly n ·~ tur::~l c our:.i.:: c, f ~vents .
It wns diff:Lcult f( r the UNRR,~ I}8rsonnel to know where
even the bce;inning of the"ir authority 1 ,~.y, r.n-~ they s~Jcnt
m;.:ny weeks loc,k:Lng for it.
Although idleness no douut fostcr1:;,l st::Ct-3 ir.1;.e.tic11ce
this does raise the ,oint t~lt the first move cf the
refugees across ,-.fricc. he:. , ... alrer-.c~y bcr:un when tho UNRR1.
rcrsonnel o.rrived, but during October it was sufficiently
srn-:111 tc give .s.n excess of s~y::.ro tina.
Fr ,.1m Ki [:!;orr. l,1iss Grunley re{'(•rte<l th· t c,n the day
foll0winc her nrri val 164 GrcC::k rcfuf.J ·2S ",rr j_vc(: fron
J ~':.dotvillu. 'l'his h ·:,1. beE:n :' .1..unc hourney, tLkint, two
~nd c'. hr.lf Jc.ys to 1.lbertvillc on the wost side of
Lnko TangAny ik;:,. r;.rh.1 r. twolvG hc,ur 1:: ko h:.,urnoy . Th0 s0
rGfugc-:s wurc :et by lorry ·:.nd brought t o the cr.mr .
SioiL:.rly on .Miss Grmule;y 1 s r.eco:r.1i.~ c1.n.y the first 2,ruup
of' refugees nurnbe1 ng 256 left Kif;or::i ... f•)r D~r cs S,;la ".ill
~nd tha Pu0u Rond C~np.
I
Page 14
- J61 -
In fr.ct Miss Grumley gives figures v1hich sugL8St
that Kigomc. was :'. little mor11 nctivc ,,_urine those l::ttcr
wades c,f October tmn we:rG the oth~r C(tffi1)s:
Into Kigoma
Fror·1 Ellzr.bethvil 1 e:~ ii 11
II II
11 My :::m z a. 11 Elizn:)c.:thvillc fl Ei t (_1 g,.:.
Out of Kigomc~
To Dar es Sr..ln.?.111 II II ti II
Refugc..:es
164 164 178 155 170 156
255 256
Oct ,:,00r 19th October 26th November 2nd. N,)vcmbor 4th Novc:r.1b(;r 8th N ovcm·oer 11th
Octc.•l)r:;r 27th Novoubcr 10th
Thcs6 :'lights were escorterl ay Grook rGfut;c .... ~3
themselves, in overy c2.se ,,nc Doctor r,_ccc□p,.1.nic,: tho
fli t:ht. The cr1r:1iJ st..ff nt Kigom ,? , is r ... p•;rtcd D? Miss
Grumlcy r.s cl.,nsistin£, uf the Cr-.np C, rnn::..n,:c1.nt, J/1r. Otto
Fisch~r, the Chief Welf~rc Officer, Mrs. Otto Fischer,
the Quarterm·.•.stur, M.r. Butcher, c.nd the nur sc, fois s lvir 1.x~l
Grumley.
little mc.,ro unr8st. th.::m elsmvh(-,:r.::), wo se:G thn.t in Octobvr
thJre was not~ cr0~t d0al t0 do. One flight 0f ~10
rcfug f'..:CS h1.1~ i:r rivGtl in the car,1; just ~)efore Mr. Jac,-:ioy
':'l.nc~ his p .rt.v, ".ncl th0s~ c.~icl not constitutt: "'.. e;rc..:.t
'D 1rticul: r ly h;n, 1 ~ w:iP, r;nG s, bt,.i.ng of th · nq uc t-ty pe c.n-.1
c1...nsisting vf r~etrc l tins cut in mlf ;.1.n,~ 1Jl1c"'--~ in c8m1:,nt
Page 15
- 362 -
blocks. They were open t(.J 2.11 manner of lif E:, f lins
from many miles around heing in regular 8-tt<::nd:~mce.
Following Miss Stewart's entry into the c~mp as
Welfare 0fficor this m&tter, ~nyw~y, inproveJ ~n~ her
conscientious ins~)ections kept nany people 0n their
toes.
Mea.ntime Mr. Jricoby in his long report en M:ikindu
co.mp for Novefober 1945 x to.lks, .::.. little in retr1.,spect
perha1')s, cf the inc:.ifference: met with. He writ(;s,
"i~ furth8r re,~son for this wor~ry inc..iff.::.::rcnc0 is t.:i be
fuund in the rel:1ti cns of tho C[Wtp ,:.(1:;1ini::;tration t-J its
HQ offices. Supplies h~.ve been orc..E:rcc1. in the J.:,as t but
they hn.vc been s l ., n in c ,:irainr;, or ha.v0 never c::rri VGt..
So now the excuse is, 'It ts not worth ordering, it won I t
e..rri ve nnywo..y' • 11 One may wull sec th,it r out inu o.nd
::icinot-Jny mc::.y indeed h:-:.ve worn initin.tivc t0 tro.nspLrency
and there is probe.bly much truth in Mr. J~coby I s ':..larrJ,
but when the fl ow c. f refugeos increo..secl t ,_ wnrd the encl
of the yee.r these criticis1:1s J:,:-:ssE:d 0..w:-:.y.
The; c:-i.mp population nt Mc:kincltU on NovC:ubor 1st w-:..s
421, but by the one of thc.t men th it h;:.1..1 risen t o 837.
' bince it r:1i~ht b1;; of interest tr::, seu whence these
rcfut,:e:es c s.r.1e and where th::y were rcturn.ing to, th0ir
homel~nds 1re giv~n below:
Chio~ 359 Sn.me~, .·· , 307 Ikc.1 i2. :.'.Ild Mi tilini 86 Gr~ek m~inl~nd 3~ :GodBcr-inesc (K~ lyr.mos) 43 Speciel cases 10
837 x See R0Jntr 1 ~tt0n fila 1 Re por ts - East ~frica, Grc ~ks 1 •
Page 16
- 363 -
;,.s o..cti vi ty incre?..sod so there .:-:rose o.11 those
minor pr,) blems which hc--:.ve long since been shmvn. Of
the 837 people at Makindu seven bn,-1 crept in under cover
of tho rest c!.nd h:1d to be returned whence they c ame ,
while toothless refug€cs of the cm.1p com:plLin0c~ e,:'. ch
e tj_1:1E: dry rr..tions caml3 on the rnenu, ,':'.ntl special provision
h-::i.d to be made for them. Tho lr:trincs bucamo the butt
0f int er-rE;fugoe diSl)UtCJs, Miss Stewart being told,
"i~nd it is her children who make the mess of tho lt1.trines. 11
Meanwhile the Pugu Road Ct.rJ;J r.t Dur as Srd.r.am was
beginning to fill, one woman cominr; in cl strn.ie:ht-jnckot
end having to be p,'."..ss0c. to the r.wnt[!.l home.
To Kigona came a won".'..n with leprosy of three ;irenrs
c~urc.tic•n .::.nd her cLllghter of twelve. ThesG two were c:.t
length given temporary lodging in tho European hos(iit,_~.l
of the tovm •
.Amie-: these incic:ents prepr.ro.tions continu1:;:!, the
coi.:i ·iline of nomin,".l rolls, the pr0grc1mme of inJculc'.tions,
the Rrr,.nging of groups, the rwunting (1f hGP..Vy b: c.gc1 gc,
work with which these UNRR11 teams were now fcr1ili":"',
During N,:vember the C'lm11 CotLJMd:'.nt c,f K.i[;l)r.ir..,
Mr . Fischer, departed this world, :mcl in ord0r t,'J hel~
thr~ &1R,1 who h-:d no i.mmeC.i.:1.te successor fer hiu, Mr . Euers0n
Br · wn wns trc.n sf or1· .J ( l to KigomF. . .Jr . J2co:Jy tr;c.ik over his
plr~ce at Pugu Ror.~d Crnp, whi.1.0 Mr. Bc.h:~ri str.yod on r.t
11 • lcindu in ch"' rgl.' of UfRH,~ optff/1. tions thGre.
Tino 12r1.:;v noo.r for tho first flight c.ncl ec.rly in
Page 17
- 364 -
December ca.me news of~ large v0ssel 1 the 1Rein~ tlel
Pncifico~ of 18,000 tons. Onece again the ruling
which had so upset the repatriution pluns for the Gre~ks
at Djibut1 on the good ship 1Ccp Tournne 1 r~isod its
voice. The 'Reina del Pacifico' coulc. t r.ke only lifeboc.t
c ~·.pacity. But for this ruling the entire cm:q.>lenent of
Greek Refugees in E~st ~frica could hcve sailed homc~~rds
together. Ho·Never, hypothesis o.nd possibility c.re now
in rctrospGct, the 1 Rcin3. del Pc.cifico' could t ~ke only
one thousr.nd.
It was originally plr:nned th:'.t this ship should be
directed to Dar es Sr.la::r.i, there to ·,,ick up the ?50 refugees
who were then in t ; Pugu Road Cc.mp, while ~ further 250
from KigoLO.n would travel c.cross and m·:.de up the totr:l.
This plan failec-. for several re~ sons.
The m0nsoons were sti!:ling, m<l the shilJ vnis toe
lc.rge for Dur es Salao.n ,'J.nywr:y , r:.nd would h"..VC t·· .I lie
three nnd a half miles out tu se,, v:hile high wc.ters IJ~de
m.1burkll. tion by lighter impossible . In addition to this
the Tn.n.ganyika Railvnys required nine d~~Y s noticL ~ f n
novc nnd the 250 refugees would never be brought ~crons
in time.
In the end it Wr'.S :..-..gr0ed the'. t the refub1::GS Wt,uld
h :--.ve to embn.rk o..t MOl'J.b~s2. nnd the~ only vmy uf tc.king th133
to tru::. t port W'.'..S 1Jy se,:,.. To accor.1plish this two sr.w.11
vnssels wer8 obtninc.d, the ss 1Hunc.n 1 :·.nu t110 ss 1El S:1id'
Page 18
- .365 -
and on Jr.nunry 2nd 1946 two trains cc.rriod the rc::fugees,
then totalling 723, to the wharf at Dar es Sc.1.lr.:.t1. At
midday the s.s. 1 Hunan 1 weighed nnchor enc at J.30 p.m.
the s.s. •El Said' did likewise. Before thec w~~ ~
twelve hour j uurney c.long the co2.st to Mor:iba.s<1 where
lc:~y the 'Reine. del p9.cifico 1 • Mec.nwhile 250 refugees
pro~ceded to Mombas~ frcn Makindu .
Early next worning the refugees bo~rded the liner,
the whole operation passing off sr:iuothly, and on Jnnur.ry
4th 1946 the fir st flight of 973 Breek refugees from Ee.st
Africa o.nd tho Bolgian Congo sailed away. With this flight
went Mr. Hnrolcl J -- coby as OC Flight, Mr. Nicolr~kis:, Miss
Trumble and the USPHS Nurse, Miss Ethel Mcclung end
Miss ri.rlene Wr..ldhaus.
After this departure Afr 1ca sMk b:1ck into
darkness. The north east uonsocns <..1f J':'Jluary, Fe brun.ry
and March swept down upon the c oast, acccrdingly new
plans hc.d to be considered.During the end of December
1945 ~n<l the beginning of January 1946 th0 Chief ,f
Mission, Brigc..dier Waddington, visited East ;:..frica, ~~nd
it wns c.s <1- result of his visit that :1 cump known ·.s
the 1nglish Point Co.mp, Mor.ibo.sa, becm.1e tLvnilablG . This
was D. rest a.nd lef'.Ye camp belont::ing to the British ND..vy
and would ncc orod~te 300 persons, hut with ~lt .rations nnd
some re-constr·uc tion cc uld rnc:mn.ge onb thous a.nu . Tho cru:ip
is reporteG by Miss Mable Grumley, who h~d left Kigow~ on
Page 19
-
- 366 -
on Jt.nu~ry 7th, as being ideally situated on the
no.inland of Kenya, o~posite the island c,f Moubasa.
There were exc~llent cooking facilities, good quarters,
spnce for hospital cases, and a well-equipped dispensary.
To this cnnp were transferred, on Jnnlli~ry 31st 1946,
300 refugees fron Dar es Salan.Ll. They were brought over
on the ss 1Hunan 1 under escort of Miss Gruoloy, and they
were embarked, nlong with 918 refugees froo Makindu, on
the P & 0 liner, ss 1 Stratheden~. The whole embarkation
took only l hour 40 ninutes and the ship sniled the s~□e
day, nrriving at Suez on Febru~ry 8th. Once agnin the
refugees were taken to El Shutt canp to awnit their turn
in the general repatriation prograone. With this flight
travelled Mr. Bah£,ri c.s QC Flight, Miss Genevieve Piette
ns Nurse md ~-~ i::- s St ·wrn.rt as Welfare Officer.
Back in E,.' st i-\fricu things had slowed. Sr:rn.11 ships
for tr.?..nsportir.g the refugees fron Dn.r es Salano to
Mor.1busu were hard to cor.ie by. :rhe ss 'Hunan,, belonging to
the British Nnvy, ho.ct depc.rted for Mnuri tius, while the
ss 1El S~id 1 , belonging to the Sultan of Zanzibar,
hnd been c~lltJd t ~1 -che potentate . Two r.ionths pl.ssed
in silence .
. at las+,; 1:'.C the beginnin~ of .Hpril the ss 'Sano.ria'
wns obtained, ar . by then all refugees were nble to
foregather clt Eng]..1sh Point car!lp. This last flight
nuobered 1056 refug ,c: , •11th that figure rnised to 1068
by four deportees " Y)d tP,n GroP.Y- officPrs nc c0•1r :..nied by
Page 20
- 367 -
The ss s~□cria arrived at buez at 8 o'clock on the
oorning of hpril 14th 1946, and the refugees followed
the trail to El Shatt.
Thus closed a long episode in the history of MEO
repatrin.tion, on: which was surveyed in the autUinn of 1941+,
renewed in July 145 o.nd continued ur, to this 14th
day of ArJr i l in the year 1946.
Page 21
-
- .36$ -
The return of refugees initiated through the P~lestine Office.
Preparatory to setting np the Jerusalem office, an
UNRM representat 4_ve, Miss Elizabeth Brown, travelled
to Palestine in January 1945 to oake a survey of the
situntion there. But not until Mny 15th 1945 did Miss
Brown officially .set up office as representntive for
Palestine nnd the Levant States. In the beginning
Miss E. Brown was a Voluntary Society Worker but shr-;
becru:ie later an official employee cf UNRRA. The Jorusaler.i
Office hn.s never been of any size, he.ving n rer.uL.1. r
office of three including Miss Brown, with tm r.ddi tion
of one driver who has nlways been a soldier indefinitely
~)osted to this duty fro□ tne British .army. .11.dc.iti cno..l
staff have fro□ ti.rJe to time been sent t o Jorus~leo
to r:.ssist with fairly large reeistr~tion or when uovos w ..... re
in progress .
Originally this office cane under the Chief of
l11ission but a.fter Brigadier WD.ddington hc.d tuken ovor the
ission it was placed t1ore appropriately under fuc
Bureau of services. The questi on which the Jerusnler.i
office had fir st to consider r. ny be sunnnris0d gs under:
a) The Repatriation of Gr,2.cks n.nd. Dodecanese in
Palestine and the Lebr..non.
b) The repQtriation of Czechs in P~lert~r e .
Page 22
-
369 -
c) The probable responsibility for Polish
Repatriation.
Although the repatriation of refugees fr00 Palestine
constituted problens somewhat unlike those of the more
regular camp flights, owing to the scattared location of
many of the refugees, the flights were of n sinilar nnture.
Prior to the closing of Nuseir~t camp in Septeuber 1945
those Greek refugees living out side of canp who \Vi shed to
return hor.ie becarne the responsibility of the Jerusalem Office
nnd were either moved tc Nuseirn t camp wre:ro they bec:::i.me part
of flights being sent houe from the port uf H~if~ to
Greece end the Greek Islands, or they were sent direct
to the port to join the flight there.
The ~~in activity on the repatriation of Greeks
lay in the late sunrier oonths of 1945•; July, ~ugust,
September. Of t l ~ severQl hundred refugees who were
moved by the Jerusnlem office by far the largest
operation wns that involvinE the move of 1007 Greek
refugees from the Leb[:non. This wr..s a c0obin~cl flifht,
1044 refugaes proceeding to It:Lifa from Nuseirnt en.mp in
Pnlestine, o.nd the Lebo.non group joining than there.
For this pur1)ose Miss l:!;. Brown, u.ccom·;.c.nied by n
repres4nt:i.ti vc CJf the Re ,Jt.1.rio.tion .LJi vision in Cc'.i ro,
proc •eded to tho Leb~non on ~ugust 12th 1945.
Only six days w0r0 allowed for the :.reparation of this
r_, vr:,. ) v,he1~ .it · !"1 1: ... "r.,-ir1P<l two or three Wt,;Oks. These
Page 23
•
- 370 -
refugees lived in houses dotted about the hill sides around
n village in the Lebanon known as Souk el Gharb. The
task of dhecking on the registraticn of these refugees,
of having thera inoculated, and generally preparing all
the phnses for this move was a very complicated one.
In many cases the re~ugees were living in small nouses which
were innaccessible by car und yet person~l visits md
to be made to :-.11 grour,s, The British Army branches with
whom the UNRRii. representc.tives hc.d to delll were situ~ted
in many different places, scme in the port of Beirut,
others tw·0nty 1.iilcs 2.wD..y in the Lobanon. However,
these refuge es left by train for Haifa on fiUgust 20th
1945, joining with the Nuseirat group at the port on
the 21st when 2.11 were embarked on the ss 'Eirdan 1,
which sailed tLe same day.
Unfortunately neicher of these moves c~n be said
tu have been sntisfactory. Synchronisation was poor, not
nearly enough advance plcnin& had been done between
Nuseirrt c 2..mp :.nd the Leb ... '.non gr ou1j and this result~d
in great ccnf usion ct the port. Both flights hn.d been
divided into cr oups u s wa s customary, but these roups
iT ere f cund · , rh8 port t o be c.uplicnted., instend of
1Jeing in sc 4.u1;;1~ce. The embC'. rkn.ti (.1Il t oolt mnny hours,
w;is stO)iJi:;d on several occas i ons, hindered by the enorm us
nr.1ount of bcgf age C['.rrie c.l by t e refUiGes r.nd by the
l ack of 0rg~nj s:-> '.: !1 "110n, t h8 rpfugecs themselves.
le 1. L1111 ;, .1. l v ➔ h · ~0 _1 rr~a s s uf t . is r.1ove wus never repeated.
Page 24
- 371 -
ht the end of January the MEO were authorised
to repatri~te 500 Czechs from Palestine, which raove
has alrendy been recorded. This authority meant well
over a months work and plcnnin£ by the Jerusalem Office
to acccmplish all ·' '1ose prepe.rn.tc.ry phases for a move,
but with the further difficulty of the people living inde
rendently , The fin~l nw:1ber was 340 and these refugees
were moved to El Shatt Camp on 1Harch 18th 1946,
Ex Enemy Nntionnls,
In the ~utu.rnn of 1945 nuthority was received from
ERO to register austrians for rep~triation. This meant
more activity for the Jerusnlem office, but unfortunately
the authority proved to be u misinterpretation of UNRRA
resolution 46, and this work conua.once, in favour of
ex-eneny nationals was premature , since P~lcstine wcs
not u liberated country formerly occupied by the enemy.
The curtailment of registrntion of ..tI.ustric.ns in September
1945 (upon receipt r;f Washington cable No. 4326 to London
of 11th September 1945, reptated Cairo 771) caused much
distress amonL the hustrinn refugees who had in many
cases given up their dwelling places, their jobs, und
sold their business. However, nothing could be done ~t
the time and it was not untjl May 1946 that registration
wns reopened, (Under resolution 90, on ERO cable authority
No. 541 of ~0th A rj J 1 Q/16). The question of the[
Page 25
- 372 -
Austrian: refugees is still a very ;iresent one. Even
after registration it was not until December 1946 and
January 1947 thc.t permission was obtained frorJ J~ustria
to proceed with the repatriation of these refug&es.
Follo~ing this perillission the first group of ~ustrinns
was moved from Pqlestine to El Shutt camp on 26th Febru~ry
1947. They are at the time of writing still awaiting
return, held up by the Italian trunsport situation
which cannot promise to convey them through It~ly.
The Problem of Jewish refugees.
The majority of the imstrian refugee, along "" i.th
the other nationalities who became eligible undo~ tho new
resclution, Germ~ns, Hungarians, Bulgari~ns, o.nd RUIJ~nians,
were Jewish. Too Jewish authorities in Palestine have
not taken kindly to the reJ~triation of refugees of their
race. The J wish Agency and. the ,Jewish Press have shown
themselves Ds uncooperative and o~)posetl to these rr.. ..:,ves,
and there has been reported discrimination against Jewish
refuE,;ees who wished to leave Pnlestine.
Future work in Palestine.
At this stage it cc.nnot be assessed hov much work
still remains to be c:cne in Palestine. In Jul:' :.) 1,i:
Page 26
- 373 -
authority wns received fro□ ERO to commence registratic.>n
for repatriation of Poles in Palestine and the Lebnnon,
and on the 7th September 1946 cru:ie the first move of
Poles from Palest ne; these refugees were sent to El
Shatt camp were they aw~ited shipping. The second move
of Poles from Palestine and the first from the Leb~on
were mcde in October, the refugees likewise s~ing to
Ell Shatt. But much work still re□e.ins.
The UNRrlA representative in J erusr.lem h.ws nlwnys
stressed the excellent cooperation she has received from
the Palestine Government end the military authorities.
Palestine hns not boen nn easy country in which to work owing
to the ::oli ticl'.l 2nd rnc inl c,bstn.cles which h~ve dis turned
the peace. Curfews, militr-ry ln.w, nilitc.ry zoning,
civilicn antagonism 111d severe rostrictions h.:.ve considerc.bly
handicapped UNRRi. ~ctivity. Nevertheless registration
continues on the Poles end such other elieible r~fugecs
, s now and again en.me forward .
.n.Ssist11nce ··1.s been given to the Jerusalem office
by the C.I.D. of the Palestine police, the Dt)1Jurtrnent
of Immigration, the Dep·lrtment of Social Welfnre, the
Department of Health, and the Secretnriut and this hn.s
been much appreci.:tteJ, and has helped ti") simplify the
complicated lJrobler.1s which f2.ce UNRRA in Palestine.
Further problems to be met with by the Palestine and the
Levant offi CA 1.1 ill be se r-n in t l 0 rP ort on Polit. 1 refugees.
Page 27
- ;74 - .
THE SPECIAL SERVICES SECTION,
Resettlement and Iooigration.
In Februar: 1945 the Balkan Mission set up within
the Repatriation Division a Special nervices Section for
the handling of cases concerning refugees who had no
wish to return to -'~heir homeland and were desirous of
settling in other co1~tries. There hns been some
criticism level} 0j at the acceptance of these tasks by
UNRRA and it hn , 'J:-·en felt in some quarters that an
agreement s •1.o uld have been come to with the I.G.C. at
the outset of these problems, since they are more the
responsibility of this concern.
However, Gf fer fs .t •~ 1w·.:r,ils thi b, end 1 =~ile-::. ancl ... ·•tru Special
Services Section set nbout its tasks. For some time
this work was carried on contr~ry to UNRRA instructions
and it was not until the autumn of 1946 thn.t UJ.{RM
officially ~ccepted the work of resettlement as against
repatriation. T ~sis one of the units of the MEO
who have done a considerable nmount of work with n
small staff. The figures now given will show, in a
similar manner t o those already pr·oduced for other reports
in this history, the number of personnel employed by
ouarters in the Special Services Section;
1945 . 1-ill_ ....._ 2nd 3rd 4th 1s t 2,.,rl 3rd M_q
3 4 6 6 J 3 3
Page 28
- 375 -
As has been seen this section, having us its
head ~iss Augusta. Mayer son, set off 1'nder the Repatriation
Division, but between hpril mid June 1945, the first
quarter of the MEO ts existence, certain 1)lm1s for
reorganisation were mude and in June the Bureau of
Services was set up w·ith its three divisions Repatriation,
Health nnd Welfare~ It wns in June that the Specic.l
Services Section was tr.:1.nsferred to the Welfare ~ivision.
It is not easy to £>.pprecic.te the rec:.son for this chn.nge,
but nevertheless it took place. The work of the Secticn
was uncffected and cuntmued as before. Hcwcver, with
the liquidE.ti0n of the Welfare Division at the end c.:f
Murch 1946 the Specio.l Section once more returned to
the Repatriction Division and here it has remained for
the r,ast year, th~t is to the time of writing.
The number '.)f cc.ses with which it has dealt
successfully m~y not ~~pear t0 be very large, and indeed
are looked u~on °b'J the present he~d of the Section,
Miss Philips, as disappointing. Nevertheless, :m .
enormous amount of work h~s gJne to the accomplishment
of every one of these c~ses. Those convcrscnt
with this s0rt of work will more rendily apprcci~te the
legul, politic~l, a.~d consular difficulties to be
vercome qnd the time and ~atience they call for. There
is 11 ttle mcJre nc cr.n sc:y on this quo st i on of resettlciilcnt
r:.en th ,') r cs ,,1 ,11.sj "'l l i t,,r of the ~'°cl-al-.. ., ~
Page 29
,. ..
- 376
s~rvices Section of the MEO. Suffice it to say
that 561 persons hnve been enabled to emigrate t0
countries other trum their own and, it is hoped, to
embark upon happier prospects.
There is given below a list of all persons
who hc.ve been dealt vri th successfully by this office,
and the countries to which they hnve proceeded.
Page 30
MONTIIL.{ TI\'.IHIGUATION STATISTICS BY DESTLI.ATION - REFUG:EZS & S?ECiLL C.ASE.3
cij ~
DATE Ii ; ~ ~ rg § @ ;; ;; ., § '
______ :+-~-z--l· i--;--t-_i_+--~--+-~-+-l--+-i_.,__i---4'"-"-l~+-'-i.._f---'--'l----f.-"i""-f,,,-,,,,:,-'i'--+-~i~I-I=-- ~ 1945
• en
TOTAL
MARCH- :- 1 1 --------1---i------.J--+--!-----f---f--+--+---f---i---f--~--~-+---l-----l"----ll----f--+----+---+----t----+----t---+------
AffiIL 1 2 3 ------+---+--t---+---t---1---t----+--+---t--+----t-----;r--1•---l----l---+---+---t--+--+---t--~--t----;...----t----·-
MAY 12 12 --t---~-..,_--+---+---!----J---+----- ---------------------
JUNE 8 5 I 2 1 ---------~-+---+---+---+---1-----t---~-+---t----t--- _______________________ I __ ___,.,___, __
/JULY 1 3 I 7 3L_ 1 14
-~L-A_u_c_us_T __ -4----+- _ _,___~'---+---+---1----------+-._-_-::_-:_-:_.~_--__ 1-_--;l~---1----1---j .... · _- j_6 ___ --+-..... _-_ ---+---· -._.....-.. u~_-' - ____ ·!-: -----2---.--.··i•· - ~---8--1 .J. I I r , I i 2 58
--0·~-T-OB-ER---+--~---,- 1 7- -,- ti 6 4 : -7--,---- ~ ,··-,---~.--· 7----16---
--_-_-N?~~ra==YIB=ER=========~:l,1-~~~:.~.~~:~~~~~l~-f-=l=:======l=:==---~,- ,- _-, -;t-1--+-----1'- ! -·--- 1 ! ,;··- -- 23 I -- --- I I --, ----t----+-2~, j --22
---19~ -------- - --t.--+---+---if-----1--·-f--f---+---;...- --,----
16
/ SEFT:El.IBER
DEC»IBER 20
JAEDARY 52 3 10 2 , 2 8 77 -------+-~~--j!-----ji-----+--+--+--+----1---+--_._--+--..f.--t----jJ.----.I----+--,-.------------ _ ____j -----------
FEBRUARY 3 6 , 9
MARCH 17 -------+--+-_,_ _ _,_ _ _..__....,_ _ _.,__..__..__~ - --+---+---+---+---f---+----,,----1---i~---+---+---+--16 6 19 53
APRIL 9 27 I
MAY 1 2 27 30 .,
JUNE 1 2 I 5 8 -------+--t---t--+----1'--+--+---+---+---+---+---~-----❖---t- -+--:'---1---->----------------------
1
Page 31
'
. .... . !_ .- I .'"
·--- - -
ii z I -~ ;:j
~ 0 88 c3 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ <i: <i: H 8 • z <I! 1-j B tj < t DATE ;::i § ; f/.l ~ ~ l'x1 a H H >-t p:. f/.l
~ I ~ I i 8
~ :x: z ~ §
TOTAL
~ f:-i ~ tl ~ <: f/.l A ~ ~
• 8 • f/.l rg z i H
~ ~ ~ 8 ~ 0 ~ 8 <: ! ~ ~ ; ~ • ~ i:q ,:Q 0 Fl l'x1 8 ➔ H P-i f/.l f/.l 8 ::,
--! JULY 3 1 4-
I
AUGUST 2 1 l 7 10 - .
I I 13 I S.EFTEMBER 25 2 3 4.3 - ' L ·, OCTOBER , 2 l 1 3 - ·-,=F----1 ,- - -
NOVbMBER 3 1 2 I J... I i:;i:; I 6r _) - ' - · 7-- ·•- --F r I DECEMBER 4 1 I i:; ' t() ,.__
l_i _ _l= - ·--•-t-• ·-t-- · 1947 I I C""\ JANU1\RY J... 6 I l 2
j - __ ,.._._ -- ·-l ! I j I FEBRUARY 1 l I --1- 3 4- 10
13 f 1 - _ t:~:1~- fl ---
M.ARCH ' 1 6 I 2 I . 24 l I -· --·) 1~~- -- ·-·- --- ·--- I l I -r -, l GRAND TOTAL 14-6 I 2 7 .3 l 24 5 1 J, I 14 f 8 1 42 I 5 3 22 4 I ~ 9 f48 I ,._
561 --;
-
r
' ! ..
- -
Page 32
- 379 -
THE SIORY OF TH], POLISH REFUGEES
It h.ns alroady bem seen that as early as the
autl.lllln of 1944 the possibility of UNRAA taking over
the Poles was in mind, and appears at that time to have
been almost a certainty. As we have noted, Mr. S.K.Jacobs
set off on his African tour originally with the intention
of registering the Polish refugees throughout those
territories, but this was stopped at the request of the
Polish Minister Delc6ate in the Middle East, and Mr.
Jacobs finished by only visiting and reporting 9n the caraps.
It may be recalled that in 194 · , during March and
April, 43,597 Polish refugees are recorded as crriving in
Teheran from Russia. In fact a total of 110,000 are
said to have found their way to Persia, but the m1~jori ty
of these were of the old Polish forces. The 43,000
became the actual refugeas, a.nd were the families and
dependents of the uthers. They h:l.d been deported from
Eastern Poland between 1939 and 1941 and had been released
on the intervention of the British Government who foresaw
their mil1tcry possibilities as an addition to the
allied armies in the wost. In a manner siiJilnr to that
which has already been narrated regarding refugees of
other n~tionalities, those Poles became distributed
fnr afield in the Middle East, although several thous1nd
remain&d in Persia , the majority in C'Wlp s or instituti ons,
Page 33
- 380 -
but n. substantial riiir:.ber living privately in Teheran. ·
?;iany of this last number were employed by the British
Military and other bodies in the Persian capital.
The distribution of these refugees mny ue listed
as under, nlthough it must be uppr ·iated that cnrly
figures cannot possibly tally with those calcul~ted in
the post-wQr period .
POLISH REFUGEES: LOCATION 1-i.ND TOTJ'.iLS.
Lebanon
Palestine
Inc....ia
East Africa: UgRndo.: Masincli
Kojo.
Tnnganyika : Te.'1geru Kidugala Ifunda Kondoa Dar es Salaam
Terr torial Total
3299
4293
5930
4500
2651 5950
4048 1100 1071 440
20 6679
N. Rhoclesi~: i,bercorn 559 Ev,una Mkubwa Lusaka Fort Jameson
S • Rhoc'1 Psi , • ::: .. ".'J. p e VI2.randellas Digglc.: ;ld
Kenyc .. : R,Jneai (T' ·•cld1 .. : on (ilond
Total East I;.f-r._-i ce..
Grand !otal
r., ombc.sn
.i.384 1215 167
770 631 102
431
19 324
33 5
1503
774
18231
32954
Page 34
'
- J81 -
These refugees became the res~onsibility of
the British Government nnd in June 1945 an Interim Committee
for Polish questions, consisting of officials of the
British Tr8asury 2nd Foreign Office assisted by the
Polish Officials experienced in various brnnches of
administration, was appointed to carry on for the time
being that iJart of the former Polish ildministration for
the welfare of Poles in the UK end abroad, and for
administration of the Polish hrmed Forces.
Ji.. considerable rJnount of corres~:c-ndence hE1.s pnssecl
betr"een UNRRA of ficin.ls, British Government Departments,
the British Embassy in Teher2n, the East Ad~inistr~tion
c.nd the Depc;.rtm8:it cf Commonwcnlth Relations, G07ernrnent
of India, on this complicated question of Polish Refugees.
The reasons opposing the immediate tQking over of .. the Poles by UNRR~ were many. rhe Polish situation was
complicated by being so tied uµ with the milito.ry; UNHR.1:1.
would not be tnking over the milit y but the frun1lies
of the militar J; from this r:.lo.1e C['.me mrny points for
debate. Too, the refugees had for the most part become
~ccustomed to~ very good standard of living, with
comparative fre :-.':.om. UNBB,1. couJ.d not continue this,
and UNRRh 1 S policy of no discrimin~tion would cause,
it was felt, much bitterness. In UN1rn;. cam)s these people,
whether pe r- c: -;."" f- s ~d. !"l(i ~s fnl 1;1;: ar professional men, would
liv~ on the same level, sh, rin~ ~cr.~m0de in, sleeping,
c- 1' · J. n 'J' f ,'' n; 1 i i · i n ~ :, 1 1.· kr . ""' I ,. E:. ~ I • .., ' - .. - - •
Nor could UN HRi1.
Page 35
_,.
... 382 -
. . . ~· " • .
maint41in the high allowances then being paid through
the ~ritish Oov~rnment.
There were other problems Mr: Jacobs, in his
tour of the African co.mp.s, -vas the first l1N1'RA
representative to experience at first hand the great
reluctance of the majority of the refugees to return home.
Even though this attitude has been very likely assisted by
the remoteness of these camps to which little news of the
outs :i.de world leaked through, nevertheless there hus always
been an extr&mely strong feeling age.inst r,3turning to
Poland, nnd a wide distrust of the Polish Wcrsaw Government.
fifost of these people suffered hc.rdly at the ru.mds of the
Russians lmd _ spent many months in lr..bour and concentration
camps, cut off from relatives mnny of whom they do not
expect to see again. nt a meeting held in one of the
crunrs in East Africa n wom:m jur,1:Jed , . .,J and screamed nt
the striking resemblance which Mr. Jacobs boro t o the man
she said had murdered her husband in Mo scow. The. t sue h
episodes mo.y well be str.iged is suggested by the fact that
this incident was almost identically repeated when
Ur. Stevens went to In.din two yen.rs l a ter. There r..
women, levelling a less r race assertion, swore that she
hnd seen Mr. Stevens in Mosc0w. Influencing these l) (: O.f,;le
a great deal were the letters they received from their
menfolk in the forces, mGst of thAm tPlling them their
f c.milios to s t!'ly wher a th0y rnre.
Page 36
- 383 -
J»S may be recalled, while Mr. Jo.cobs went to ,1fricn
another representative w~s sent to Tehernn and India.
A few months later when both these people had returned
the Special .Assistant to the Chief of Mission, Mr.
P.C.Floud, mnue a further visit to Tehernn ~nd produced
n. vast quantity of correspondence on the Polish
situation and UNRRA 1s position in r~rsin, an amount
which has exhr.ufted the historian's grP-titude.
In one of these reports x Mr. Floud points out
that at the time of writing there was no indicQtion that
the British Government intended requesting UNRRl1 to tako
over responsibility for the c~re and maintenance of these
refugees. 11 It also appears," he wr1 tes, "to be the
intention of the Government to remove the ri;,fugE.:e:s from
Persia at some time prior to the final with<lrawnl of
British Troops ••.•• Tho British Government feel th~t
dissident Poles run.one the refugees might be subject to
physic~l pressure to return to Poland against their
will if left in Persia. 11
It seems l"..'t"l.:?cossary to quote the many hundreds
of words Mr. Floud has written on this situation, since
rncu • ., of th- problems which nppe2.rcd during his survey
h~ve since dissolved, ~nd the course of ovonts in simJle
narrati vc shoul(l give .:i. clearer ~md more simplified ~)icturc.
Long after the \mo had t '"'.ken over, procrastin<.tion
~pr1011sly spre d SCl.:r1t5cism, tmrl the .i;1ission ber;an to ~\.rnJ
y St.e Apn°1'"1rliY G Hr~morr..nc um on thr- att1.tucle of UNRRi-i. t o .he Poles in Pc:.1. ::in. See Ml File - PoL::s CM. 1/13.
Page 37
- 384 -
th2 ··, the Poles c'.fter all would not become their lot.
Further to push forw~rd this question the MEO cabled
London nnd Washington in July 1945 {Cable 562 Cairo to
ERO) 11Vlhat is UNRRA' s present responsibility re Poles
J.iiddle East? Need for definite policy becoming dc.ily
more urgent."
To this cable Wushington replied in their No.
700 to Cairo, 11 No change in situation. Being discussed
Wa.shington and Wnrsaw . .u
In September 1945 aftor continued silence the MEO
followed up with, "Request full informntion UN~1R.1-1
commitment in view stnff planning, supplies, instructions
etc. 11 (Cable 757 to ERO).
However, rriany pc,unds in cables o.nd mnn7 hundreds
of pounds in travel expenses were to be puid 0ut before
nn~ · hing concrete vms to emerge. In September 1945,
Lt. Col. Anderson, Liaison Officer and Specinl Assistr.nt
to the Chief of the MEO (upon the departure of Mr. Floud
to the .i1.lbo.niLl Mission) was due to leave; accordinGlY
to London ho took with him dull details of the Polish
situation in the Middle Enst. Mny be his visit ucce:lernted
matters, mo.y be it mcr0ly coJlided with ovents, but in
OctCJber ERO I s cable 795 to Cairo r L ,ds, ''Foreign Office
i'l:::s formally requested UNnRJ.. t G tn.ke ovor Poles in the
Mi,~018 East, E2.st ;sricn. nnd Indin unc.er Resolution 46.
Propose r ~""lly m,TRR~ "e:r "':c :-•1hject ~ert".in conditions.u
Page 38
- 385 -
In the same month j," Rome the Chief of the MEO,
Brigadier Waddington, attetding the Rorae conference on
F. & ~., cgain stressed the mntter with ERO officiuls.
The last ERO cable ref erred to t1ight misle2.d the unwary
into believing that things were moving; in fact the
situ.~tion was affected little. The MEO was beinc
seriously embarrassed with regard to its own future
since its other commitments were passing away and staff
co1,1 d not be retained on a probability. The MEO has
felt that Washington and London never re~lly attempted
to understrnd the complexities of the Polish question
from the st2.ndp0int of the Middle E~st where the work'
wuuld have to be carried out.
However, in October 1945 two officials c2.me out from
ERO - Miss Gibbons of fielief Services D.nd Dr. L~J1grod of
the DP Division. After dif-.cnssion:. with the Chief of
Mission und the Director of Relief Services, 1Iiss Lrifforcl,
it was decided that a representative should be sent to
East .11.grica.. Mr. Emerson Holcomb, the Director of the;
MEO DP Division, who was finishing up nnd was about
to return to the States, was asked to make this journey.
The aspects of the problems into which Mr. Holcomb
wns tv enquire were listed by the Chief of Missi0n in
coniunction with Miss Gifford and Mr. Holcomb. Summarized
they muy be giv~n as under:
Page 39
- 386 -
a) Locations ot people.
b) Th~ir composition (Family ~roups, orphans etc)
c) Their employment.
d) The activities of those unemployed.
e) Educational, religious and recreational facilities.
f) Method of orge.nising communities, source or funds c·
g) Cost of cocmunities.
h) Basic services avnilable, food, clothing etc.
1) Attitude of Polish Representatives,
j) ;1.tti tude of Gov~rntients.
k) Possibility of setting up transit camps etc.
1) Need for UNRR~ stuff. x
By the end of JanuQry 1946 Mr, Holcom~ bQd visited
East Africa, India nnd Palestine and had conpilcd
comprehensive reports on the situ~tion in these territories. ·
Much that • Holcomb was asked to report on was
already known, but it served to confirm that the situation
wns little chnnged. In East Africa the Governments of
Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Nortrern and Southern
Rhodesia proved unru1imous in their request for the removal
of these people from their territories as soon as
possible. They were of some embcrr ;smcnt to the
nuthorities and in certain cases outnumbered the norn~l
European population of the colony. As well it had t o be
~ppreciated th~t the Governments concerned would not be
in a position to finance these people should the British
Government withdraw their sur,port,
x The full letter ~duressed t~ [r. Holco~g from the Chief of Mission and d~ted December 4th 1945 will be found in :vtEO File I Pol s I Cr. 1/13.
xx or full reports se EO file 1Poles 1 C 1/13.
Page 40
•
- 387 -
The question of whGther or not the refugees wished to
return to Poland remained unaltered. Mr. Holcomb himself
makes the point that much might be dune by encourcgement
from their menfolk in the forces, but it w~s estimntcd 1
that not more than 25% Gt that time elect to go home •
Mr. Holcomb's very comprehensive:: report e,n Indio.,
where there are two camps popul~ted with a sum total of
4500 refugees, gives an extremely full I:'icture of the
sit u1tion there. It was roported tr~t almost every
refugGc had some sort 0f 0mployrnent, thD.t in educctionnl
fields schools ton high st.::.nd~rd were being maintained;
funds were obt~ined through the Government of India,
r&imburseable through the British Government; the
internul administration of the c~□ps was left to Polish
coraL.1;.1.ndants. ~.s to the other points which Mr. Holcomb
wus csked to cover - food, clothing, health etc, all
brought s=itisfactory answers. Mr. Holcomb reported thn.t
none of the Poles in Indi~ wished to return to Poland •
.ttS in Africa the Government of India was
that these refugees should leave.
cnxious
In Palestine Mr. Holcomb's main talks soJm to h~ve
been with Air. Raoul Gcdomski, Polish Representc.tive in
Palestine. :Mr. '1odooski stated that Poland did not
wis~ to.have repatriated the officials and adherents of
the former London Polish Government; that Poland would
not raise the question of the return of Jewish refugees,
. - --- _..,
Page 41
- 388 -
but would accept only those cominE, forward of their own
wish; nor would there be interference with the 900 orph~ns
who had cone from Teheran and were th0n in an Hebrew
institution. Pole.nd would nnturally welcome thG r0turn
of us many refugees as possible. M1·. Godomski urged
that should UNnRA take over the Poles it would be wise
to effect the transfer to C.::li.:llJS slowly, leaving as little
as possible in crunp between the trunsfer and 'f\ltimate
embarlw.tion. In conversation with Mr . R.Newton, of the
Secretariat of the Palestine Government, Mr~ Holcomb le~rned
thnt, unlike India and ~frica,the Palestine Government
was not pressing for n.ny immedicte removal of the Polish
refu i:sees.
Polish refuge8S were at that time being transferred
from Persio. to the Lebe.non but circumst.:.nces prevented
JYir. Holcomb proc~edint, there.
Following in Col. ~ .. nderson 1 s footsteps l'Jir. Holcomb
went to London where once ag~in the ~uestion w~s gone
into, but months were to pass Qnd the MEO to lose nn.ny of
its employees, before anything trul~ materialised.
In ~iarch 1946 Brigadier Waddington was in London
and held further talks with L1r. Van Hyning and Mr. Ward.
Here again was raised a pc,int which had arisen before
but which has not been mentioned. For so:r:1e rec.son ERO
hnd been nuch c.gainst the use of El She.tt ns a trr.nsit
cc.rap for the Poles. Once agr:.in, on the point being
Page 42
- 389 -
raised by Brigadier Waddington, it wns outrulcd. From
the angle of the ~ViEO this could not possibly be aj_)preaict r -
The MEO was not in a position to start up another canp, nor
did there seem rAason when one was ,~lready well-established
and when repatriation , rocedure had become a routine
affair, with excelient liaison established with all
those concerned from the camp to the port. AS to moving
the refugees from their present locations in Palestine
and the Lebanon direct to a port, only those well
conversant with the .,liddle East could understand the
difficul ti.cs ~nd coriplica tions this would oean. Indeed,
the whole matter of ~;21:L.t.tr~( u.p ,. c .. i:tp
in l ~~lestine we.s gono into :md nside of any other reasons
the Palestine Govern.r;1ent i.nd the J,Iilitr~ry c.uthoritie s wc,uJ r
not nllow it, nor had they the facilities to provide.
In M2.y 1946 Brigadier Vfaddington and M" jor Findlay,
who hnd the month pr~vious taken ovGr as LJirector of
Relie f SGrvices~ h~d conferences in Beirut regarding
Poles it the Lebanon. Brigndier Waddington then returnocl
via Jerusalem where further discussions wore held. L"- t cr
in Mny M" jor Findlay :_-..ttended a conference in London
and there tried to obtnin some definite policy on the
Poles. With him wn.s Mr. H • .1i.. Curtis, ::.n UNHRA 0fficial
fr om the Gre ce Tu~ i s sion who had uecn o'ht9.ined by tho
fEO on chcnce for the Polish cunu:iit□ent, should it
ever arise.
Page 43
-
- 390 -
It was two yeo.rs after 1vlr. Jacobs had sot out on his
tour of the .African Caops and six months [:_fter Mr. Holcomb
had completed his survey that at last the Poles becane
an UNRRA charee in certain respects. On July 12th ERO
cable No. ·1161 to Cuiro authorised£ 30,000 for Polish
Repatriation, but with this information cane no
instructions. A further oonth was to pQSS before the
MEO was authorised to act, and then only on the registr~t ,
and repatri~tion of Poles in Palest~ne and the Lebanon.
Le: ter, in .r1.ugust, following the Fifth UNRR;l Council
Session Geneva,£ 1,700,000 was allocated for the care
and maintenance of ~he Polish refuGees. On his way to
Geneva Mr. Fiorella. LaGuardin, the Director Geniaral
of UNRRA, had spE::nt two days in Cairo.
In Noveober 1946 Mr. H.H.Eggers of the IntGrio
Treasure Co1:1r:1ittee arrived fron London. With Brigadier
Wac;_,} ington and il12.jor Findlay he visited Palestine and
the Lebanon, while lt'.'..ter ho and Brigc.dier Waddin£ton
journeyed t o East Africa. Mr. Eggers was making
arrangements for the termination , f the ITC and the
assumption of full fin2.ncial responsibility by UNRH.ii,
This arrangemt:nt would obligate UNRRA t o pay His
Mc.jestyts Government n. per cc.:.pito.. rnte for ea.ch refugee,
the anount varying ~ccording to th territory. In
Palestine and the Lebanon the nmount was £ 10 ::• er hea.d.
Following this agreement the registrQtion of all
refugees at l n. st con nenced. Mr. H. ;~. Curtis proceeded t c
Page 44
- 391 -
Nairobi, once again to set up en MEO office there,
Mr. D.Stevens went to India, while Miss Eliz3.~_cth Brown
added to her e.ctivities in Palesti:r •,..: . In Jc.nuc'..ry
diss Stewart joined Mr . Curtis to assist in the long
tnsk of covering the cc1L1ps in territories the size of
which has already been suggested by the story of the
Greek refugees.
Mr . Stevens did not rerJ2in in India for long,
by February 1947 he was back in Cc.iro h~ving registered
all the Poles in the two camps concerned. His reports
suggest the difficulties of achieving this. His report
of the 15th J:.nuary 1947 rGads in part: 11 Pr['.ctico.lly
all persons in the camps have declared that nothing
will induce them tu return to Poland. Their eX~'-eriences
nt the hands of the Russian hr.ve left them with a hate
that is, in some c~ses, fanatic~l .•....•• they hn.ve a
dread that .:'.!lything thGy sign will mean they will be
forc1::d to return ;->:: P0lc..:.nd. 11 .A fu?· 'Uher extr.::.ct rec.ds,
IJThe fact is that not one pers,Jn in this cctnp wili do
one str0ke of work without pny1ilan t. They have entirely
lost sight of the fact that they ~re refugees, anu their
whole c:tti tude is thr'.t we should. be grateful for the
01,p0rtunity of supporting them. 11
It must be seen, therefore, that registration b:,,- no
neans is a guarc1ntee of n pe·iceful rcpl...triation move .
Page 45
- 392 -
However, a few nonths prior to this, the first
Polish Flight set off, sailing on November 1st 1946.
This flight comprised 159 refugees from Palestine and
the Lebanon. They were transferred to El Shatt Camp,
despite ER0 1 s dislike of this method, and sailed from
Suez for N~ples. In the sane month four further Poles
came from East Africa, and in December came 154 fr~m
Bombay end 572 from East .u'rica.
It is believed tho.t with time the question will
become an easier one, but will t 1.lce very cnreful handling
and n vecy sound knowledge of the obstacles to be overcouo.
Since the Polish question will g,:i :-n for mc:ny
months after the completiCJn of this history there follows
the full text of 3. nemoranduo compiled by Nmj or Findlo.y
on the impediments to repatriation.
Page 46
- 3_93 -
Accomplishment.
The rope. triQtion operation commenced in .t~pril
1945, three weeks ~fter the formation of the MEO. The
list below attenpts to give a summery of repatriation
moves undertaken, showing by month the number of
flights made, the nationality of the people returned t0
their homelands, ~nd their numbers.
,ipril
M::y
June
July
.tt.ugust
September
Octcoer
November
Decel!lber
Flights
2 3
3
2 2
4 2
6
5
4 1 l
4
3
Nationalities
Greek Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs
Greeks Yugoslavs
Groeks Yugoslavs
Greeks
Greeks
Greeks Yugoslav Czechs Italians .iustrians Yugoslavs
Greeks Italians Yugoslavs
Grr;eks
l
Numbers
1502 4305
5018
1724 3315
2707 3331
5239
1853
2913 1830
167
1162 1
66
1059
RGma.rks
Th6 first Gree1-:.1nd Yugoslt;V flights.
The sixth fl ir' of this lil (,Il tu on the s. s. 11:!.mpire Pntrol' which caught f ·· tho survivors returning to El Shctt
Page 47
•
- .. ·• . - ..... ........... .
1946 Flights
J ::muary
Fobru~ry 3 3
h'iarch
April
May
June
July
.1 .. ugust
5 l
8
3
2
1 2 l
3 1 3
1 1
September 1 1
Oc ·:ober 2
- 394 -
Nc.tiono.lities
Greeks Yugoslavs Ito.liens Czechs
Greeks Yugosl8.vs
Greeks Yugoslc.vs
Greeks
Greeks Czechs ~ Ethiopians Cypriots
Greeks
Ethiopian Grcelts Yugoslav
Greeks Yugosln.v Ethiopinns ) Cypriots )
Cypriot Yugosla.v
Greeks Poles
Groesk
Numbers
1729 2"536
42 95
970 3257
2223 1472
2484
835 .340 125
624
4 3 2
10 20
1 6
2 6
8 .387
4
~- .... ,. "'.
• ..... .. a- .. .... ...... . . -··•· •
dei:1c.rks
This w:1.s tho le.st raajor Yugosl~v flj ~
Two of these were flights of Ethiopi.:ms
Lust major Greek flights. Herl;, c0llll:ienccs the return of isGl ~t . • individuG.ls for whom org;in,'lry p:2.ss::.ges Wl:re bc1uk0d .
This wns the first Polish flight, the refugc0s being n0va . fro□ Pal~stine to El Shatt can:ri , ,_.nd sailing fr ora Suoz for N:i.~1les.
Page 48
'
- 395 -
1946 Flights i~ a tion:-.li ties Numbers Reca.rka
November l Poles 159 Fror.1 Palestine, the Lebnnon and Egypt to El Shatt Camp., sc..iled from Suez for Naples.
1 Poles 4 From E.4fric~ to ~lexendria to Naples
December l Poles 1a2 154 from Bomb~y, 38 from Mombasa(Kilindini) all to N2.ples.
l Poles 3 From Kilindini to N4ples 1 Poles 11 Fro1.1 Port Sn.id to N.s.1Jle l Poles 531 513 from Mombasa. to
Nnplcs; 17 fron .iiiombr..sC'. to Suoz; from Suez,; 1 from Sue.?J to Naples.
Total refugees ropctrietod: 54,280 ns at 31.12.46.
It wj_ll be seen thc..t those figuros 2..re givon up
to the end of 1946. This does not mec..n that repntri~tion
was finished. It takes tho situation only arr:roxinw.tely to
the time of writing. The Polus aro to-day· a larg0
problem in the Middle East, as has been sc~n, but for the
reasons that have been given their repatriation is not
such ~ regular feature os that of the enrlier refugee,
.:1nd flights nre :'. more in termi tten t nff,_ir, resting
much upon the whim of the refugees and the growing
psychologic2l effects of pence.
1
The different flights of the Poles in November and
December 1946 have been given sepQrQtely because cf the very
Page 49
- 396 -
varied pl~ced from which these people travelled. The
regular Greek and Yugoslav flights, ~swill be
appreciated, were made up of refugees moved en bloc
from c~raps in the Middle Ecst.
It may be noticed that the Yugosl~vs were moved
in larger numbers 1n fewer flights as compared with the
Greeks. This was on account of the longer j0urney und
the need for lnreer ships. The trips to the Greek
islands were brief affairs nnd a vessel could turn round
and come back with Mlother flight while the Yugosl~vs
were about entering the port of Split.
Even though the repatriation progrrunme of the MEO
in th8 Middle East is still not over, it is felt thQt it
may be snid that sor.1e diff.icul t a.nd interesting tnsks
have been accomplished. It is true that with0ut the
good co-operation of the Militury authorities, the
various Government Departr.rnnts of countries concerned,
the kindred organisations such as EARA, much ?ould not
ho.ve been done, or would have been r.~chioved only n. t
immense expense and oveI' u far lengthier period; but
this should be no reflection on the work done by the
personnel who h3.VE: D.ssisted returning these peoplG horue,
since by world need these institutio.1.is beg ~t e.'.lch other.
54,000 refugees may well r-~ppenr n small number in
comparison to the millions in Europe, but the i_Jlf.'.ns to bo
Page 50
-
-
- 397 -
laid for repatriation hc:>.ve been of a quite disimilar
nature. Every flight listed in this section hns entailed
n journey over land and sen. Every Yugoslnv flight meant I
a week on the mediterranean and a fortnight for the
flight terun, and often more where they were delayed.
Every flight of refugees has mennt much detailed rlanning
for t he commencement of their journey, the duration 0f it,
and the fincl disembnrkation. It has net been anywhere
nenr as simple ~sit mny a~pcar on pnper. Of the 76 najor
flights, all by lmd &nd sea, accomplished by the MEO
Repatriation Vivision only three or four h~ve been
recounted in ~ny detail, and these h~ve purposely been
those from which the MEO learnt lessons, It WGUld seem
reasonable thnt the great majority 0f ,efficiently
handled flights neGd no recording.
As tc the problGms 8nc0untered, these hnve for
the most part emerged with the telling and it is extremely
improbnble th~t the najor one's will recur, or thr~ t should
they do so, th~ organisation then faced with them wuuld
be able to supply such remedies as did the MEO, where
indeed remedy was possible. Remedy lies with the oom~nt
and the circumstances of the ~oment.
The following files have been referred tu in
compiling the reports on the Repatriction ~ivision.
Page 51
- 398 -
MEO DP files 550.6 552.6 557 .5 557.6 557.7 583.3 (closed 31.12.45) 583 .3 (Belgian Congo & E. 1.frica) 583.19 583.22 !Bl 583.22 C 583.22 D
R~ports 'East kfrica Greeks' C11. 1/13 'Poles r Individual Flight Files, in pnrticulcr: 19th Greek (8tl" Dodec2.11ese) 34th Greek (2nd E~st Ld'rican) 44th Greek 2nd Yugosln.v Repntrintion 81/45
.Rep~tri~tion Greeks 81(2) c 45.
Page 52
-
- .399 -
The story of the Heul th Di vision which
follows h:..s '\-. ; en com1Jiled by the historian, but
o.lmost entirely from not~s provided by Major
F' indlo.y prior to his dc _r['.rture, and it is to
these notes the re port owes its existence.
Page 53
- 400 -
THE HE~~LTH DIVISION
The staffing of the Division • •
T'bc original Health Division of the .1.'IIEO came
under the Camps I?ivision of the Operations BureJ.u n.nd
consisted of the following personnel:
Chief Medical Officer .. · dninistrntive Assistmt Secretary Chief Hygiene Officer ~1.ssis tc:nt Hygiene Officer Secretary Shorth~nd typist Typist.
This was the HQ st~ff in Cairo, controlling the
c o.mp medic~l staffs, initinting m~dicc.l policies and
maintaining supply lines, With the third quarter budget
0f 1945, howevtJr, the MEO hnd cottled more h:i.ppily into
a stabilised formr~tion and the Hee.1th Division wus
m.::.dc one of the three :Jivisions coming under the Burec..u
of Services. hS with the other Bureaux ~nd Divisions a
chc..rt is given shovnng the complete •; tren(;th of the
Health Division by qucrter, to the end of 1946:
HQ Cr.~iro
Camps
El She.tt
Nuseirc.t
Tolwnbat
1.2.42. ..:nd 3rd 4th
9
90
36
32
5
50
36
24
8
56
Mos~s Wells 11
El .hrish 4 l 7
Totnls 182 116 71 f
1946
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
4 3 3 2
48 35 16 6
5
57 38 19 8
Page 54
... . . . .... .... '
- 401 -
In c.ddi tion to these numbers there were rn"-my
refugees ·rho worked witl1. the r-:edical str'.ff in too cc.aps .
These refugees rone;ed from Doctors to orderlies, while
many of the woaen worked ,.s nurses c::ides. There were
t.:'..lso in c ~JlJS and at HQ rr er.1bers of the Uni tcd States
Public Hee t.h Serv ice who came undE::_' th(; US t,.r 1y, were
uniforr:ed pE:rsonnei holding .,.~rr:y ranks , but att·:.chcd to
UHRRA . These ::,eople included Doctor!,, Hygiene offict;;rs
and extremely well qualified nurses . They h,•ve been
incluc:ed in the nur.1bcrr-; given above.
The Hr~lth ~ivision HQ Cniro.
It wo.y be remembored that tho first C:1ief of the
11E0, Col . Hyde, wo.s originc.lly ,..;1edicc;.l Offic~r of the
Br-.lkc:m 11.ission . ~vhen he took over tho :,1E0 ho 1.', ·:.s
replnccd by .LJoctor Dodd, .v10 in his turn W('.S r~-pl£'.Ced
by Doctor Ne •1borry . Both those c.r-1 ointril.;nts lastod
but c. .1~ttur of weeks and "·t the end of d· y 1945 Col . H.,vcle
c.ppointed 11.['.jor li'indl"Y c.s Chief .e01co.l Offic\;r for
the I· EO. i..r .1 or F incllr~y, of the noy- nrmy Medic~.1
Corps of the i3ri tish i,rmy wns then Pl\: 0 of El Sh;: tt
C· ! .. 1-1 .:\n ~ C' rly in June he cr..t e to Cairo to t.kc 'ov1;;r his
r ew assir:n:.:! nt. In this cn;J:J.city hG rem;...lnu·t until the
end f tlarch 1946 when the Health Div_sion es such
was liquidc.tcd. ince, how ver, .iajor Findlny rcnc.inetl
on as Dir ictor of t I.; Di vision £ Helt S
Page 55
- 402 -
Services in i'vlarch 1947 Ilajor Findlay passed from the
r1Iis sion.
While in existence thG Health Division of the
MEO h·:1.d its full share of responsibility und work. \
All :... :::ation of staff to camps, camp medical supplies~
planning for the return of seriously sick refugees cmd
the transfer to mental hones of those in need, nrr::!nging
of hospital ships or nd8quQte accomodD.tion on ordin~ry
troop-ships for such as TB cnses, Llnd tho time consuming
task of sta tistic2.l hee.l th returns - these were $.lnong the
functions of the Health Division HQ. There WQS also
the questir•n of medice:.1 care of UNRrui personnel. In
the first t10nths UNct.RA Class 1 eaiployeus received
medical and hosi,ital cDrG through the Ju:ierico..n and
British Military oedicnl services, but with the
curtail1nont of militnry f r.cllities in Cc.iro these
priviler;as were withdr2..wn town.rd the end of 1945. To
replace the111 c i vilicn hospital fc:.cili tius were nrrcnged
2nd an outside doctor gc'..ve c..udience to sick Class 1
emp-~yees. For Clnss 11 eLlployees a part-tioe doctor was
tuken on who hc::ld clinics twioe daily at MEO HQ,
.::.nd does so t o this day.
Tho incidence C>f illness c-~.1ong Clr'..SS 1 employees
hes bGen rem~rkably and consistently low. One Clnss 1
Gr.iployco died in Cairo of virulent diphtl10rio.. and thoro
have been two cases of infantile paralysis, both of c. low
dc'[;ree of scvori ty. Infocti ve hep;., ~ tis, common o..mong
Page 56
Europeans in the fuiddle Enst, found a number of Class
1 employees.
Throughout the history of the He~lth ~ivision
there h~s been ct hendquarters along with the Chief
Medicc:11 Officer a Chief Nursing Jidvisor, which rosi tion
hc.s been held at different time::; by tiiss Arnstein,
~iss K.arze 2.nd r.Uss Tiber. There was also, for a short
time during the eQrly fuEO ~ays n Chief Hygiene Officer
in the person of Cnptnin Pllliil vuff.
Even so, the Her.l th Division HQ has been mainly
concerned with the mcclical welf2.re of the r(:fugees in
the !Yiiddl E~st ca.r.ips nnd since its own history is so
slose bound up with thn. t of the c..-.... _,,s, their story
follows.
The Cr..r.ips
The Cc:!np a t El Shc.tt, as will by now be 2.. ~·Jpreci:1ted,
has bet::n y f a r the largest cc..mp co1.u:1i tment uf the MEO,
nnd it is to this camn thr.t most :i.ttention will be eivon.
Prior to UNRR.11 1 s assumption of r~sp0nsibilities
in the 'Ai(ldle East the initi:-.:.1 sto.gen of setting up
1,1edica.l services for the refugees had bcln unclertnkcn 1.Jy
n. small nedic~l stuff ;;.1.ttnched to MERt1A. It mcy be r0ra~_mbercc
tho.t El Shc,tt camp was stnrted in Jr..nuary 1944, but tn
fact en n.dv ce p~rty of ~~drn1nistr[:ti ve nili tnry -~~:ersonnGl
went nhend for ini ti .. .1 planning. ~'J,10ng these 'i,f.."O plo
Page 57
wns a smt-.11 nedic[~l staff consisting of Doctor Wilson
Dodd (USA), Cc.pt Elliot, Ri.MC (British), r.nd l,.c. j or
L. Findlay, RAMC (British).
Before this medical staff lay the very large task
of organising camp hos pi ta.ls, medical inspection rooms,
hygiene, 2nd all other medicQl facilities. Many thousands
of Yugoslnv refugees were beginning to ~rrive weekly, &nd
indeed in such nuri1be rs that in :~pril 1944 the camp at
Khntatba was opened • In those first rnonths tbere
were some changes among the s lila-ll. medical stnff referred
to. Cr.pt Elliot wa s transferred to Cn.t1ps Di vision, -
Cairo, a s uirector of H0alth. 1-1.t El Shatt Major Findlay
reoained es Principal ~cdic~l Officer.
Shortage of ~cdicnl Staff.
During the first twe.ive months the nedlc[~l side
of El Shatt crunp was faced with m,.ny problems, so.,w
of which were applicable to u.11 camps, so:.1e to c::. particul:!r
cari1p. For six months at El Shn.tt durine 1944 there was
an ncute shortage of medical officers, nurses and trained
h:rgiene personnel. vii th tho first group of YU£ osl"-v rGfugces
had c .:.:1 TIG two doctors, one of these, Dr. Vuskovic, being,
the recognise<l medicAl officer of the Yugoslav GovGrru:ient
and the Yugosl~v Refugee Centr~l Committee at the c3mp.
Dr . . Vuskovic immediately bccrunc part Q,f' the medic~l hospital
C c.r.1p Staff•
Page 58
- 405 -
In February 1944 Doctor Yoder, of the .American
Mcnonite Central Couunittee, arrived at El Shatt. By
then the camp had been divided into two, and Dr. Yoder
was posted as Medical Officer to Camp 2. In this
capacity he remained until August 1944 when he was
transferred to the camp of Tolumbn.t near Alexandria,
which was oponed in th~t month as a convalescent
cl.mp. Not until the end of the summer of 1944 Wils thL
problem of the shortage of nedical ufficers to some
extent solved. A tcnL1 of nedicnl officers were
recruited frorJ Pclestine .and at the saiile time there
arrived in the Middle El"..st UNRRA □edic,:1 personnel.
While Major Findlay reports on tho excellent s~rvices
rendered by these UNRRA people he also stresses the very
tempor~ry n~turo of their work and the difficulties this
crented. These ::1edicnl people were :~waiting trnnsfer to
the Balkans o..nd it Wf'.s impossible to assign them to r.ny
task with confidence that they would remain for any
worthwile period . 1-.t c. noraent 1 s notice Cairo would
order them F.wo.y . However, with the arri vr>.l of two
.LJi1ericnn lc::dy doctors in the fnll :..,f 1944, M::ij or Oma
Cre0ch of the USPHS ::-nd Doctor Evelyn Holt, the mcdicnl
side [:t El Shn tt for the fir st time wc..s able to look
forward to a noro regular staff.
1~s w th medic:::.l officers so with nursing stnff, and
in the spring of 1944 so acute w:;.s th0 shortr .. ge tmt nt
Page 59
- 406 -
one time not a single trained nurse was in El Shutt
Cnmp. fo cover this emergency the British Military
allowed nursing officers short peri.:-:ds 1n the cai:lps,
but they were posted for no longer tmn two or thr0e
weeks and ul timc.tely ce~sed to become nva.ilable. \Ji_ th
the arrival of ccrtnin British and bmerican Voluntary
bociety nurses and some Balknn Mission personnel the
situation e~sed, but rcm~ined one of uncertninty owing
to the temporary nature of these assignments. To
offset these difficulties an AmeriC c'..t1 Nur so., Miss .Ruth
Faust, set up a smnll nurses training school where
Yugosl~v refugeG girls were tGught elementary nursing.
In the summer of 1944 Lt. Dorothy Sutherland of the
USPHS continued this work and developed a wider training
progrrunmc. This nursing school bccc.me probably the most
importn.nt of the medicnl operations at El Shutt Co.mp.,
not only large groups for nursing on their return home.
Many hundreds of these girls graduated from this school
in elementriry nursing, while <'- fn.ir number proved worthy
of more advanced trnining. This school c nme a.t different
timGs undor the supervision of Miss Kerze, Miss Frazier,
Miss Johnston ,::.nd Miss Ruth Fletcher.
Time solved thG se staff shortr.ges nnd the i.\llEO was
not to suff~r them. Dr. Oma Creech who took over the
position of PMO nt El Shatt Cc.mp in 945 held the position
for over a yec.lr, whilo Dr. Vuskovio who ultimately
Page 60
- 407 -
succeeded her is the PMO at El Shntt Crunp to-dr~y. Many
,~ericnn and British nurses have seen months and even
years of service in the ccmps, for with the coming of the
MEO the whole situation bec~me more regularised.
Camp eCical F~cilities.
In November 1944 Khnt~tba Cump was closed mid the
remainder of its refugees, some 3500, were trwsferred to
El Shutt. With the refugee numbers at the camp continuing
to increu.st: rather t!Wl da:11.ne the medic~l staff was
faced with the extrer.iely di:.'ficult situc..tion of a growing
nunber of hospital cases without the fucil ,ties to cater
for them. No other c~m~ wns faced with this problem so
severely.. l:4°'or a long time tented hc ··pitn.l .:.:.ccomod.::..tion
had to suffice, but work h.'.lr early begun an~ 500 bed hospitnl .
This building was erected by the Royal Engineers of the
British Army, using local l~bour. It was of oritish
military design and there were at the same time erected
outbuildings for -- pharmacy, o. la bot-at ory, c. mu terni ty
ward,~ teaching school and ·a mortuary. In cddition
to this n l~rgc compound hnd to be erected to house
over twc hundred hospitc".l workers. In the vnrious Ct..!.mp
. arer.s medical insrcction . units were constructed.
Throughout this time also an immense runount of work ~~d
to be done in arre..nging with the rtoyal Engine8rs for
Page 61
- 40a -
hygiene facilities, ablution benches, bath houses, grea.se
traps, Tel Aviv pits, draim.'.ge system etc. This entire
programme undertaken by the rloyal Engineers was in the
first year an ever exprulding one.
There·Kere other needs to be considered. An
ambulance programme had to be set up to serve the camp
areas and the c~p hospit~l; this consisted of ten to
twelve vehicles on d~ily duty. For major surgical
serv .lees out side camp facilities had to be arr::.:.nged.
Here again the British Army r.uthori ties gc.ve full support
and a hospitul block in the 13th Genern.l Hospital at
Suez was loaned for the use of Yugoslnv refugees. This
block for the period of a year in 1944 and 1945 upheld
a.n average of 100 patients. ii.lmost unrestricted fncili ties
were grnnted, to ba used at the discretion of the
El Shr.tt PMO. Major ..I:' indlo.y writes that without this
help UNRt~11. would have never h~::..ve been able to arrringe
adequate medical care. All branches of medecin and
surgery were covered. The British Medical r.uthorities
also for severnl months looked· after the mentc1.l pr..tients
from El Shutt, these people being t>.ccomodated nt 78
Psychiati~ Hospital, near Ismuilin, but lnter l.IDder
Health Vivision nrr.::ngements they were transferred to
n civilian mental h0spital in the Lebanon.
The problem of medical supplie$ throughout the first
year of El Shntt c-1mp was n m~jor one and not until Col.Hyde
Page 62
- 409 -
took over the MEO did this matter receive th3 attention
due.
Naturally with time all camp medic~l facilities
improved, Excellent clinics were set up in each
C[!Dlp nrea, -baby centres, scabies, clinics t!nd in
fact, the medical services reached as high a standard
::.S wns ::'.)OSSible.
~nidemic
There was only one ser cus epidemic in the history
of the cnmps c.nd this broke out before the MEO came
into being. Nevertheless, it may be usefully recorded.
It occurred at El Shatt camp shortly after the Balknn
Mission took over, although on _thi ~ acca.sion it is
improb ble that the Bulkan issi0n wus at f~ult.
In the swruner of 1944 measles freckled 3,416
humcn beings, 16.8% of the camp populntion. Below
are given the figures of the differert ages attacked:
Under 3 years 3 - 13 ye~rs 14 - 18 years 19 years and over
Populntion
6929 6468 2223
10441
.26061
Patients
488 2481 336 111
.3416
II
Page 63
- 410 -
~fr:.jor Findlay writes, "Inspite of the intensity
of this epidemic and of the high incide~ce emong nll
age groups it is remarknbla that there were only 22 de3ths
directly attributable to the measles e,pidemic. u
In Camps 1 and 2 provision had to be made very
rapidly to isolo.te the ever increasing number of cases
o.nd in both arec1s two le.rge buiildings, which in the
ordinar7 way were used as community centres for meetings,
concerts, dances and shows, were t~ken over. Beds laid
in dormitory fe.shion covered almo st JVery squr.re inch
of the floors. Maj or Eindlny writes that grec:t credit
is due .to M~jor Benning of the USPHS for the excellent
organisation of these mensles hospitals in this emereency,
&nd for the extreme Cc:re of the patients that resulted
in such low mort,:.lity, particularly in the severe
conditions of desert heat.
Medical responsibilities prior to repatriation.
As has been seen the MEO came in for the repatriation
oper['.tion covering the refugees in the Middle Ec:.st arrl
prior to refugees depcrting there was a consider~ble
nmount of medical work entailed . The Health Division
in Cairo pln.nned the medical requirements for these
flights, and wr..s responsible for ar 1""' nging the nursing
c.nd ship facilities, supplies etc. In the cnmps every
refugee had to undergo ::. very thorough medical exc .. min~ tion
Page 64
.
- 411 -
and forty eight hours before dep2rture this was repe&ted
more cursorily. Every refugee h~d to be inocul~ted wid
vnccinr.. te<lagr.inst smallpox, typhus, Tli.B, ::~nd in the case
children, diphtherin. The e n.rd containing the
p.1rti.culnrs of each refugee h1::.d to be completed by the
medical staff nnd signed by the medicn.l officer
examining to certify the".. t these precr.utions had been
taken. On the flights themselves UNRi'L-.. medicc.l officers
and nurses L'.Ccrn~1pan;f;ed the refut:;ees. In this c cnnection
there was one major flight relr.ting to the severely sick;
this was the 7th Yugosl'lv flight ~ncl it 1-.>ore home to
Yugosl-:via ?O TI3 c, .ses . ,i. Sf'eci::.l Jport on this flight
finishes up the report on the HeGlth side of the MEO.
c~.mps other th::m El Shatt.
The brief story of the medicnl side of El ShLtt Camp
m.:1y be tnkGn -~s c0vcring in D genor::.l way th,Jse either
cilillps coming under the E~J.lcan Mission md the MEO. 11hese
cnm;)s hL-u their own problems but their SCl:'.le of oper'.lticn
has bew much snu:llcr nnd their difficulties correspondingl,
fewer.
Moses Wells, the oldest of the cr.mps, had an ~clequ.1te
mer1ic.:.l service, nlth0ueh the snnitation of the c.~11p, its
water supply o.ncJ. hj'giene opportunities were not C(,nsi<lered
so..f e, as h.:1s been expres secl in the stor;r of thnt crunp.
Page 65
~ 412 .-
From the medicul viewpoint fncilities were good •
.1-l. 50-60 bed hospito.l provided for the sick, while 50
adC.itional beds in tents allowed for the possibilities
of epidemic. In J.i/lay 1944 the st[tff ccnsisted of Greek
Officers and nurses, contributing a P1\ri0, two pr.thologists,
one dentis; one chemist, one eye specialist, one surgeon,
one micrologis t and two gynaecologists, ,while n doctor vms
nttachGd to the school to give speciQl attenticn to
chil(1ren. One head Nurse, ,":. . .lrs . Kc.lcrgis, n. Greek
girl graduated from a school of nur ~· ng and sent out by
the Near Ea.st F0undL'.tion, two nurses trained in crunp and
twenty five further grudu~'- te nurs0s tro.ined in cc.mp made
u ·t) th.e nursing staff. Outsidefr.cili ties incluied the
Greek General Hospital in Cairo where were sent the
senile and dis.:ibled :::.nd hospit~ls in ·P1.:.lestinc c:.nd Syria
to which TB patients were sent. Clinics,~ pharnacy,
a nurse-dinin5 room, a dentist I s the·). tre were r;JTiong the
c,-...mp medj.c2.l facilities.
Khm.tatb~. camp which closed in Nuvember 1944. had
uledical arrnne;emcnts similc.r to thoss at El Sho.tt, th,::,ugh
on Q much reduced sea.le, with Captain Elliot as PlllO.
In .August 1944 Tolumb:i.t c 2.mp near ;~lexc.ndria wns
opened r.s n. c onv,~.lescent cc.mp for mothers and children
from El Smtt. ;1.s has been seen Dr . Yoder wc..s trnnsferred
-:here a.s PiAO. Here there was u hunc' ·ed bed hospitnl, but
in tho beginning limited clinic and UI r0or:1 fc.cili tics. l
F,:;ur doctors rmd ,1.n adequate number of nurses rn2..de Uf, the
Page 66
- 41J -
The Greek camp of Nuseirat in Pnlestine had
t1cdical services almost identicnl with these at ~oses
Wells, but on a larger scale owing to over double the
number of refugees. The mn.jori ty of the medical staff
was mude up of Greek Officers and Nurses. The PMO,
however, was Dr. Cuff, an Englishman. Later a number
of .n.~erican c.nd British UNRR.A nurses were assigned to the
Mnny thousand of people h~ve passed through the
hands of the nedic~l st~ff of the MEO and here, perhaps
1.1ore than in nny other sphere, of ]IBO operntions, s01Je
genuine altruistic work has been done. The nedical stcff
ho..ve worked under th\.J i:1ost exacting conditions, hindered
by short~ge of personnel and in~de~tIBte supplie&, nnd they
hnve worked also under conditions nearly ideal if the
circunstr.nces of cao.p life are given consideration, but
not often hnve they !k~d periods of leisure, if at all.
The Yugoslav refugee doctor, Dr. Vuskovic, worked for
over two yertrs amc,ng his people without return, putting
in J:1e longest hours of ruiy rcfug(.e worker, and further
exar1ples could be cited of unselfish work performed;
while the UNRRii cedica l stt!ff itself does not easily
provoke criticisn . It is felt that in the field of
canp medic nl operations the i.deals of UNRn, . cc.:.10 necrer
re"lisation.
Page 67
·e
- ,4,14 -
SPECIJ~L MEDIC.AL REPATflL,.TION MOVEMENTS.
This report has been contributed by Mujor
1.F'indlay. On the Yueoslav T.B. flight the writE:r of'
this history was the o.c. flight, and certain ru:iendraents
to the report have be.e;1 ra~de.
1. Yugosl~v TB Cases.
The Yugoslav TB cnses at El Shatt hcd for m311y
months been one of the m~jor problems in c.:1n p. There
had normnlly been hospitalized over 70 TB cases, the
majority of whom were active cases and many f ur advanced .
in the dese~se. Accomodation in El Shatt hnd ~lways proved
inadequate for the number of TB cases. The climate w~s
i'!lOSv .disadvantageous, nnd there h[~d been continuous ,
petition on the pnrt of the Yugoslav Centri:!l Coamittee
for the early repatri~tion t o Yugoslnvic of this r,roup.
Shipping spnce, however, for such~ lnrge group
of infec~ed cases w~s difficult . to obtain. But in
June 1945, uccou.mod ~tion was arrGnged on the vessel
r Cc. p Touro.ine t which c c.rried the 7th Yugoslav Repct trin tion
Flight fro~ El Shatt.
1irrnnger.1ents had been completed for the ncceptr.nce by
the Ship's faster of 69 TB imtien ts, ~Jrovided thn. t UNRR1>.
Page 68
- 415 -
nccepted full res·ponsibility. for their raedical co.re
and for the provision of special hospital equipment, linen,
etc., and also provided that UNRRA ~ccept responsibility
for the disinfection of all _ship' s accommod~ tion used
by the TB pu~ients at the end of the voyage.
For this flight, UNRRA provided one oedical officer,
Dr. Gellner, who for mnny months hcd been the physician
in charge of the TB departments nt El Shatt, und who
was being seconded temporarily to UNRRh Yugoslavia and
the Yugoslav Government for the purpose of resettling
the TB patients fron El Shatt and elsewhere in~
sanrtorium which was being prepared for their reception.
In addition to Dr . Gellner, three UNRRA nurses
c.cc0i,1panied this flight.
For the movement to Port Said, three British 1.rm.y
hospitnl ruilwa.y co:iches were provided, and c,n embark:::. tion
at Port S~id on the 11 Cr..p Tournne 11 on 6 June 1945, cc.bin
c.ccomraodc tion wc.s provided for all the TB pr~ tien ts.
This flight w~s in nlmost all respects a difficult
o.nd unsc.tisfactory one. i~lthough the ship's m-lster h~d
c.greed to the o.cccptr.nce of the TB 1,a tients, the mili tnry
O.C. Troops and the .Arny doctor maintnined that they
lmew nothing about such nn arrc.ngement, ,'.:l.Ild there was
consequently estr:ngeoent from the st~rt and the o.c. Flight h,:d to tr0<1. cc.refully to quieten the ill-feeling
nnd g~in co-oper~tion. The food provided on boQrd ship
was in many re~pr~c t;s unsuj t·~blc for the pnti0nts , o.nd the
Page 69
... 416 -
food services inndequate and unsatisfactory. There
was an extreaely limited water supply and inadequate
hygiene facilities. The UNRRA Medical Officer was
exacting in his demands on the ship's services, and
the patients lacked discipline. The presence of these
patients and Dr. Gellner 1 s complaints about food affected
the other refugees und criticis~ of the food became general,
the refugees requesting to take over the kitchens, which
they were allowed to do. While the food may have been
unsuitable for the patients the gen0ral complaint was
not justified. The 1Cap Tourane' had made two or three
successful trips without such criticism.
The only ideal arrangements for such r sea
movement of a large group of seriously ill people would
have been by the use of a hospital ship, but ns no such
vessel was available, or likely to become available for
a long time, the difficulties encountered on the flight
were outweighed by the advnntnges in getting this difficult
gr0up of Yugoslav refugees finally repatriated.
The TB patients on arrivnl at Split were trnnshipped
and cnrried by constnl vessels to the town of Sibenik
wh<r<:;; sanatorium aocor.unodation had been arranged by the
Yugoslav Government.
The UNRH.A doctor, Dr. Gellner, undone UNRRA nurse,
Miss Martha Yukl, remained in Yugoslavia with these
pntients for severnl weeks.
Page 70
- /+17 -
2. A. Greek TB Cases from Sanntoria in the Lebanon.
B. Greek TB Cases from Nuseirat Camp.
C. Greek ~lente.l Patients from Mental Hospital, Lebcri ··
The above three groups of medical cases were
repatriated togetm r on the vessel 11 Eridan11 sailing from
Hinfn. on 21 .ttugust 1945 together with the 10th Greek
Repatrintion Flight.
The TB cases numbered 19 and they were given excellent
ship's hospital accommodation on the vessel. This group
of TB patients rod been transf&rred from vr:.rious scm.:.tori.:1
in the Lebanon to the 42nd General Hospital at Haifa
n fev days prior to embarkntion. This movement and
hs upitalizrtion was n.rr~nged fer UNR.RA by tho British
~ilitcry ~uthoritics from whom excellent cooperation
and services were given.
Eight mentcl cases fror,1 the mental hospitc.l ne2.r
Beyrout were tr:J.nsferred by ambulnnce from Beyrout to
HGif~ on the morning of emb~rkation r.nd ng~in this
movcaent was a Bcitish Army Grrnneement.
The ship's hospitnl n.nd cabin accom.rnodation W['.S
more th?.n c.dequate for all the medical needs of these
specinl groups nnd also for the medical needs 0f tho
2000 refugees being reputriated. The mental cnses were
detained in c abins si\uated close to the ship's hospital.
Page 71
- 418 -
Medical .'.'.I'-d hygiene provision on bo::-.rtJ. ship wr..s
made by UNRrl~ in order to nssume full responsibility
for the control of infection and the disinf.ection of
ship ' s premises after disembnrk::i.tion.
UNRt1..:\. embark0d one Medical Officer, Major J.iOU.i..s
Findlay, .lJirector of Heo.lth 1,1EO, and three nurses. In
addition, one UNRRl~ Hygiene Officer and n. iv1edical
We] .,~are Offic~r were included on the flight terun.
Two Greek medical officers, refuge8s from Nuseirat
Cc.mp, were nlso being repatriated antl gave medical
services during the voyage .
The flight itself wus uneventful and from~ medical
point of view successful.
On r.rriving at Piraeus o.rr.:1.ngements were made f.::ir
the disembarkation and imwedi~te h 3pitalization of
the TB and mental cases.
3. .rl. Yugoslav Men tr:-.1 Cases
B. Yugoslav Me~ical Cases.
During the period whe!_l a large group of Yugoslav
refugees were in El Shntt Camp, there h~d always been
c.. rel,~ ti vcly high incidence of !ilen tL:l tles~ :::. ses. L>Iony
Clw~S were detained in El Shatt Cr.mp, but for severnl
months there were always nt least 40 sarious mentnl cases
who required s .... · cial hospital nccor.imodc.tion and who
were h,.:. spit~lized in the Asfurit. l,ientr-.1 Hospital,
Beyrout, Leb~mon,
Page 72
- 419 -
It was clear that these serious mentcl cases could
not be repatriated to Yugoslavia together with nny of
the normal Yugoslav refugee repatriation flights, nor
could they be accommodated on any normal vessel. Bids
for hospital ship accommod~tion had been plnced by UNRRA
and 1n November 1945 the Director of Medic~l Services,
GHQ, MEF, was able to provide accom: 1 mtion on board
the British military . hospital ship 11 Aba 11 •
In cddition to the mental CQSes from the Lebanon,
the militQry authorities offered additional ~ccommodation
on this hospital ship, and therefore the opportunity was
nccepted for the •repatriation under hospital ship conditions
of 27 gener~l ~edical cases from El Shatt.
These 27 medicr.l cases were embarked n.t Suez on
9 November 1945, and on 10 November 1945 the hospital
ship 11 Aba 11 embarked at Beyrout, Lebt.:'.non, 39 Yugoslav
mental patients.
ONR1-th h~d been prepared to embark additional medicnl
officers,nurses, or nurses aids) but owing to the excellent
nrrangements made by Medico.1 Branch, GHQ, no UNRRJ~ medical
personnel were required cpnrt from those assisting at
embarkation .
•• fter embc.rke.tion, full medical responsibility wn.s
taken by tho hospit~l ship's medical personnel.
The vessel sa iled to Sibenik, where the patients
were dis~nbarked on 19 Novenber.
One addi tion2l UNRRA 'Y' e fuP-P.P h:--d h e P11 embarked on
this ship at Suez, a.n Italian TB patient from El i-..rish Camp;
and this patient W[. s ~nbsr~uGntly disembarked Qt Nnples.
Page 73
- 420 -
THE WELFARE DlVISION
The general background of welfare in the Middle East
~ometime before the Middle East Office came
upon the scene, and even before the Balkan Mission,
welfare personnel were already in the Middle E~st
und working in the camps of El bhatt, Khatatba,
Moses Hells., Tolumbat, Nuseirat and El Arish. By
far the majority of these people \v ce voluntary
society workers, attached to 1iJ.ERRA and Cater UNrtRA
from such organisations as the British Red Cross,
the Americ&n Red Cross, the Menonite Society,
American Friends Service Commit tee, the ii'rj_ends
Ambulance Unit, the bave the Children Fund, the
Catholic Council for Relief Abroad, and wany others.
It therefore follmrnd that these \lelfare people had
already been handling m~ny phases of camp life,
such as recreation, entertainment, child welf&te,
workshops, the solving of personnel probleills &nd t~e
many other issues which are outside t ~1e less int1mn ·: e
task of administration, evon befol'e UiRRA came uvo:n
the scene . 'I'hcy r~lready hc.d a welfare set-up, but
this was within each camp ci.rld was not represented at
H~ Cairo, except in so much as the Societies concerned
Page 74
- 421 -
had their ovm .f-L" 1 s in Cuiro for dealing \'fl ch t;.1.e
personal matters of their followers.
B~ck in the ,.;iERRA days came ·~hG f1r5t Voluntc.:: r~'
worker, and tiere 1& no one in El Shatt ca~~ at tj~t
time who will not re;..1ernber 1~11 s s I Bee I Hc.:.ley of t·•.1e
Arner1c~n Red Cross, hs an unconscious arube.s.sador
of her country she ;,·as first class and w&s one of
the most popular people ever to pass throuGh t~e
long and varied story of El 6hatt Camp. &he did c
very heavy job single-handed and fitted out nearly
10,000 refugees with ARC clothing SUiJplies, 2nd her
vivacity and goodwill was felt by everyone. She
r&uain<lucl nine months and ht> . ..:. departed before the
rnass of tl (: Balkan .Miss:;.on CCc ule ste~ ·1 ing in.
In those early da;s riuch essistari~e ··.::.s given
by outside concerns. The British Council vere t,lVen
permission to plant repre:.,entu ti ves in tne cru.aps ~ .. :nd
through these gen t1c-,rnn c:fille t:1e f 1r st ,nuch nC::l,i:.; "·'-~
suppliGs O '.L. Gd.uca tional Gl uiiJ:i . .mt at a time v,~1.:.r1 1 t
was e):tre.aely he.rd to coi..1c.. by. ·r~1-y also set u;) re:E;din ~.
c.nd rest roo•:11.:, in the ca:.ups ... nu ge.ve 01 their best in
bnglish lessons.
Carryin 6 011 through the Hall,te.n i.vlis~:i.on days
and the d,1ys oi the u11CO were the lnrge sw.,1 s o.: .:w~1ey
ond the quantities of su_:_,1,1 i.e:3 1,Dich hAd. been donated
by various bocli es in the first en thus laws of syrn:rn. thy.
Page 75
- 422 -
·rhe first gifts were made during the 1.JERH.1-1.. era but
they continued well into the Balkan Jwli5sio~1 days.
These gifts have been of tr~mendous assistance to
t:le refugees I they have allowed for extra clothing,
for recreational equipment, for a full set of
instruments for a brass band in El Shatt camp, for
pianos; for a ship building indu$try at Nuseir~t
Camp, while many hundreds of copies of two educational
books in Serbo Croat for the kindergarten schools
of El Shatt camp, written and illustrate<:! by Yu~oslav
Refugee teachers, vrerE: m&de possible. l·'or the cam.0s
of Moses Wells, El Shatt and Khatatba the Royal
Engineers of the British Army made co~plete childre~ 1 s
playgrounds, consistine; of rourictabo.,~t~) sr1n& boacs )
ST.:1in gs i .11aypoles, climbing bars, t,eesmrn, ,.rnc.i a.11
such applicable things, and these, too, were paid
for through •gift money.
In & savingram a long •:hile afterwards the
1J1 1 "J summarised these gifts, and this savirigra:n is
reproduced below :
Page 76
~ • !. 1. •
- 423 -
FOLLO.ll.NG LlS'rll G TODA_'[; C.11.bd. l 1~,i ON -. N.hu'1E OF DO1WR
'.£\,0 COUN'£RY Ti-i.t:Ui;I!; DATE Or .a:,.;~CE,l:PT FOLll'\ l\..!lOONT Ii.,GY.P .rl,.N POUNDS
1
sourH RHODESIAN NATIONAL kAR FUND
YUGOSLAV COLONY JUGO&LAY COLONY
2 3
itHODESlA M.hY 44 OROGO CHlLE JUNE 44 COQUI.1ffi0 JULY 44,
LEbbt..N1.
TONIUS STJEPO1HC CHILE JULY 44 FREE AUBTRIAN \;ORLD MOVE.ii.ENT - SEPT 44 JUGOSLAV RED CROSS JUGOSLAVIA OCT 44 PRINCESS PETER OF GREECE GREtCE DEC 44
ERICAN JUNIOR RED c~oss U.S. DEC 44 MISCELLANEOUS EGYP'f 1944 JUGOGLAV LEGATION BUENOS AYfmS JAN 45 UNITED JUGOSLAV K,!;LIEF IUND U.S. FEB 45 PRINCESS PETEh OF' GREECE GREECE. MaR 45 GREEK HAR RELIEF . U.S. SEP 45 HIS ~fJEZ'l'Y KING FARUK EGYPT NOV 45
ISCEI.LJ EOUS EGYPT 1945
PURPOSE ALL ABOVE GENERAL viELFh.RE REFuGBE&.
hNONY!n OU& EGYP'r 194/4. LJ RlC .. ,lE, BELLENlS BGY1J'l1 JUL 45 FOND& DE; oECOUrt& AUX HEfUGIE&
HELLENES iAERES -~ ENFAN'ff;, EGYP·r 1i.UG 4:> PURPOSE ALL JWOVE B01~T-BUlLDlNG NU:..CEIRa'r CJ,~.
\jO ENS lNDUS'I'Rl.r.L C0.1:tPOfu.Tl01~
4lr3. '7 50 975.000
77.167
47.833
25.000 10.000
1.000.000 2.407.~85
201. 711.1 295.195
8.906.973 500.000
l.083.150 100.000 16.051
90. 0,10 50. Ot)G
400.000
OF BASE w,ORK&HOPS .1:'.,GYP"r JUNt 45 1~5.000
JUGOSLA~ COLONY l&aAlLlA EGYPT
LADY KILLEA ~ELF.A.RE OND EGYPT
lllD i\E;FUG~E CHlLDrlEi '£O1.0 .. ili.iiT
~1.UG i, 5 100. 000 hlD RbiDG1b CdlLD.1:(ft'
EL ARIS.a DEC 45 1,550.000
X11A& PULlCHA&B& l·Ofl REFUGEES
Page 77
- 424 -
C;Ol\MODITIES, ITELVl ONE NAME OF DONOR ITE...l 2 DATE OF RECLIPT ITEM 3 COMMODITY.
l 2 3
UNION DEFENCE FORCE
BRITISH Afuv1Y' V~ELFr1.RE
CROWN PRINCESS FREDERIK;.~ FUND
P RlNCE PETE.ti i"UND
AUGUST 45 CLO·.£HlNG VALUE
AUGUST 45 CLOTHING VA.LOE
JULY 44
JULi 44
4.000.000
1,~00.000
~03 ~ases clo·thinb
1~ C11.&i1;.,., hU.JOf\TtJD i,DUCA'i'lONhL l'1'~1c
NITRATE CORPtL OF CHILL L·ro. 1~UGU&'l1 44 211- C;A~B[:. c.i:.OtU111G 2. 6 C,,.t· E,~ ik\O : h SOU'rH aFRIC.t;.N RED CR06b AUGUST Ji,L~
BRITISH RED CROSS & oT. JOHN
MRS.FRAZER (TEHBR1..N) SAVE THE CHILD~,...:,, FUND
SA VE THE CHILDR.., i FUND SOUTH AFRICAN RED CROSS
lAENNONI TE CENTRAL CTTEE AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS
AUSTRALIA!i CITIZEN
.aUGUST 44 P'hiL T .H.tt.1'$
2J B.i-..Lll.b A&/.:.,0.tt'rii:D CLO'ff11NG
SEPT. SEPT
44 2 S1~CKS CLOT1l111G 44 I 20.000 lbs CLOTHlNG
5.000 PRS. bHOES WOOLF.N lVlATErtl~ . F~R
1.000 D1tESSE&. OCTOBER 44 159 CASED CLo·rHllfG OCTOBER 44 130 CA&E:& X..,lAS FOODSTUFFS
OCTOb.8R 44 OCTOBER 44
117 Cl~SES A.SLOhTED FOODE 186 PACKAGES RJ:4JL1EF GOODf 138,500 PlBCES ½COLLEN
COMiOR'rS 75 PACKAGES CLOTHING
AND FOOD GR~EK WAR RELlEF ASSOC. NOVF~BER 44 40 BALtS A~LOJTED CLOTHINC
7 BhG 0 USED CLOTHlNG YUG061AV RED CROSS NOVEJBBR 44 UNITED 'UGOSLAV
RELIEF FUND OF 1-u.ffi,RIC1i. 11 44 110 BALES CLOTHING 40 BOXES BHO }l~S
INDIAN RED CROES .h!:iIErLicAN FRIENDS
SERVICE CT·fEE .AJ.vibRICAN RED Cfl08b ITALIAN RED Ci·tOt:.&
111.f'Y KILLEAhN CHUJ.i.CHES OF' AJ.,1B;hlCA GIRL SCOUTS OF J. . .• nRICA AMERlCAN RED <.;RO~ ...
AIR 1AAIL LET'rER F0LLOWB
DECfilfiBER 41+J ANUR.ftY 45
F:1 .£PUJ1.RY 45 10 45 it
.l,l.t .. RCH
.11.AY JUNE
45 /4.5 45 45
5 B11LES LAY1,T'£Ei8 12 BAL1t.i ·.rO"::.r:.,L&
2 C.n.~Eb t :C:Wl1~ G 6lJi'PLL:.b
3 LOO.MS 48 Pft&.&HO~L & 1~ DO~ .
~~~ORTED ARflCLL~ 40.000 0.rthNGES 2517 BALE8 OSBD L~.OTHl G 30 CAb~~ GG KITS · 85 CA&E& CLOTHlNG
Page 78
-
- 425 -
These activities did not cease with the
Balkan Mission, and .. {here some sources faded out
others came forv,ard. In the 'Balkcc1 Mission days
commenced the good relationships between certain
English anr: A.nerican propnganda departments. The
A."nerican OWI (Office of War Information) and the
British MOl (~inistry of Information) started off
the film programmes for the refugees i .nci kept up a
continuous supply of films to ·;;h~ camps, the Ot·L
particularly excelline in these fields 1 loaning
projectors and screens, uhile the MOI loaned fourteen
radios to the camps.
~any loc~l people gave willing help to the
refugees in vfolfare ficdds. Mr. 'TricogJ.ou, a Greek
resident of Cairo, deserves much commendation for his
work on behalf of the Greek refugees and for the laree
amount of supplies which 'Nere made available. For the
Christmus of 1944 he gave LE200 for a happier festive
season for lAoses r:ells~ Mr. LGvy, an I tc~lian
resident of Cairo, made the tiring journey to El Shatt
cC:.Inp many times loaded with gramophone records from his
ovm library to give recordings. The New Vic Players,
x ·rhere is no record of this money in accounts.
It wr..s handed personally to the writer E'..nG.
accounted for by hirn to !1lr. i'ricoelou
Page 79
- 426 -
an English amateur company in Cairo, took dowri their
players and gave a full dress show of II The Beggar's
Opera Ii at El Shatt ca.mp.
Nearly all this welfare activity preceeded-the
MEO nnd much of its the Balknn Mission. 1ili th the coming
of UNRRA there were inevitable changes. UNRRA brought
with them hi.ghly paid Welfare Officials of assured back
ground and training$ These people journeyed dmm to the
camps and held conferences and wrote reports, und as
the months passed many of the Voluntary Society ~eople
joined UNR.RJ,.. &o was collected c.l. large UWRR.a welfnre
staff as well as the Voluntary Society people. the
Balkan Mission attempted to organise this, but without
too good a measure of success. In those days people
wer . coming und going at such a rate that \·~elfare, along
with many other sides of the Mission, never really got
organised. For one thing there were too many Welfare
authorities at HQ Cairo, with the result that there was
continual overlapping of w·ork, and if the truth were
stated not enough work to go round, however, busy all
these officials declared they were, however difficult
it was to see one of them, however ~r~ve their confer
ences, however industrious their pens. At one time the
Camps Division had a Chief Welfare Officer, nn Activities
Officer, and a Family s~rvices Officer, all at Gr~de 11
and earning thereby souiething in the region of ii!>5000 a
Page 80
- 427 -
yec,r e:.. ch., bn.:;ic s:.!.l:--•. ry. ·.h:. t ·c: t€1se title~ c,ovcrccl
is a mystery upon which ma.nkil'ld will probably never b~
enlighteried, w,d certainly it is dil'ficult to ma1te out
a case for these three people whose work was so similar.
This is not necessarily a criticism of the 1ndivjdu~ls
concerned, but :iJore a criticisi.'1 of the 1 .. ~l.!k of any
concerted e~--fort ;:. t straightening out policy, even laying
dovm policy, by the authorities concerned, who tl1e1.1sel ves
were coming and going., changing job~ and o.Lfices, seeing
the Middle Er.st at such a pace that everyone vms really
too busy to do anything.
Welfare and the 11iddle ~ast Office
The HEO in tc.king over from the Balkan Mission
was not ci.ble to effect immediate chi.l.llges. There ?ras, as
will be remembered, no Bureau of Services., but an
Operations Bureau made up of a Repatriation Division, a
Cclillps Division, a Moveillents Division 2nd a Repatriation
Operations Section. lt will be seen, therefore, tha t
there W€.S no \'ielfare Di vision, nor ~vcm a ~·1 elf',~re Lectj 011.
However., in the Repatriation Section of the l\epa tri.::. tion
Division might be found one Chief ~•: elfare Officer,
grade 10. The only real allowance made for ~-elf'"re lay
within the Camps Division. Here there was a conmunity
and Family Services 8ection, com)rising six 1)ersonnel as
Page 81
under:-
4,2 r,:l - u -
Family Services Officer Secretary Administrative Assistant Two Typists.
By the third ~uarter of ~945 there had been time
to reorganise and put into operation the framework of
the new and r·educecl mission. 111 this ne\: plan a Burec..u
of Services was created, as has been seefl, .::.11d within
this Bureau a Welfare Division was allowed for. Twelve
budget lines were granted this Division, eight of them
being in the office of the Director and four of them in
the Special Services Section, the history of v;hich has
already been dealt with. The set up of this first
Welfare Division may be of interest and a chart is
given showing the Division during the peak of ~~BO
activity. There is also given below the complete list
of p0rsonn~l employed at Welfar0 HQ Cairo
Position Grade
Director 11 Associate Director i/c Activities 11
Fielt Welfare Officer 9 Administrative Assistant 6 Secretary 5 Clerk Int~rpreter 5 Shorthand Typist 4 Filing Clerk .3 b.
Page 82
; '.3Uili.!l,.U OF SPRVICFS
WELF.1illE ]}!VISION -,,
'
. Director -.
Miss Marion Wilson
0 0
0 \ Associate Director I 0
I Administrative
Activities
Assistant Mrs. C.D. Greene
i Mrs. H.E. O'Callagban -
.
I
u' C\l -:t
I 0 ~ 0 Secretary
Q V . 0 Special Services
0 Section
Field Welfare Officer
Chief Miss E.Rauch
Mrs. A.Meyerson
q Special Services
Officers Kiss I. Briganti
0 Mrs. Schenk
- -
Page 83
- 430 -
Special Services Section
Chief Special Services Officer Special Services Officer Secretary
10 8
7 5
This Welfare Division lasted nine months, frofil
June 1945 to March 1946, and the comparative table now
given will show the number of personnel employed both
at HQ and in the camps during this period, by quarters
Welfare 11'1;
Special Services
Cat1ps
El Shatt
Nuseirat
Tolumbat
El Arish
1945 3rd 4th
8
4
16
7
6
23
20 Closed
3 Closed
1 2
Totals • . . • . • . • 50
1946 1st 2nd 3rd 4 t h
6
7 Returned co Ht::pat. Div .
11 3 3
2 Closed -
26 3
1
1
When the .IAEO decided to form a 1'ielf~re Division
at HQ the Chief Welfare Officer at El Shatt Cemp was
asked to take the position of Director of that Divis ion,
and in this position she re11ained, al though being
absent upon serious illness for a time, until t he
liquidation of the Division in ..;iarch 1946. In her irdt:i [,1.
Page 84
•
- ~-31 -
report, for June 1945, she writes, 11 The first of the
t1ont:h, with the reorganisation of the MEO, the Vvelfare
Division of the MEO was established. The Division
takes over certain of the responsibilities of the old
Camps Division, namely - activities, workshops, work
projects, recreation and education, us well as the
Special Services Section, fomerly a part of the
Repatriation Division."
In the ensuirig months it wa~ to the &pecir:.l
Services Section thut Welfare woulu &ppear to have
clevoted most of its time, ancl in<!eed only this &ection
would appear to justify the Division's existence. fhis
Section did a great deal of vmrk, ~-,hich has b~en re
counted in tho story of repatriation. Not only was th~
Special Services Section involved on its re~ettlc~ent
tasks but the question of \:elfare personnel being used
on Flights was again raised, and this time triumphed.
There had long been much controversy over this, and a
period had passed when Welfare Personnel had not been
considered necessary on repatriation flights. The
writer shares this· view, certainly with rcgo.rd to tae
f lights experienced froo the immediate l.11ddle East,
·;:here journeys t.re of small duration. On one of che
flights cadc by the writer there ,~•u t a 1.V0lfc1re Officer
who proved to 0c a linguist of considerable ability
(
Page 85
I '
- L:,3 2 -
and it was in these fields thnt he proved invaluable,
not in the fields of welfare. On another fli~ht the
welfare officer admitted that he coulct not fill his
tim6. True OI'le may say thd t a wel!'o.re ofiicer car, !'ind
somethir1g to do if he or she wishes, but that does no~
counter -~he arglli"itent that the flight would progress
eq_,, 1.lly ,happily without him. Anyone could go elone ~s
a passenger and find plenty or ~oth~g to do voluntaril7
if he or she chose. There is, however, the other side
of the argunent pre sented by Miss Wilson whe~ she
writes in her report for August 1945, 11All reports
from both OC Fl ights and flight nurses indicate that
2n assignment of welfa1·e st.::.ff to flight teams has been
of immeasurable value, not only 111 i1elping in the
routine work of th(, flight bu·t in providing that kind
of controlled leadership which heads off potential
panic." One must feel t1 little hesi tent in t.cceptirtg
too enthusiastically this last advocacy.
The historian cannot do t1ore them sur.1raarise th e:
work done by t he we::lfnre persomiel o:i'. the ~fE.O. In the
cari1ps th.is -v,ork continued, cl1e nur,1ber of persons so
employed decreasing with the closing or camps and the
reduction in refugee numbers. The work itself wcs of
much the sn.me na t ure as it had been be.fore the !i00 1 s
time. Welf~r ~ .,.. Pr-~nrmc-:J. , , P:-:- "'"'<"n0r, s i ble i or education-
entertai nment, recreation,
Page 86
-
- 433 -
and all those pursits which have already been CoYr:red.
There was only one problem which took on greater
significance during the life of the hiEO, and that Kus
the question of individual and family anxiety with
regard to the future. Miss Wilson writes in her
report for June 1945, 11With the end of the war in
Europe many serious tensions appeared., refugees who
were afraid to go home, who heard remours of terrible
things happenin6 to their friends and families, v:ho
after heving had adequate food and shelter for many
months were not too happy about returning to the hard
ships and :i..nsecurity in the homeland. In the case of
El Shatt this .31.tnrtion is extremely delicate due to
th< heavy pressure oein~ brought to bear by th0
Central Corru:Jittee und ccmp cowmittees on ~11 peopl£
v,ho return, to Yugoslavia. ln El Arish, which is made
up of Royalist Yugoslavs, who do not and cannot return
to their horieland, tension becrune so severe th~t truineci
social workers highly skilled in interviewing techniL_ues
were assigned to get n coraplete case history on every
family. 11 :x·
Consequently ouch welfare effort was expended
on interviewing refueees and trying to solve the
problems they presented. Although with regard to El
Arish there is no record of these spPcialised inter-
,,; ,_.:r ~ of V1hom lVi1 c:~ v,:1.7 -~ "n speaks ever having actually
x For Miss Ti lson 1 s reports see ~EO Welfare Flle 7.
Page 87
- 434 -
proceeded to this Camp.
As may be seen frou staff figures, over a
period of tine the Welfar.e staff of the 1i1EO dwindled
to one worker, particularly when the major branch
which had kept it afloat, the Speci~l Services Section,
was once aguin, at the end of Mnrch 1946, transferred
to the Repatriation Division.
Summ:lry
Since a nubber of people· durinG the life of
the ~EO have done some excellent work in th~ fields
of welfar e; and, it is believed, have genuinely h.::d
the fortunes of the refugees at hecrt, one hesitates
to criticise too severely. Nevertheless, it must
seelil to the observer th2..t Welfare WD.f) luunchGd in
t:i u Middle East on r . higher scale than was justly·
called for. The Director of Repatriation Division,
the present Deputy Chief of Mission and head of
Finance & Administration are grade 12 positions, and
yet the Director of the ~ielfnre Di vision was placed
on the same level. It is felt that the responsibi
lities of these first two jobs cannot be compared
with the third. Too, it would se ~m that tte Welfare
Di vision H~, Cairo ;: h r.ndled a nl.ll!lber of matters \1'hiC;h
would r.10re app:ropY'i; t cly fall under anothe::c u.epartmen t;
Page 88
-
- 436 -
repntriation is an example. The &E0 ~/elfare files
will be found to contain copious memc r.r.nde. of meetings
held., covering ever; aspect of rcpat.ria tiori, 11h1le one
,ould uore n~turally turn to the Repatri~tion Division
files for this data, whera indeed l~ll such nee;essary
documents will be found.
In the old days welfare workers, as he.~ been
stressed, worked v;itho-1t n 1/,"elfare r · ~ in Cairo.,; they
worked in the co.mps end it is believed that i t 1.s
these people in their □ore nodest capacities wno were
really of value. If a gift o,. LE 1000 is lJ&de to the
refugees it seems n little ostentatious to have a
Welfare Division HQ to distribute it. 1~ crunp has its
Ca.mp Comrmndant and his staff, und the Cc!..IJp area3 have
managers and their staff, while in addition there are
the refugees thenselves who may be \\illing to have
their thinking and work doi,e for them, but who vmula.
benefit the nore by being given as much r8s~onsibllity
as possible. It is believed that hc!d the ~,elf ... :i.~e
Di vision been eliminated and t.hc \1 elfare persorn1el, as
of yore, been distributed among thu various departments
applicabl\J to their tasks the same results Hould have
been achieved.
Page 89
- 436 -
The writer is well aware of the indignation
these criticisms may evoke, indeed r:.U1ong mcny good
people of the writer' s acquain tE.nce, but if & future
organisation is to learn from the rnistuke::, of UNi.1RA
such criticism must be levelled where it J.$ believed.
justified.
Tending to support these a~sertions 1s
general opinion which, to the writer's knowledge,
'has never taken the Welfare Division of the ~mo very
seriously. These criticisms may not have disclosed
just where the faults lc1.y, may hav 0 fallen wide of
the murk, but that there has been poor oreanisation
of the welfare side is certain, and mnny unnecessari.ly
high positions have been maintained.
Page 90
- 437 -
BUREAU OF REQUIREIAEi~TS AND SUPPLX
By Helen Bridgm~
I. INTRODUCTION - PRE-MEO.
In 1944, when UNRRA CQme ~o the Middle Enst to
set up its Bnlk~ Mission Office, the Bureo.u of R-.;;quircm0uts
Co-ordination end Supply wns set up, prim~rily to ~ssist
the mili t " I"'J in estimo..ting nnd co-ordinnting th~ r~lief
and .1. ehubili tc.tion supply rcquirGments for the Bt:lk::-.n
cowitries fe:r tho militnry poriod, :md for estim:.ting
such requirements for tho post-milit~ry period. This
work consisted me.inly of conferences [!.nd invcstigi.~ti0ns
into the l0c .:.l me:.rket c.nd milit~ry surplus avnil' 1bilities,
with~ view to possible future procuremont when tho
Belken should be freod from the enemy ~ 11d UlfRRn could
commence its nctu~l opcruti0ns.
A B~lk~ Supply Centre wns sot up by the United
St:1tes C!.!ld the United Kingdcm tc plr.n post-milifa:.ry
civi i[.>n requirements until c. comprohcnsivo UNH:1, ~ st :-i. ff
c0uld bo sot up. The G''. rly Supply wor!: of thu d : lkr..n
r1iss1on wc. s f u ~' the most pc.rt consultr:tions with this
B~ll~c.n ~upply Ccn tr(; n.ncl with trn Middle Er.st Supply C,.mt .
Page 91
- 438 ...
All procurement for the former M.ERru~ c~mps
wns hc.ndled by n sep~rate Ccmps Division Supply Office,
nnd it wns not until tho fo.11 of 1944 that respc..nsi bili ty
for i'lny of this procurement wns trnnsferrod to tho
Requirements Co-ordinntion n.nd Supply Bureau.
Groups of p~rsonnel who h1.d been recruited for
work in the Bnlkcms nrrived in Cniro during the summer
nnd full cf 1944, ~nd it w~s nlso the ruspunsibility
of the Supply Burenu to procure locnlly(to suppl0r:1ent
British Army Issues) th~ necossnry equipment for these
personnel who ware going to opurntc in the BGlkan countries.
In this connection, lnrge qunntiti0s of office furnitur~
nnd other stores wore procured f ·0r I\fo.:::di Cc.mp, which
vms o. tr .:-. ining centre for thos0 pc..rsonncl . 1,. gr(, l t
quz,.nti ty of of fie(; eq_uipmcnt ::.nd furniture was c.lso
purch.1.sed for the f our buildings comprtsing the B~lkcm
·•.1 ission Hendqu:1rtcrs, which uxtonded t o ... c c.nsidcr r,b l1.::
size t owa.rds the end of 1944. There wore mo.ny difficulticis
involved in this locnl procurement, sinco the British
1~rmy h2.d c::.lmost drained the loc :i.. l mnrkot with its five
y~c..rs of war requiromcnts. Prices were fnnt~stic 0vcn when
items could be obtc..inod .
Toward thG end :-.1 f 1944 Colonel J e,hn M.Wcbb t cok
c,v _1· the duties of Dir-octcr cf the Buroc.u cf Requir ements
and Supply, which was then ht'.Ildling c.11 l oc ~~l procurcmunt
for H.Q. ndministraticn l'.nd cnmps. This w:-.s c. very diffic ,~
period with cnlls coning in fr om 0-ll directions f _r c.lmost
Page 92
- 439 -
every conceiv~ble type of storas ~d everything wonted
urgently. Ji serious attempt wc.s made to sot up o.
comprehensive record system, but the volume of cnily work
nnd the tmtrn.ined calibre of the m~j0ri ty of the locnl
st['.ff did not permit this system to function in nn efficient
m-::i.nner.
In September 1944, tho volume of purch':,ses for c~1ps \
W['.S such thn t a centrc..l C.:.irc wnrehL,USe known l:'.S Boulac •
h.-:d t ,J be est:1blishe<l in ord(.r to r0cci vo n.nd chock
purchnses ~nd s00 th~t they were dulivercd to tho intencod
C'"!lI!ps. At first, this Wnruh_us0 w~s under the jurisdiction
cf C~:mps Divisi ;n, but ' in Jnnunry · 1 45 it w-:.s tr:1.nsferred
t c, the Burec..u of Requirements c.ncl Supply, ·.s \'lcre the
pors ... nnol in the Cc.mps Di vi~ion Supply Secti -..·n. In
J:::nuary 1945 also the Hoc.vy Stores W.':.reh0usc at El
Shatt Cump was mQde ~ separate ontity o.nd rcw~vcd frum
the jurisdiction of tho El Shc.tt Camp Director to thc.t
of tht.: Director of the uro~u of Requirements :i.nd Supply
in Cc.iro. This contrnlizaticn of the procurement,
wnreh0using and distribution for camps did r. grout dG[~l
t o relieve thG chaotic conditions theretofore ~xisting.
Pre-MEO - NegotiQtions with reg~rd to the B: lknn
S t ockpilc will be handled r.s pr.rt of tho B;1.lkan Stockpile
genernl n~rr~tive under Secti0n 3 of this repcrt.
The 11ic.dle Eo.st Office w:: s or go.nizcd ~s -- r 1st 1~pril
1945, and it cc.n be s 'lid cs rcg~rds supply th''t vury littl0
,..., concrete v~lti_0 wo.s ~ccomplished 11 • th.J B ... lk<' n Mi s Jion
Page 93
- 440 -
days of UNRa; .... in comparison with the later op rations
of the Bureau of Requirements and Supply. The GJCccption
to this, of course, is local procurement for Headquarter~
and cnmps.
,1. local Purchase Order systw wc..s estnblished
in mid-Soptcnber 1944, nnd from then until the end of
Murch 1945 nine hundred c.nd forty two (942) Purchase
Orders were ccmploted. These, of course, w0ra in
addition to normal POL, Ration and Ordncrice sturos v1hich
were indented for directly on tho British •• rmy.
II. ORG.e1.NISli.TION.
Org~nisution chnrts showing the set up of tho
Bure.::.u of Hequircnents and Supply fc. i' P-ach quart;.;r
from the second que .. rter of 1945 thrcugh tho second qun.rt0
of 1947 ~re nttnchod.
Befor,a the beginning of tho MEO the 12 .. rgost nwnbEn'
of employees in the BurGau of R0quiroments ~nd Supply wcs
c. tto.inod in 1vTo..rch 1945, when thero i:wri;.. 38 .fl Ors· :mol un\.~cr
the direction of Ccloncl VJobb. Practically ~11 of thcsu
-:. .. iployees woro eng".gG:..1 in tho procuror.icnt, W:'.rchousing
::nd distribution of storus for the Middle E2.st c:.:.mps.
On 1st iipril 1945 thu Bur~nu of rlcquirumonts c.:nd
Supply was sot up in three; divisions - n Procurement
Division with 18 budgct8d positi0ns, ffil Administr~ti,n
Page 94
.
DIVISION OF S1JPPLY
MIDUIE EAST OFFICE
. ..
I , Director - Filled ... by Director Finance & Administration
Supply & Records Section -Supply Records Officer Accmmts Clerk Shipping Clerk
se-cret-ary
--
April, I,~0..y, J·~ -.-,::: 1947
Page 95
DIVISION OF SUPPLY MIDIIE EAST OFFICE
Direotor ... Ja]J.ed by D:ireotar Finanoo & Administration
• 11• _____ __. _______ _
Procurement Officer Slpp1y ReoorclB O:f"f'ioer Shipping Clerk . Acc<ruJif;s Olerk 2 Clerks Secretary
-
January., Februar,y, March 1947
Turkey Office
UNRRA Representati-ve
Personal Assistant
Page 96
DIVISION OF SUPPLY MIDDLE EAST OFFICE
Direo.tor -Fill.ea by Di.rector Finanoe & Administration
•-to-----------------'--t-------------~ I I I TurkJ,y Office ·
UNRRA Representative
Personal Assistant
ssPP1Y: & Records Section
Procurement Officer Supply Records Of'ficer Sec:retary Accounts 01.erk 4 Clerks
Stores Liquidation Section
llavem!mt Otticer Procurement Of~icer 3 Warehousemen 4- Olerks Ya.rd Foreman
Page 97
Services Section
Admin. Assistant Registrar 2 Filir~ C1erks Attendance Clerk 2 Shorth~~.d T.1Pis 4 Typists
ts
t
:r1-. 7,H OF SUPPL.I MIDDIB EA.ST OFFICE
1 ~~iy~fricer J Secretary Clerk _
-- l
t Procurement section A,.""'fr!Y Surplus Section
I 2 Procu.rem:::nt Officers Procurement Officer
Secretary Clerk
Warehousemon Secretary
l l Alexandria Office
Turkey Office
Y~nts Officer UNRRA Representativ-e Traffic Officer Personal. Assistant 2 Olcrks Driver
I
July, Augus ·; S~n te-rihcr 1 °1 6
l t Records Section -
Suppl¥ Records Officer 2 Accotmting Clerks 2 Senior Clerks
4 Clerks
-.
Page 98
' ;
.:.::it:rvJ.Ces ;:;ection
Registrar 2 Filing Clerks M::Messenger Typist Supervisor
3 Shorthand Typists
I 3 Typists
DIVISION OF SUPPLY MIDDUl EAST OFFICE
Direot~r Ad.min. Assistant Secretary Cl.erk
I
I I
3tllpping -Section
:Movements O:f':f'icer
Clerk
Sacretary
Alexandria Off'ice
Moven:ent Oft'icer
Traffic Of:ficer 2 Clerks Driver
Records Section
J
l Procurement Section
2 Procurement O:f:ficers
Seareta:ry
Warehouseman
supply Records O:f'f'ioer
2 Accounting Clerks -2 Record Clerks
4 Clerks
Page 99
Mail & Files Section Registrar 3 Clerks }f-;):::;senger
f I
Property Control Division
Director Property Officer .Admin. Assistant Senior Clerk Secretary
Records Unit
Senior Clerk 9 Olerka TY,pist
El Shatt Heavy stares 2 Warehouseman Yard Foreman 4 Clerks 3 Storemen Typist
BUREAU OF REQt.JIREMENTS AND SUPPLY MIDDLE EAST OFFICE, CAmO, EGYPT
\ Leputy Chief 1 Secretary i
ar Mission
Januar,y, February, March 1946
l ~ -l.__~ __ ----,1
--- Admin. Assistant
1
Services Unit
Supervisor Attendance Clerk Messenger
I Typist supervisor 5 Shorthanf Typists 4 Typists
Procurement and Shipping Division
Director Secretary 6 Procurement Officers 2 Shorthand Typists Warehouseman Shipp:ing Section
Shipping Officer Olerk Typist
AlexaJXlria Office
Mov-en~:mts Officer Clerk Driver Records Section Pr:incipa1 Clerk 2 99nior Clerks Typist 5 Clerks
Page 100
Mail & Files Unit Supervisor Principal. 01erk
3 rile Clcrl::s OJ.erk - Messenger
r---;:;::;~--fn-t; I .l:'lt.VvUllE:.-~1JT & .::it1J...t'.t' .llifG. DIVI:s.tUN Director ·-Assist.Director Secreta.ry
Reoards Section SUpervisor Prinoipal Clerk 2. Senior 01erk 4, al.arks
ShiPping Section Shippillg en.erk OUstoms OJ.erk Typist
.Alexandria Of':fice Movements Officer Rai.1 & Trattio Officer 5 OJ.arks Typist Iriwr
BUREAU OF REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY MIDDLE EAST OFFICE, OAiro, EG-YPT
Director Secretary
---! Admin. Officer :1-----1
October, Novenber, Dcccrri>er ' 1945
Services Unit SUperv:i.s or .Attendance Clerk Stock Olerk Senior Olerk 2 Clerk Stenograpl"¥3rs J
__ s_Typ __ 1s_t_s ________ _
.l::'HU.l:'.i:,.i:Cl:.l. \JU,,.., .... II, lJ.l V.
Director Admin. Assistant Secretary
Records Unit Records .1\nalyst Principal. Clerk 3 Senior al..erks Typist
Field OP3rations Unit Chief Field Of:ficor Assistant Fld.. " 14 Inventory .Analysts
MEo suPPLY b1vts'loN E
I ~i:r:;:y I ' ,--Pr,;=;:::-o::".c::::.":::'.T:::eme===n;;~59;::;:~::-:,ci;=i-:o-::n~·---·--.-"°'Bu~la~c-;We;-::--:r~c"T"h-ou-se __ _
Prom;ccmont Officer Chief Wa.cehouseman 2 Purchasing l~ents 3 Warehousen:>n 2 Clerks Yr,rd Foreman 2 SUppl.y Specialists Cbicf Clerk Rocot'ds l~t Records Clerk e l~st. Clerks
~-ro1sporl Section Materials Inspector CD.erk
Govt. SUrylus Seoti~ Chief SUrplus Otticer 3 ProCQt'elllent Agents 01.erk
..:i Olerks 6 Storemen 2 Typi:rts TiJ:oo-keeper
~C!ha.tt Sr,ores Warehouse Officer WarehoUseman Yard Foreman 3 Clerks ~ist 4 storeoen
Page 101
.
Files Unit Clerk $.tpervisor Clerk ( 2) ?ilc Clm. l.J Clork-Hosoongcr Messenger
BUREAU OF REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPLY
MIDDIE EAST OFFICE,CAOO,EGYPT
Secretary
Admin. Assistant
FmO~ SHIP'FTIG 'l ™=~ DlV:l Director 2 Secretaries 2 Procurement Officers 2 SUpply Officers
PROPERTY CONTROL DIVISION Directo-Ass:i.. t. Directar Admin. Assistant Secretary
Records Control Section aupervisor Principal Clerk 3 Eanior Olerks SHIPPING- & IDVEMENT3 Sfi.:CTION Shipping Officer Rail & Trai'fic Officer 3 Olerks Typist
ALEXANDRIA OFFICE Chief' Mave:r.oont Officer Rail Tra:f'fio Of:ficer 2 Warehouse O:f'f'ioers 2 Olerks T;roist
•
·-
I ~-~a.s Se_ption Supervisor Principal dlerk 2 Senior Clerks
1 Surv cz & Appraisal Survey Analyst
SJc.
. Asst.. AnaJ.¥st ,-:eNVEN1DRY-3EO--TI-. O-N-------1
Inventory Oi'ficer Inwntocy Analyst
Typing & Services Unit Clerk Supervisor 4 Shorthand Typists 3 Senior Typists 3 Copy Typists
;,.._----=--=--=--======------
·SUP.PLY SPECIALJC'T!',.., SI"J. 1ie,Lcal Specialist -· -2 Asst. Suppzy Spec. 2 Typists
fROCli"R.Bl.fENT SECTT.ON 2 P ... 0cu.re1m1-t O.ffice ... ~s 2 Purchasing Agents Secretary 3 Olerks
$0CK . & TRANSPORT SEO,
stocks Officer Transport Officer Shorthand Typist Principal Clerk 4 Records Clerk T.n>ist
•
BUL'. CJ ·:r. "?IBOUSB o: i.e>"i:, nhou'"\cmnn .... st.. ., SC;n l.c...: • Clerk 2 R ov.r-ls Clerks 2 S:;1 ~:·~ i.:Jj
-- .. ~- -•<'<• ·---SI 11:'.:'J : c~ "" )llTP. DA.Y - -· - - - --~·----3 War 'housemen :M.ed.ic3) Warehou::::3:r:it:n 2 .b.sst. Warehouse~n 7 Checkers •
SERVICE UNIT Senior Clerk Typist 2 Carpen+ers 6 Guards
1~ ·Labourers
~-
t
Page 102
PROCUREMENT DIVI:.ID)N
Procurement Of':ficer Jr. Procurement Officer (4) Purchasing Agents Stenographer Senior Clerk
-
·· BUREAU OP RSQt.1J:RBMBN!S ill> SUPPLY MIDDIE &sT OF.FICE1C1JRO, EG1PT
OFFICE OF DlRFlJ'IDR Director Deputy Dire'ltor Admin. J..ssistant (2) Secretaries I .
! ------------JJJY.,.& RECORDS DIVISION
Administratiw OfTicer " .t.ssistant
stenographer
lit)LI.,OW UP SEITTION
Clerk supervisor Clerk Typist RF.,COFDS SECTION Clerk supervisor (2) Clerks FITE SECTION Registrar Typist SERVICES reCTION Clerk Supervisor (2) stenographers (3) Typists Clerk - Mosscngor
ti9ssenger
April, May, June 1945
3IIP.PlNG & WAREHOUSING DIVISION
Chief Shipping & Warehousing Officer Secretary
ULK WAREHOUSE SECTION Chief Warehouse Of'ficer Typist
SHIPPIID & MOV. SEC.
Chief Shipping Officer Sh:l-r,ping Clerk ~t:i..oal Clerk Typist
BULt\K WI.RE USE
Chief W archouz eman Asst. Warehouseri..an Warehouse Officer (2) Che ckers, Packers (2) Senior Clerks Clerk Typist
IES & EOUTI'MENT Bf .. are ouse Of' :i.cers
Medical Warehouse otfr. (3) Scl.cc-'.:O:-E (4) Checkers
SERVICES UNIT Senior Cl.erk !)J>ist
t Carpenters 6) Guards 16)Labourers
Page 103
-
... 450 -
Records Division with 14 budgeted positinns nnd n
Shipping nnd WQrehousing Division with~ budget of 52
positions. Of the totnl 84 positions on the budget
the mo.ximwn bumbor filled during the second Quarter WGS only
62. It is obvious to see where. the emphc.s1s lny when
it is noted thnt 45 of the 52 positions in the Shipping
~nd Warehousing were ullocnted to the c~mps mid loc~l
warehousing section. Colonel David Day, -who en.me with
UNRRA in Mr.rch 1945, he2.ded this Division.
Mr. Benjamin J .M.Nimmo co.me to t UN:iR,il. in Ml'.y
1945, nnd commenc'--d laying the grour1dwork for the futuro
bulk procurement, wnrehousing o.nd shipping to other
missions, which it was now obvious would fc.11 t o tho
lot of the Middle Enst Office, since the Br.lko.ns hc.d so
rapidly become cleared of the enemy.
This first MEO vre;n.nisntion of the Bure::-..u c f
Rec uirements c.nd Supply wn.s not c. p:-i.rticulc.rly smcoth
running affrir, and the third quarter budget of 1945 was
revised, attaching the Mail and Files Unit end n Typing
Pool t o the Office of the Director, nnd setting up ·.
three Divisions - (1) Bulk Procurement, Shipping and
Warehousing, (2) Property Control and Surplus Disposals
and (3) MEO Supply.
During tho third quo.rter of .1945 the c.ctunl work on
the Balkan Stockpile and bulk procuroraont of supplies for
other missions got uncler way, n.nd Mr. Nimmo quickly put
Page 104
- 451 -
together an organization to handle the huge t~sk nhend.
Mr. Raymond F. Loug~in set up the Prop~rty
Control and Surplus Disposal Division with a view in
mind townrd trying to bring some order to the hitherto
sooewh;.t unco-ordinnted ccmp reaords. This Division
wus nlso set up to make prcp~rations for the disposal
of c~ p surplus property, sin~e it wv.s obvious thnt
with the rate of rep~triation of refugees a considernble
quantity of these surpluses would soon b~ on h:md.
Colonol D~y's MEO Supply Division c~ntinucd with
local procurement for c"mps 1md hc::..:J.qua.rtcrs, :mcl with
the W'"'..r.,housing nnd dttributiun of s.:~ ... c. .iiltogether
1 72 po si ti ,ns were budgeted fe,r during the thirc~ qua.rt er,
with"- ma.ximtm. numbC;r of 88 being fJ.1lcd.
In the fourth qunrter of 1945 the divisions
rm:i"'.ined tho sumc, there being .::n incro.::?.sc in the nur.1b0r
of personnel in the Property Control and Surplus Dispos:-'.l
Division in ord~r to meet inventory tcc.m o.ncl camp closure
requirements. A slight decronso occurred in the MEO
Supply Division since with tho rop,'.tri: tir...,n the nocessa.ry
runount of local procurement for camps WQS tliainished , Out
of 119 pusitions budgeted for, 95 were ~ctu~lly fillod.
In the first quart r of 1946 Colon 1 D·•y ['.00.
Mr.Loughlin left, and the number of Divisions wos reduced
to two - the Procure1. ent , Shipping ~nd Wo.r0housine under
Ir. Nimmo, which hundled vcrything cxce1 t tho Vlurk of the
Page 105
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452
Property Control Division, which continued its work of
trying to account for camp property and hnndling the
Heavy Stores Warehouse and surpluses. The Centr~l Coiro
Warehouse was closed at the end o! 1945.
There were 74 positions budgeted for out of which
70 were fillE:d.
In the second qu2.rter of 1946 the BurE:nu of
Requirements ::nd Supply becc.me simply the Division of
Supply, all under the diruction of Mr. Nirnr.10. A single
Records and St~tistics Section was set up tG co-ordinQte
all the past Buronu of Requirements and Supply records,
and to set up n simple current op~ruting procedure. The
Heavy Stores Vfarohouse was transf.erred from Hec.dquartors
jurisdiction to El Shatt C~p. All 36 positions budgeted
for werP. filled.
Practically no ch.1.nge at ~11 occurrod between
the second and third quarters, with L he exception of the:
setting up of ~n office in iU'lknr~ to handle the Turkish
contribution under the o.dministr<1tive directives of this
Office and the oper~tionnl directives of ERO. M~jor
Alexander Hugh St.Clair, who hnd be ~. hc.ndline Suruk
o.nd Surprop tr;ns:::!.ctions under i·!c:.i.j or Nimmc was trnnsfc~rred
ns UNRR:-~ 1 s representative to Turkey. Mr. Nim .. o left
at the end of the third quarter with the bulk cf i•!IEO I s •
procurement Md shipping functions cc,mploted. On the
39 positions budgeted for during the third qunrtcr only
34 positions wore filled.
Page 106
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In the fourth qun.rter of 1946 the Division c,f
Supply consisted of the JillknrQ Office, the Supply Liquidation
Section :md a liquidation pool of personnel who were t •,) bo
released by the end of 1946. The 20 positions budgeted for,
n.11 of which were filled, included the stu.ff of the Heavy
Stores Warehouse, which wns closed ob 31st December 1946.
The Supply Liquid2.tion Office disposed of □ost of the
surpluses from the Heavy Stores Warehouse during the
third and fourth quarters of 1946.
During the first quarter of 1947 the Supply
Liquidation Office consisted of 7 people .~nd the 1U1kurn
Office - 2 people- both of whom left at the end of the
qua.rter hc-':.ving completed the work in connection wi t~1 the
shipment of the Turkish ccntribution.
The work of the Supply Liquida c '- Jn Office in the
Second qu2.rtar of 1947 consisted r.12.inly in th~ ship□ent of
the Egyptian contributi:~n, v2.rious transhipments still
coming through fror.i Ji.ustrc.lia nnd the preparation of finn.l
documvn ta tion of thia en tiro work of the MEO Bure['.U of
Requirements ~nd Supply.
It mny be said that the efficiency of the Burenu
of Requirements Dnd Supply incrcnsed in ~lmost direct
proportion to the decrease in personnel . In 1945, with
the exception of the Division of Bulk Procurement, Shipping
c.nd wurehuusing, the Buronu of Requirements and Supply
wns over-staffed, and there was a consider~ble runount of
duplic.:i.tion uf work end effort. This, c•f course, is
easy to say in retrospect.
Page 107
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III THE BALKlrn STOCKPILE.
Early in 1943 it wns agreed on high ~uthority
that the necessary orgnnizntion to mnke plnns for nnd
handle all c.spects of civilian relief ndministr~tion
of liberated territory during militnry oporatiuns in the
Balkans would be the responsibility of GHQ MEF.
It was soon re~liz€d that the main bulk of supplies
in the initial stages of relief must come from the Middle
Enst a.nd be tro.r~sported c.nd distributed under Middle
East nrrnngements. This necessity was omphnsized ~lso by
the desire to hold nn adequate stockpile of r8lief supplic~
readily accessible in cc.se cf n sudden G~rmm c . llo.pse in
the Bo.lkc.ns •
On 1st i:iny 1944 Mnjor 11.lexsnder Hueh St.Cln.ir,
who wns le.tor to coD1e with UNRRA, was posted to Q5 from
Military HQ BGlknns for liaison duties ~nd to nssist
with the largo o.□ount of 2.dditioncil work in on Q stnff
in connection with Bnlk~n civil relief.
In Nover:ibur 1944 when civil relief in tho Bo.lkc.n
bec~oe a real operational factor, a speci~l section of
Q5 wus est~blished to deal with nll nnttors connGcted with
Ba.lllo..n civil rolief.
In July 1944 n totr.:.l overall tonn:1ge of ~i)proxin-.'Jl.tcl"
one million ::md a hnlf tons wns npproved for B,'.".lkr..n civil
relief, which wr.s based on ~ estir:1:'.ted 180 days rcquircuents
of essGntinl i teras. This included vehicles, food, fuel,
Page 108
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~gricultural machinery, medicnl supplios, so~p,
transportation equipment, etc.
In ~ugust 1944 three forms wGre set up: BR/1
show ng the total approved stockpile r~quiroments,
i tom by i tern for civil relief in Greece - .:!n~luding the
Dodecanese - Yugoslavia and Albanin; BR/2 gnve details
oC iddle Ee.st ava.iln.bilities of the item shown on BR/1;
BR/2 represented det~ils of deficiencies of approved
stockpile requirements, or the quantities which were
required to be requisitioned directly from pr0ducur
countries. ,,,
In September 1944 the totnl Middle East avnilabilitiu~
against Balkcn civil relief requirements was ~bout 333,000
tons. Shipr.1ents from the Middle East to the Bnlknns b~cnn
in October 1944 tlnd were hc.ndled by tho militf$ry in militnry
bettor.is n.s stores were called forwnrd from the B1.lknn
milit~ry authorities.
E~rly . in 1945 discussions bcg~n to tQko plncc
between GHQ dEF E:.nd UNRR,t repr'-:scntntive on the subject
of the t~king 0ver by UNRRJ of responsibility for and
shipment of the balance of the Bclknn stockpile. On th
recoIDIJ ndutions of FHQ it was decided by CCi.C thnt
UNRR.A would assume responsibility for tho distribution
of civil relief in Gro~ca as from 1st ~pril 1945, in
Yugoslavia as frora 15th April 1945 nnd in ~lbnnia as
from 1st July 1945. Since, how1;;vcr, there hr..d t be an
Page 109
• -..i· ...
- 456 -
interim period to cover overlap and give UNRR ... time
to get organized to take over the full onus of the
bc-,lmce of the Balkan stockpile, the mili tc.ry were
asked to continue to hQndle supplies up to the point
of destination in the Balkans, i.e., the unshipped portion
of the Middl~ East stockpile would continue to be held
by the mili tnry, ca.lled forwc.rd through i~FHQ ns be fore,
nnd shipped in military vessels consigned to UNRRA ~t
destination. The target date for this intarim period,
however, ti tlc to the supplies was passed to UNRR1~ when
the goods actu~lly left the milit[l.ry depots ,.nd cost of
transport including sen freight, hnndling Dnd services was
a charge ugainst UNRRA. The actu~l handover agroeuont
between UNRR1t and GHQ MEF is dated 28th June 1945.
This ngrooment hn.s as appendices complete lists, itrn.1
by i tern, of nll stores renaining to be shipped from the
Middle East stockpile by UNRRA. Those lists als
included n c onsiderable tonnng0 of unchecked stores lying
in British Ordnance depots in tho Middle East which w0 t ook
over ng~inst actual count nt the time of delivery. Fur
the gonernl aspects of receipt rnd shipment of tb . J!'iRRi-i.
portion of the iviiddle En.st stockpile, please S1.;0 undur • •
SectionslO end ll - Warehousing n.nd ~hi 1 l1Jing • •
Page 110
- 457
BULK PROCUREMENT AND THE SPECIAL REVOLVING PROCUREMENT FUND.
Up until the summer of 194s. most of the procurement
done 1n this office for other missions consisted of
administrative supplies or equipment, such as file cabinets,
typewriters, brief cases, stationery, forms., etc. These were
not for the most part shipped n.s oommori.ities, but were
usually despatched olong with personal b~ggage going to the
Balkans through tha Military Forwarding Officer.
In the summer of 1945 it became obvious thct the
iddle East could be a close source of supply to the
Ba lkans for a limited alth·: ugh important number of various
commodities, not procurnblc through the militury. En.ch of
these procurements has been a separate trcm.saction of its
own, nnd not a part of any foreordained Middle E·1st bupply
progr.:-11 .
A uniform pattern of procedure has obtain~d Jn most
of these trws·:.ctions. ERO or n mission h .. '.s cubled o.n
enquiry for a specific item thought to be nvc:1.j.lable in this
crcr., sometimes giving nr.mcs of spec~fic concGrns which
L1ight supply. This office h:-. ~ investigated, cc..bling back to
ERO and missi!'>n concerned qur-ntities avr>ilnble, qun.lity, dolivc
dn. te D.nd price. FolJ.owing receipt of firm cable :~uthori ty fro .,...
ERO, ~ formal purch~se order h~s been plnced by MEO. In ao me
ca ses W€ have paid against signod bills of ludlng, o.nd in
others ~fter delivery to UNRRA or an UNRRA repres~nt tive,
a gainst an offici~J. receipt.
Page 111
-
~ .
- 458 -
With a view in mind toward keeping procurements for
Middle E~st Office use sepnrGte from those for other missions
in the accounts, a fund was set up· inn separate bank ~ccount
which was known &s the Specinl Revolving Procurement Fund,
t-.nd against which all commodity ~d accessorinl costs for
other missions wer0 to be charged. This i'und was s~t up .1.l nost
simultaneously with the then new commodity accounting proc edu1
(26 Octooer 1945 and 1 November 1945). All the main bulk
procurements were p..,_i<l for out of th:: .3 fund which was
replenished frc,m time to time 'lS necessary with tr.::.:nsfers
of money from ERO.
A list of the uniri bulk }Jrocu.rei!lents cf th.is type
is ntt~1ched, .md r~lthough it may appear to 1'.JC o. not very
large or detailed list, many months of work ~nd negotintfon
went into it. The first difficulty always encountered wns
lack of nvl:ilability at a mr->rc c.)r .Less re t'. sonnble price, r.nd
the second grec.t difficulty was tho necoss .:iry permission frot1
the Egyptinn Govornrnent to export. Theso lattGr nGgoti':.tions
have been successful, however, 1n :-,li. but one mujor inst :.mco
which was tho p~yment of 75 pinstrGs export duty for each
gross ton uf m0lasses. This cost UNRRA over£ 3,000.
A second type of bulk procurcr.1ent was the uircct
procuroment from th0 British Army of various cormno<lities .:1s
per the ntt:~ched list. The procedur, followed was ex.n.ctly
the so.mens that used for cr1!:1IaGrcic. l purchn.se, exc1::pt that
only n. pn.rt of this cntegory was pr.id for from the Special
Revolvin ~. Procure:.1ent Fund while others were ·~greed with
Page 112
-
- 459 -
the Commnnd Sccr1;tari2.t of GHQ, ~nd pr~ssed on by that
office to the Wo.r Office in London fer settlement from the
U.K. Contribution to UNRRA.
The third list attached here is 3. list of procur1:: 1nent
nc.de by ERO in this ureu on which this office I s responsibility
hP..s varied from liaison only with VGndors so as to .~dvise
London as ·to r~e.diness for shipping, np to actual collection
and shipment ourselves ()f the goods in question. W, h£1.ve pCl.:id
~11 the n.ccessorial on these procureuents which urose in
this area from the Speci~l Revolving Procurement Fund.
While en the subject of the Specio.l Revolving
Procurement Fund, it might be well t 'J state that all
accessorial chrirges urising from trans-shipments effec.ted
through Egyptian Ports by this'office h:1ve been p:J.id out uf
this ~coount (Australian tr~ns-shipments for Europc~n
ft issions, and a few U.S. trans-shipments for Etniopia).
Other nccessorial charges p~id frcm this fund hnve been
those ~rising out uf SURUK trnns~ctions, SURPROP
transn.ctions, · d shipments of M. E. O. surpluses to other
missiuns. Balkrui stockpile and Dodecnnese stockpile
cl'ulrges l~~ve for the most part been peid frum MEO general
funds.
Page 113
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PRINCIPAL MEO COMMERCIAL BULK PROCURKJIENTS
Commodity Approx, Quantity
Bonemeal 300 tons
Flax Rope 15 tons
Brief Case 150
Salt 30.000 tons
Dental Burs 358,182
Bags (for salt) 100,000
Gelatine 1 ton
Leather Washers 2000
Goats Hnir Rope 8½ tons
~classes 3935 tons 65 tons
Cotton Seed Cake 5000 tons 7500 tons 3000 tons 5000 tons 5000 tons 9500 tons
Trichloroethylene 10 tons
Glycerine ½ ton
Ploughs 2500
Crushed Benns 550 tons
Domnuts 47½ tons
Destination
Greece
Greece
Greece
Jugoslavia
Poland, Italy, Greece, Albania Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia.
Yui:;oslavia
Greece
Greece
Greece
Greece Dodecanese
It:ily Czechoslovaki:1 Albr.min Yugos:Lnvin Austrio Greece
Yugosl·1.vin.
Greece
Ethiopic:
Czechoslovc.kiu
Greece .
Page 114
- 461 -
PRINCIPAL MEO PROCUREMENTS FROiA BRITISH ARHY ( Other than SURUK nnd B,,,.lk;m Stocktiile)
Commodity
Wireless St~tions
Hemp Rope
T~rpnulins (40Xh0)
Rc.w Bubber
i1ntimony Ingots
Copper Sheets
Dentnl Burs
Sodium Arsenite
X Ray set co~plcte
D.D.T.
P:, ris Green
Cctton seed ~nke
Approx. Qunntity
12
6 tons
3000
2 tons
1 ton
2 tons
185,178
2 tons 40 tons
491 cases 64 cnsns
431 c~ses
one
10 tons
247 drums
754 tons
Dest ini'. ti on
Yugoslnvi, ·.
Greece
Greece
Greece
Greece
Yugosl1.vin
It-:1.y, Alb:'.nia Gru0ce, Yugosl·~v:
Dodecanese Greece
Greece Dodeca.nese Ethiopin
Dodcccnesc
Greece
Grecco
Greece
Page 115
- 462 -
ERO PURCHASES IN MIDDLE EAST ON WHICH a'IEO P1HD .hCCESSORIAL CH11.RGES AND FURNISHED DOCUMENTJ\TION
Commodity Approx.Qunntity Destin:i.tion
1.1:urio.. te of Potn.sh 370 tons Greece 477 tons Yugosl~viu
Bitumen 7480 tons Greece 7860 tons YugosL.viu
280 tons Dodecanese
Diving Equipt. 23 cases DodecMese
Hempseed 20 tons Greece 109 tons Ukrc.ine
22 tons Yugoslavia 40 tons Czechoslovakia
Overcoating Cloth 31 bales Greece 51 bales Yugoslavia.
Hemp 15 tons Greoce
Cotton 1440 bales Czechoslovakia 2579 b;:les Polnnd
365 bnlcs Yugoslavir. 2918 bales It~'.ly
Cooking Chocolate 125 GrGOCO
Liquid Bromine 3360 kgs Czechoslovr.kia
Bitumen 14,000 tons Itr.ly
Page 116
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- 463 -
TURKISH CONTRIBUTION.
In ecrly JunG of 1946, ~'. special r.1ission from
Heo.dqun.rtors, headed by Mr. Cornelius Vrn Engert, visited
1~kur~, Turkey, to discuss the pr0posed Turkish contribution
to UNRRA. This wc.s .~ highly successful visit, [md while
the 1ission w~s still in iuikGru, tho Turkish P~rlin.mcnt
voted~ contribution of six million Turkish Lir~, and,
in o.ddi tion., o. gift of 20,000 tons of ooc..l 1..nd 150,000
tons of salt. It wns obvious th~1t 1:1ost of the contribution
would be spent 0n the ncquisiti~n of cerc~sl, nnd tentative
procedures were trgreed betwe0r1 the Mission rmd the Turkish
Gov~_rJnont for h~ndling procur0nont uf ccroal·, conl and
salt under the Turkish Contribution.
In tho middle of June, the Mission returned to
C"'.iro, end appcinted o.jor i..H.St.Cl~ir of the MEO Burenu
of RequirCI, ents "nd Su-ply to be UNRR"·' s r~prosont:-.tiv in
Turkey for purposes of lir.ison with the Turkish Govcrrun nt
on tho procurGoent, ~nd locul superv,ision with our
superintending <'.gen ts on the shippi111:., md inSiJGction of
cargoes. l ftor .Mr. Ven Engert' s dep::irtur · for London,
Mr. Herbert cc.rriod on in Cc:.iro the o.rrc.n(,cmcn ts for all
the details in connection ·with the Ccntribution.
A small group of reputable merch.".Ilt firms in Turkey
were provisionri.lly '"1.pj_:,ointec.1 (confirmed on 24th July) to
so.feguurd our inter~sts in weighing, e.nnlysis, loading, Gtc
of our cargoes x Turkish ports. These were
Page 117
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Edward La Fontaine's Sons, G. nnd A. Baker, Gilchrist
Walker, and J.W. Whitt~ll, with the first-named nctin
us secretary. These firms pooled their resources ~t
r.\.11 ports, and were instructed as to tho procedures
agreed with the Turkish Government.
Major St.Clair wns duly inforncd as to ~11
agreed procedures, r.nd i1r . Herbert l~id down th:'..t for
purposes of c.dministration, finc..:.nce end c.isciplinc,
our .Ank~rn r~pres~ntctive would come under MEO, nnd for
opern.tion.:-.1 purposes, instructions would be re:cei ved by him
d1r~ctly from ERO. ~l , rocedure for tlocmH.:n t.'.'.. tion by the
.ankarn Re;:,resentati vc and the MEO Su:,:-.:. lY Records offic..:r
wns set u1. which would satisfy nll nccou.nting r1..:quir ments.
Shi~ping wns to b8 nrronged by London, in consultation
with Cciro "nd Anknra. Cniro h::.d little to de• with nny
nctual fixtures, other thnn to- ~dvise Lond0n of nny
reasonnbl0 offers .
At th beginning of July, hfajor St.Clc..ir ·md
~ SGcret~ry-~ssisto.nt depurtod for 1i.I1k~rn, and sat Ui
a small office. r.bjor St.Cla.ir duly presunted himself to
all the necessary officic.ls of the Governments 2-nd cmbnssics
~nd from stcrt to finish his rel~tion~ with nl of thoso
were the most cordic.l. The Procedures for h:-.ndling
I)rocurement uf cereals, salt und c nl were revised to
cover the ,,rGs6nce in Turkey of r1n UNRR..n. RerJrestmtativc.
This wus agreed by the Turkish Government, and tho work
Page 118
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of delivery ,:,_nd shi1J _ing of the Turkish Contribution
got under way.
Out of the six million Turkish Lira Contribution,
15,000 metric tens of barley and 16,000 metric tons
of rye we:rc ~- urchased, the b::i.rlcy for Italy and the
Rye for 1-1us tric.. This consumed T. L. 5,310,547.69.
The 20,000 tons of coal were delivered &nd shipped to
Italy to the value of T.L. 431,192.53. This exceeded
by T.L. 11,192.53 tho ~nticipated cost of T.L. 420,000
(at an average of T.L. 21 ··er ton) 2.nd was due tc the fnct
that the qualities of co2.l over the whol8 20,000 tens
su;-r lied varied slightly and,.6.no.void2..bly on e2.ch cf the
se1nrnte shipments.
Because it wa.s not ne0ded, UNRRi~ reqoosted that
onl 75,000 out of the 150,000 tons 0f so.lt pr0mised,
be delivered, and that wo be allowed to convert the
be.lance of the vclue of thti 150,000 tons in tu other
Turkish commodities. This was a.greed by the Turkish
Government, nnd we procured cignrettes fur the D.P.
Germnny amenities progrt:m with the value of the be.lance of
the gift and with the difference between T.L. 6,000,000
and the value of the cereals procured. -"l.l togethL!r,
366 tons less than 75,000 tons of salt were delivered,
end the value of this small tonnage W".S n.lsu converted
into cigo.rettos. Of the 74,634 tons of s~lt deliver8d,
46,077 tons went to Czechoslovo.kin c.nd 28,557 tons went
to Yugoslnvin.
Page 119
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•
- 466 -
Set out below is~ brief ~tntisticul sur.w~ry of
the. Turkish Contribution. UNRR.-i. cr.n be well sntisfied
with the di1:lom,'1tic and efficient handling of this
pa.rticulc1r operc1.tion on its part by c1.jc,r St.CL1ir.
Contribution T.L. 6,000,000
Gift Co~l T.L. 420,000 (20,000 tons 2.t c..verc.gc T.L. 21 ~·er tc•n)
Gift Sc.lt T.L. 930,000 (150,000 tons at T.L. 6.20 p1..,r ton)
Tot:-:1. T.L. 7,350,000
B"rley T.L. ,2, 2 91, 95 8 • 77
Rye T.1. 5,018,588.92
Co2l T.L. 431,192.53
82.lt T.L. 462,730.80
Cigarettes T.L. 1,141,669.20
Unspent T.L. 3,859.78
Totc.l T.L • 7;350,000
Page 120
Name of' Vessel D at e
s/s Kyklades 5/e/46
c--S/S Empire Falcon 5/9/46
'° -.-t S/S Capo Ma1e 23/e/46
s/S Capo MaJ.e We/46
™SH C0NTRIBurI0N BARLEY (FOR 1=f.' ALY)
i.9..uantities in metric tons nett)
Routing Quantity
Iskenderun/Venice 5588
Izmir/Genoa 4637
Iskenderury Genoa 3048
Mersu:/Cenoa 1727.200
15,000.2
Value ( in T. L. )
T.L. 862~088.70
T.L. 716,764.27
T.L. 455,371.20
T.L. 257,734.60
T.L • 2,291,958.77
•
Page 121
Nrune of Vessel D at e
s/s Altay 9/lJ/46
s/s Altay 4/9/46
ro s/s Kyklades 23/e/46 '° -.;t-
S/S Tripoli 16/l.Q/4£
TURKISH _CONTRIBUTION RYE (FOR AUSTRIA}
(Quantities in metric tons nett)
~ing Quantity
Istanbul/Trieste 4752
IstanbuJ/Trieste 4800
Istanbu1/Venice 304&
Izmir/Trieste 3400
11~,CXD
Value(in T.L~
T.L. 895,219.78
T.L. 91,396.80
T.L. 571,902.34
T.L. 641,070.00
T.L. 3,018,588.92
Page 122
TURKISH G-IlT COAL (FO ITALY)
( '}uantities in metric tons nett :
Name ·of vessel D at e Routing _\lEilltity Value (in T.L.)
s/s Trl.poli 2o/3/47 Zonguldalyl Ancona 2370 T.L. 73,549.84
s/s Tripoli 21/2/47 Zonguldal-/Bari 3249 T.L. 70,450.42
s/s Margarita 27/3/47 Zonguldak/13£ ri 3070 T.L. 67.585.31
s/S Margarita 2/3/47 z9ngu1a.ai,-/cat ania 2927 T.L. 63,694.57
°' s/s Harcella 2)/L/47 Zonguldalf Catani.a -£) ¼40 T.L. 92,024.90 --:t
s/s :Margarita 2/5/ 4 7 Zonguldalf Ancona 2944 T.L. 63,887.49 ,.
20,000 T.L.431,192.53
- -
Page 123
Name of' Vessel D at e
s/s Kozara 2(¥l0/46
&" S Beogr-ai. ~10/46
s/s Ivan 1.J/10/46 0 t- f/s Km-dun 3)/10/46 --;:t
S/S Fl• a Nam.cos 26/1.J/ 46
S/S Gorica 17/12/46
s/S LiCllO 1/J./47
!,_URKISH GIF'r SALT (FOR CZECHOSI.DVAKI.A)
(Quantities in metric t~ns nett)
Routing Quantity
Camalt:i/Trieste 7827
Izmir/Trieste 10,000
Izrnir/Tr:i:est e 1800
Izmir/-'l'riest e 7900
I.Llnir/Triest e 3100
Camalt:i/Fiume (Rijeka) 8350
Carnal t1/Fiume (Rijeka) 7100
46,0Tl
Value(in T .L.)
T.L. 413,527.40
T.L. 62;000.00
T.L. 11,160,00
T.L. 413,900.00
T.L. 19,220.00
T.L. 51,770.00
T.L. 44,020.00
T.L.285;677•40
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Page 124
•
TURJCTSH GilT SAIJ.r (FOR YUGOSLAVIA) i
(Quantities in metric tons nett)
Name of Vessel D at e Routin__g Quantities Value ( .;.n T. L. ~
s/S Ljubljana 23/3/47 Camaltj/Rijeka 7370 T.L. 45 ,E>94.00 S/S Uzice 17/1/47 Cama.J. t :i/Ri jck.a. 2500 T.L. 15,500.00 S/S Uzice l.2/'2/47 Cama.1 t j/Ri jeka 3252 T.L. 20,162.40
r-l s/S Losin: 28/2/47 Cama.lt:i/Rijcka 7315 T.L. 45,353.00 ---;t
s/S Gorica 12/-:/47 Izmi.r/Rijeka 8120 T.L. 50,344.00
28,557 T.L. 177,053.]J)
Page 125
-
s/s Gitano s/S Empire G-a.rc .. :1
s/S Empire Gareth
s/S ire Gareth
C\l s/s t'----;t
TURKISH CONTRIBurION AND Gffi CIGm'TES (FOR D.P.GERMANY)
(Quantities in units of 1000 cigarettes)
Date ~oimting Quantities. Value (in T.L.)
2F!/'2/47 Istanbul/London 221,400 (T.L. 270,547.69 2&f 3/47 IstanbuJ/London 18,600 (2.~. 689~452~31
28/3/47 I stanbuJ/London 1,000 T.L. 4,000
2e/3/47 IstanbuJ/Lond.on 43,850 T.L. 175,400
7/7/41 IstanbuJ}Loncwn 567.3 T.L. 2,269.20
285,417.3 T.L.l,1..4J.,669.20
Gift Contribution
Gift
Gi:t't
Git't
Page 126
- 473 -
Cnmp Supply, Ccmp Wnr housing nnd Surplus Dispos~l.
This section will be troc..t~d in chronologicnl
order, as the subject· mutter is too overl~p~ing tc sep~rate.
The Middle E£1.st C::u:ips were o.lrec.dy c going concern
when UNRRA took over on the 1st of May 1944, cmd the existing
ri~ili tc.ry stn.ff rem,.ined us it was. UNRR.t. did not immcdia tely
install any kind of a supply yrocedure of its own, o.nd
the situc::.tion more or less rnn itself a.sit hnd under British
.ttrmy control.
There were six camps nt the tine of the tc.kcuvcr -
11leppo (Syria), Nuseirr~t (P .lcstine), Muses Wells, Kha.tntb,<>.
Tolurnb~t and El Shatt (Egypt), with n tot~l r~fug8, popul~tio·
of 31,566. This figure rose t0 over 40,000 o.t the end of
June 1945. The bulk of the nuccssnry stores, such us
rations, P.O.L., Trcnsport nnd .ncco1JI:1odation Storos, er.me
from the British .t1.r1:iy 0n a noro::-.1 indent basis awtinst
repayment. During the surar.'h:r of 1944 procure .. 1ent bogan o,f
considerable eoergency and amenity supplies vn the locnl
mnrkct.
In October cf 1944, ... centr·.l war ·hcus0 in Co.iro
w~s est~blishcd as a clearing house and forward stocking
site for these loccl procurCI1 en ts. Quite n f w shipments
of clothing, staple foods, <>.dministr~tive equipment, rmd
supplies ~nd equip~ont for en.op uctiviti0s and w lf r
Page 127
-
- 474 -
programs began to arrive from the United States, c.nd
these were ~lso stored in Cairo for eventu.::.l distribution.
Army supplies usually went directly to the indenting c.::mps.
In ord~r to minimize the effects of non-avnilo..bili
ties of army storGs whicb resulted from tho month-to-wonth
indenting systen, a Heavy Stores We.rehouse wc.s sot up
in El Shatt Co.rap, separate from the El 8ru:.tt cm:ip stores
themselves, in which wns to bG collectGd,a three-month
reserve of .1.rny stores, except for D. I.D. stor~s (rntiuns).
This Warehouse was sot up in Jnnuary of 1945 to s0rve
all cD,mps on ri.1oro or less the sm::ie be.sis o..s the C"..iro
Wo.rchouse. Mc.st of the bulk goods in the C:~iro Wnrohousc
were tro..nsf erred to this now He"vy Stores warchuuse, .::md
ship:r.ients from tho Unitc<.l St2.tes w...,re c.ls,J sent there for
sorting, stor~gc :ind distribution as renuircd. C~iro . Warehouse then, other thnn its function "..Sa cle~ring h0usc
was mainly concerned with mudical stor~s. None of thcsG
wore warehoused .::.t Heavy Stores.
Khutatba Cnr.ip closed at the end r, f Novonber 1944.
Its stor s, tents, beds, etc., were transferred to El Sh~t
Camp along with its refugees. In March of 1945, nlcppo,
:i .:null cnap in Sy"~.ric., w2.s closed, c.nd its stor~s nnd
refugees were tr;msferred to Nuseirnt C1.r.1p in Po..lcstine.
In July of 1945, with the setting up of the Prop1.:rt
Control and Surplus Dispos~ls Division, ~ complete invent
physically of all the Cnnps and warehouses was undcrtuken,
and all pnst records, inventories, ~ouchcrs and lcde~rs w~ -
Page 128
-
- 475 -
brought to headquarters. Pr~vi usly, ~n attcIT.pt h~d bcon
made at HQ by the MEO Supply Divisi0n tc keep ccntrol '
Gn record c~rds of stores in cr.mps, but the fuct th~t ~11
· dccumentnti _n c.n c1.mp tv crunp and WD.reh use to camp
movements of stores did not pnss thr · ugh HQ bec[~usc
of resulting delays, and the fact that .;.rmy v.Juch rs w0r
frequently months behind kept this system from ever . serving its intended purpusc.
The first cemp to be closed fol~owing the beginnin,
of reputrintion on~ lc.rge scale wc.s Moses Wells in thl
Sinai Desert about 15 miles south of El Sh.'.:ltt. The Stores
were removed to Heavy Stores, and the crunp itself with its
permanent instQll~tions was hnnded b~ck to GHQ Hirings
on the 12th of July 1945,
During 1 ugust of 1945 r. consigru:i0nt 0f surplus st ~·,
from Heavy Stores (estimated ~ccomnodation stores requir~
for 2000 persons) was prepared and packed c.nd shipped
to Greece in tho fell. In September a smaller c nsignnent
was prep~red at Tolumbat Cnnp ruid sent to Greece.
,tt the end of September 1945, Nuseirc.t Cucr, in
Palestine w~s closed, ct the urgent request of the Briti~h
Military, ru1d nll the storos were railed to Heavy Stores.
This was n considerable undertaking, becnuso it hn.d bocn
a cam of almost 10,000 refugees. The Mandi tro.ining
center closod the beginning of October, all teru.1s havin g
finally been cutfi tted iJ.nd eotten af f to the Bal.kms.
Excess stores from Mnadi were tr~nsferred to the Cairo
Page 129
- 476 -
Warehouse. ':.)lumbat Cc:i.mp o.lso closed the bGginr,ing of
October, its stores being sent to Ho;'.vy Stores · Wc.rehon~i:::.
Henvy Stores W1:'.s cor:1pletely inv~mtoriod, 2nd c. new
set of bin cards set up ~s ut 31 December 1945 . At the
end of 1945, the CnJ.ro Wnrehouso was closed, ['.Ild the
excess n~dical stores, ~1most 1600 cc.ses, wcr~ pr~p~red
for shipment to Yugoslnvic, . The gencr~.l s tcrl.,s were
sent to the He;ivy Stores . 11..,ss thnn h~lf .._f these r.rndicci.l
stores 8Ventunlly did go tc., Yugoslc1.vi ~; 2. f.ew wcmt to
Greece o.nd Italy; about .200 cases W8nt to Ethi J.:-ia in
September of 1946; and the bn.lance of 784 ca.sos were
eventually sold locally by tender in December of 1946 .
The s'lmll cmi1p at El ~.rish (opened in Soptrn.1bor 1944)
wns closed in ~arch of 1946 nnd its stores sent to the
Heavy Stores Wo.rehe,use . There then ... ei:min0d cnly El Sho.tt
Co.mp nnd Hea.vy Stores We.rehouse of the whole forIJer c:_-,..rJ.t
nnd en.mp wnruhousing system .
In Jc:.nuory of 1946, ~ few suspluses were sent to
the Dodecanese, nnd later in the spring, ~ considernbl0
consignment w.::i.s sent to D. P. C::1.mps, Germany . In Mc.y, Jun
and July, n. s~ries of locc.l sales by sen.led t~nu~r
procedure clcnred the s~lvnge y~rd of the Hec.vy Stor~s
Wn.re"ouse . In 1mgust, a lnrge cunsigncrrmnt was prepared
for September shipment to Ethiopia. ng~inst thc'lt v!ission 1 :.:,
approved requireLlents . In tho last quarter of 1946, th~
remo.ining stores in tho Henvy Stvrus Vfo.r house were e:i ther
Page 130
-
- /477 -
brcught to C~iro and sold loc['.lly by se2..led tender, or ~
else, where possible, returned to the British j~rmy 2.gainst
credits.
Altogether, the MEO re~lised L.E. 53,565.755
nett from sales of Camp surpluses, and ~pproxim~tely
LE. 23,000 credits for returns of storvs to the British
irmy during the liquidation phase. t the s~me time, c.nd
in conjunction with these sc.les, we sold off surplus HQ
administr~tive supplies, equi~ment mid vehicles, these
sales netting the ~dministration an ~dditionnl LE.14,024.5c ,
for vehicles ~.i1d spc.re 1K .. rts and LE. 2354. 776 for oth(H
administrative stores. Further sc.l~s of ~dministr~tivc
roperty will have to take place after 30th June 1947,
but these arc not here included.
Records on supplies in cumps up until the end of ,
1945 were kept ccccrding to the rray Qu~rtermaster system
of Receipt Vouchers, Issue Vouchers, c..nd l dgers containing
c p~ge to show both receipts and issues for aach single
item of nomenclature. Beginning in 1946, records wer kor
much in the sG.lne m~nner, except on bin cards, newly set ur
and based on en actual physicl..l inventory. Some of the
records were well kept md some were not. uome records
were not located at the time of camp closings. On the
~hole, however, it may be s'1id that a good job was done
under trying circumstnnces. Losse::- which mny hc.ve occurr ....
cn.n be bala d for the most p~rt on two contributing fact i
(l) Th fts end destruction by refugees, nnd (2) rnids by
•
Page 131
-
- 478 -
roving Arabs, and the inherent dishonesty of the Ar~'bis
in general who had to be hired tc, gu['.rd the camps.
Noth~ng short of a qomplete military guQrd could h~ve
prevented this type of loss.
From 1st July 1945, the det~ils of closing
camps and bonding them back t o proper authorities was
the work of the P.C. & S.D . Div: W1til its dissolution
on 1st J.pril 1946. l,.ll of El Shatt Camp (buildings and
installations) handed back to the British .,,.rmy as of
the end of Jillle 194 7, o.nd the British Army hc1ve hc.nded
back to P.C . I . R. O. those ~ortions of the camp necessary
for ~r0sent refuge~ operations •
.L1. graph showing refugee populu+ion camp by
caL1p and month by month is attached~
Page 132
I £1 /9 --------------- 1tNr I '16 ---------------- 191/ I I
J J A J ~ S O ,J
I I v.
trl J J A S O rJ } J f M A !'I J J A 5 o tJ )) J
,o-r,u .. 3S".o-oo
• CAMP
f'o Pu I.It 11 otJ
1S';ooo
.I
15',o«J
- /0 1 Mt0
0
NuM f3 et?. orr te;Fv (i~e s 8 ! /Vl()N TI/ IN l),tJ. f!. R../1. MI J) L-f; Git s, C. AM p s.
Page 133
•
- L'l9 -
Egyptien eontribution.
This subject has been fully dealt with in another
section of the MEO History. The arrangements for collection,
shipping and dooumentation only have been the responsibility
of the 0 upply Liquidation Officer. The .attached schedules
show in ~otai.t. tho •tot::l procurements, qu.:-mtities and
values, effected from the Egyptian Administrative and
Operating Contributions •
Page 134
F"'::FrIAN O lliG- CONTRIBur ION Cotton (Unit nett metric tons)
Ty p e Quantity Destination Ship D at e Routing Value ....
Karnak Type 155 18.998 Italy s/S Cadio 8.2.47 Alexandria/Napl s L.E. 4203.228
Karnak Type 155 (117.761 Yugoslavia (s/s mlld'ors (5.5.47 (Alexandria/Trieste L.E. 34,793.329 ( 39.423 Yugoslavia (s/s Fanny Brunner (7.5.47 (Alexandria/Trieste
Karnak Type 155 ~125.824. Czech slovald..a ~s/s unk:f'ors (5.5.47 ~Alexandria/Trieste L.E. 1,8,452.935 · 93.069 s/s Fanny Brunner (7.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste
Karnak Type 158 159.581 Yugoslavia s/s Munkf'ors 5.5.47 Alexandria/Tri ste L.E. 34,247.613
Karnak Type 158 89.551 C zechaslovakia ~s/s Munkfors (5.5.47 ( Alexandri4-• .. riest e L.E. 49,202.982 139.7].f, Czechoslovakia s/s Fanny Brunner (7.5.47 (Alexandri.yTricste
0 00 --t Karnak Type 161 3.652 Yugoslavia s/s unkf'ors 5.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste L.E. 32,752.947)
Karnak Type lfl 156.098 ( Yugoslavia &'s Fanny Brunner 7.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste l (Yugoslavia s/s Maria Vittcria 29.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste
Karnak Type 161 21+7.UJ. ~C:Jechoslovakia s/ S Fanny Brunner 7.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste L.E. 50, 728.895~ Czechoslovakia s/S Maria Vittoria 29.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste
Cott on Ashmouni 113.534 Italy f/s Pra 5.7.47 Alexandria/Venice L.E. 22.351.492
• •
Page 135
~ J-YPl~fl_N PTl~:iJi:J 1: AT~ C:O 'T:~L ..,lf _):
Cotton (Unit nett met.:::_c "ton s)
Type Ouantity Destination Ship D at e Routjng Value
Karnak Type 155 2.748 Yugoslavia s/s Maria Vittoria 25.6.47 .Alexandria/Trieste LE. 544-318 Karnalc Type 158 .316 Yugoslavia s/s Maria Vittoria 25.6.47 Alexandria/Trieste LE. 60.016 Karnalc Type 161 .342 Yugoslavia S/S Maria Vittoria 25.6.47 Alexandria/Trieste LE. 65.066 Karnak Type 158 ( 66 .. 319 Czechoslovald.a fy" S Fanny Brunner 7.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste LE. 32,700.011) Karnak Type 158 ( 107.393 11-.... , • • Czechoslovakia rss Maria Vittoria 2~.5.47 Alexandria/Trieste ) Karnak Type 155 3.324 Czechoslavald.a S S Maria Vittoria 25.6.47 Alexandria/Trieste LE. 658.397
' M co --..:t
Salt (Unit nett metric tons')
(Salt Cor .. rsc sashed 6070 Yugoslavia s/s Podgora 20.4 .. 47 Al ex.andria/Ri jeka IE. 20,855.493) (Edible in Bulk 944.3 Yugoslavia S/S Biokovo 26.4.47 Alexandria/Rijeka )
~ 3556 Yugoslavia S/S Tara 8.5.47 Alexandria/Rij lea
~ 6096 Yugoslavia S/S Neretva 2.6.47 Alcxandria/Rijcka
• •
Page 136
•
.., 482 -
S URUK.
SURUK is the ubbrevin.ted nrnne given to the procur0r110nt
of U.K. Military surpluses ov~rseas. The first drQft
procedure governing such procurements in this thentre w:.s
issued 1n September of 1945, and reached its final form
in January of 1946. These original procerlures were all
evolved by ERO in conjunction with the Ministry of Supply,
and were only slightly amended at later dates,
Briefly, the British Stores Disposal ~xecutive in
this area held fortnightly meetings to discuss surpluses vi;h1.
"IT...:·re listed ahead of time on specinl agenda. Through local
agreement, these agenda were mr.de ·.vnilable to this office
approximately one week before each meeting. !he Surplus
Procurement officer of MEO screened these more often thn.n not
voluminous lists in relation to the very few UNRRA requirements·
lists which we ever got and from a merely common-sense
point of vievr ns to whnt we might require.
Such lists or items that survived this screening were
sent to ERO, nnd the British Stores Disposal Mission hEre
v·c s notified as to which items hnd : ..... en ref~rred to London.
We were then given 21 do.ys in order to make up our minds
r:s to whether or not n.nything w~s to be definitely procured .
Besides these agenda, subsidiary and suppleracntal .Lists
were received o.lmost dc..ily and likewise screened.
After the 21-day period of grace, the stores in
uestion were thrown on the locc.l market, and we had to teJr
Page 137
•
- 483 -
our chances along with local bidc~ers. Severc.l times ERO
enquiries reached us after the time limit set when it we.
too late for any procurement action to be taken by us.
After agreement of prices and c.pprovc1.l from ERO, purch:1s~
orders were placed in accordnnce SURUK 5/7 procedure.
One of the grectest difficulties encountered in all of
these negotiations was the question as to whether or not
purchn.ses should or could be made on m FOB bt..sis: UNRRA
both here and in ERO originally conten.Jed thnt nl1. purch"..sGs
must be FOB, while BSDE hP.re contended that this was
impossible because they hw! no organisation set up for
such deliveries and because they wanted to sell, to
other vendees, on an "as and where lyingu basis. After
such argument and correspondence b~ck and forth between ERO
mOS, BSD (ME), and MEO,it wc.s finally decided that the Army
would un<lert~ke delivery to our wurehouse for an ad!itionnl
5½% of the purchtlse price, and FuB delivery for n additional
7% of the purch~sc price.
This decision was finally reached, however, -fter
most of our purchase orders h:i.d been completed. A few of o.;
lLt r purchase or<l0rs are so m"df.: out. Some of the purch .st, ...
or1icrs were runended to show '1.ctu:il Army transport costs
when they were notified by the Army -'- , BSDM. On som~ of the
Purchase or<lers MEO ·rranged its own collection from the
respective~ pots Lnd tr"nsportation to warehouse or dock.
On some of th purchas.Js tho Arm)' has lone the tr"'n~port .Lt ➔
~nd bill d us directly for the costs.
Page 138
•
- 484 -
Another difficulty nrose because UNRRA did not
have a technical inspector to inspect goods of possible
interest while negotintions wore in an .early st~ge.
Sev~rnl transactions arrived almost to the purchase order
stage before 1t was discov~red that stores wero not suitable
for UNRRA purposes either because the depot origin&lly
declaring the goods surplus hn.d erred in its w~rrnnty
stc..tements, or because of mistakes in nomenclature or
stated types. Such an inspector's position was requested
by the Bureau of Requirements ond Supply lll its budget,
but was not grmited.
In July of 1946, following Mr. H~rbert 1 s visit, it
was decided in London to suspEmd further Suruk procurements
in this theatre because of the high cost of stores nnd
beer.use the U.K. Contribution to UNRRA was running out
faster theJ1 expected. · Prices quoted to us by BSDM werE:
sanetimes higher than the then prest•nt day new prices ex
U.K. factory.
A schedule of SURUK purcmsc orders ~ctunlly plnced
is n.ppendeu hereto. I,1my SURUK negotiations other thD.n these
w2ru enterod upon, but were dropped ~long the way for
varying reu~ens. No ~ttempt hJs been m~de here or
elsewhere to enumerr:.te these •
Page 139
GENERAL SUHMARY OF SURUK PURCHASE ORDE.".:ffi PLACED BY U.E.O.
P.O. No. & . Destination Description Ship D at e Routing Value -.
M.E.O. 1 760 Long Tons Salvage Aero Tyres Dubrawka 18.7.46 Port Sai4'Fiume ~ £ 9120.0.0 Yugoslavia. Stanburn 4.7.46 Port Said/Trieste
Y.E.O. 2 ~ Long tons salvage Aero Tyres UN?..RA Lorry 16.2.46 Tel el Kebis/El. Shatt£ 30.0.0 El Shatt Camp
Y.E.O. 3 :i.3 ,000 Hardwood Railway sleepers Simeon 3 6.1.G Sue~Piraeus) £ 1~50.0.0 Greece Antiklia 21.6.46 Suez Piraeus)
M.E.O. 4 10 Long Tons Paris Green Empire Calder 6.4.46 Alexandria/Piraeu £, 1646.8.0 t Alteration No. 237 . ~ Greece
tO -;t
1 M.E.O. 5 15,000 x 44 Gal. Galv. ,Drums Pahang 19.7.46 Alexandria/Piraeus ~ Pahang 3.7.46 Alexandria/Piraeus
Pahang 20.6.46 Alexandria/Piraeus ) 13,770 Greece Elpis 14-7.46 Alexandria/Piraeus i £ 112~:o:o Elpis 29.5.46 Alexandria/Piraeus
Ais Georgis 18.6.46 Alexandria/Piraeus Theresia Nanicos 23.10.46 Alexandria/Piraeus
l 235 Dodecanese Son Bahar 25.5.46 Alexan~Rhodes 2lt,l Italy Motia 29.9.46 Port Venice 754 M.E.O, far Disposal
M.E.O. 6 Greece 14 Anchors Shilanona 2.10.z.t; Suer/Piraeus 90.ia.1
( 12 only received so far - 2 yet to be delivered)
•
Page 140
P.O. No. & Destination
M.E.0. 7 Yugoslavia
M.E.0. 8 .AJ.teration No. 225 Greece
M.E.0. 9 Italy
M.E.0. 10 1 Greece
'° tO ---t
I M.E.0. 11 Greece
M.E.0. 12 Greece Italy Yugoslavia
M.E.0. 13 Greece
M.E.0. 14 Poland
Description
15 .Amchors
69 Jackets Lif'e Saving Naval
3000 Hats Pith
300 x 36 1 Wood Telegraph Poles) 700 x. 21+' Wood Telegraph Poles) 30,000 Insulators No. 1 ) 4976 Spindles No. 16 ) 20,0CX) Washers G. I. No. ll )
3 x 5 ton Portal Cranes
3259 Long tons mild steel sheets
2 Kelvin Launches
Harness
Ship D at e Routing Value
Dinara Suez/Split £ 46.2 .6
Ais Georgi 18.6.46 Alexandria/Piraeus £ 327.15.0
• Fort Pembina 15.5.46 Alexandria/Naples £ 625. o.o
Ais Georgis 19.9.46 Alexandria/Piraeus) Ais Georgis 12.8.46 Alexandria/Piraeus) TDeresia Nomicos 23.10.46 Alexandria/Piraeus) £ 2835.11.0
)
Cancelled by Cancellation Notice No. 227
Cancelled by Crncellation Notice No. 228
Elpis 14.7.46 Alexandria/Piraeus £ 980. 0.0
Cancelled by Cancellation Notice No. 233
Page 141
I
P.O. No. & Dest~tion ...-
:M.E.O. 15 China
M.E.O. 16(Rev.) Yugoslavia
M.E.O 17(Rev.) Greece
r:--- M.E.O. 18 oo 1Q.teration No.238
+- Greece I
M.E.O. l? :1-~1..y
M.E.O. 20 Yugoslavia
M.E.O. 21 Albania
M.E.O. 22 China
U.E.O. 23 Yugosl :1via.
De script ion Ship D at e
30.000 s.G. - H.W. Sleepers Grade "B") Produce 11,..6.46 10.,500 S.G.-S. • Speepers Grade 11 A") Dicto 31.10.46 19.000 S.G.-S •.• Sleepers Grade "B" )(lll lost in transit)
3/4- mile I.S.R. 75 lb Tracl::
7l/ 8 mile U. K. 75 lb Track ) 7/8 mile I.S.R. 75 lb Track ) ¼: mile Lackawana 52 lb Track)
3 I.S.R. 50 1b Tu:rn~uts l 1 )
10 I. S.R. 50 lb Turnouts 1-12)
Mild Steel Sheets l 16 G. 234.6.1.0 tons 21 G. 24-3.0.3.0. tons 24 G. 46.5.2.0. tons)
Mild Steel sheets ) 16 G. 14()0.o.o.o Tons) 21 G. 772.1.2.0 Tons)
Mild Steel sheets 21 G. 572.0.0.0 tons-
• Telcc"ll][IlUllcation stares
Telecom.rnunicn.t ion •--tares
Tclccoir::nunicat: o Stores
•
Forsvik
Empire prt em Ais Georg_s Theresia Noori.cos
Ais Georgis
Hclencrest A.TH.Jonasson Francesca
Francesca
27.8.46 12.8.46 23.10.46
27.6.46 24-.8.46 17.8.46
17.8.4',
Can~elled by Cancellation Notice No. 229
Cancelled by Cancellation Notice No. 231
CnncelL .. d by Ca:nccll t.; o. otj "''3 N • 232
Routing
Sue7/Ko loon) Suey/Kowloon~
Value
£ 29.502. 1.8
Alexandria/Tr·este £ 2596. 7.0
A1exandria/Sa onika) Alexandria/Piraeus l Alexandria/Piraeus £ 24391.12.0
)
Alexandria/Piraeus£ 11831.15.7
AlexandriB/Venice~ Alexandrie/Gcn £ 495CC.l1 3· Al dri.y'°Venice
Alexandriz:yTricst £ 11072.19.4-
Page 142
}'.O. No. & Dest~ntian Description S h i 12 D at e Routing Value
Alexandria/Trieste £ 1837• 0.3
U.E.O. 24 2100 Gal. Light Gray Paint yugoslavia ( 2nd Rev)
Forsrik
M.E.O 25 Ethiopia
M.E.O. 26 Ethiopia
U.E.O. 27 .Albania
I }1.E.O. 28 -co Greece -co --t
M.E.O. 29 1 Yu0 osl.:-..via
M.E.O. 30 Ethiopia
11.E.O. 31 Ethiopia
1.3 coilsx240 yds Barbed wire Af'rica Sue?/D jibout i
13 Tons Corrugated Ire... Sheeting Cancelled by Cancellation Notice No. 264 Revision prepared to cover Transport charges
183 lbs Tape Insulating Adhesive Concelled by cancellation Notice No. 267
740 lbs Tape Insul:1ting Adhesive Cancelled by Cancellation Notice No. 268
1+-3 yds systof'lex Tuui.-rig ) 627 :rt varnished tubing ) 30 lbs micanite rlate sheet ) ll2 lbs Pa;..'"Oline sheet ) 374. lbs Fibre vulcanized sheet )
Paints Cancelled by Crui~~llation Notice No~ 259
43 Cold Chisels )
~ Shikmona
Suez/Djibouti 20 Files 1 Oilstone
£
.... J
£
4. 9.3
310 7.11
3. 6.6.
Page 143
•
- 489 -
SURPROP.
SURPROP (procurcmE;;nt of Uni tG St 1t0·s Mili t r ry
surpluses overs~ns) oper[).t1ons bGgcm considere.bly boforu
SURUK apc..rutions. In the early st .... ges UNHRA did n\., t h"VL:
n design~tcd Area Surplus h-Jcuremcnt Agent, md the ,:;, . .1.'l •l' •l.
Economic Administr~tion w~s h.?..ndling ~isposcl of surplus
property on b0half of tho Americc.n Army, so th::i.t thv first
four SURPROP urchc.se orders be.:1r tho notaticn 11 In the
uosence of the d~signnted UNRRA Arca Surp.Lus Procurement
Agent, this order is beinc sigr10d jc intly by Diri..;ctor,
BureL..u of Recuirem~nts ".ncl Supply, UNRRA, ~EO, c..nd f>pcci:"'11
R0pres(.,ntative, FEA. 11
Theso first four purchf'..sc orders were pl['.ced
r~spuctively on 18 August 1945, 24 August 1945, 10
September 1945, nnd r..9 October 1945. All fuur of these
nurch:.sa orr=icrs covered procurement of stures lying in the
Pcrsina Gulf Co.iffi-mtl ;r~n of th~ United States Army.
0P-1-ivlE0 oovc.re·l 300 Stu<leb.~.ker Cnrgo Trucks 21-ton 6:x.4,75,Stu<leb~ker Tractor Trucks 2½-ton 6:x4 tun
Scai-'rrnilers, und 12 months Spare Parts to sc· le for all
vehicles. OP-3- E0 wns a duplicate of 0P-1/ME0 ~xc~pt
thn.t tho quantity f r the second item w s only 70 ins
of 75. OP-2/MEO covere ... ~· .. U,8. J.rmy Mobile \forkshop, n1,,,w,
c0mpl0tc, with all t,,,;quipn ~nt ::,:id sp"..re p·.rt., to S(; "le.
1~ccording tc our records 178 of the care -- trucks vent t0
Page 144
- 490 -
Yugosln , 172 to Greece, 159 to China, and 91 unknown.
Of tho Tro.ctol' Tru.cks, 55 tc, Yug~l<'.via , 22 to Greece,
57 to Chinr~, nd. 11 unltn Jwn. The Mobil /vorkshop w.'-=·nt
.t.o Cr~.
~"'~•wu~o h.1? too ~if" "1-0hi.c.lo s h:"V I,.; gc ne to
their ck..still.o.tions, but oth1..:r th, n a.cti- g 4:!l' 3.Shinetonl s
purch;;.s~ ~~nt int.his att r, we h~ve m~c very little
to do with these pure~ se orders. FLC Cairo r~curds in
this r s~ct are no nnre complete th-m curs. 11 sottlom n ...,
into ~ccount the ~Jv~rse repo~ts ~f th~ co.dition of the
veh.i~J.o" ""Pf'hj..cl w l"'-l 1"'.Coill d by Yugoslc.vic..
On this s®~O't {~l-C.liti ~ wo quote a few excerpt··
fru~ a re ort r.1 ... c.e to UNRRA by .1r. Jcffr y C. Kit .. hen of
FLC, Cairo, fol '.owing :i trip to the PC;rsian Gulf Corrw.4nd
in October-Nover.iber 1945. "Originally, therefore, the
b~st surplus truck~ hn.d b en held b:ck for the P rsinns.
It W!"tS now app!".r~nt that the Pt-rsj an. Vldre not in n
position to take up the offer ·1.nd tr Vl.h..icles w~ru being
relen.s·a. Th UNRfu. purchase W:).S to rec0iv. these trucks
a , thcr~for~, all v~hicles goin to UNRR r r rt ,,., •
~t leust of n quality equ~l to, if not b,tt r th~n, those
originally s locted by UNRRA 1 s ro resent tiv, rjor Cr rcr
1Al th0ut,h tl , surplus qui ent mc1.y not be overv . ued from
the st";.nclpoint of uemr nd n th Iran ml,;:.rket, ·i r U.S.
currency avo.ilubl(., I beli ve tho.t it is OVt;rvc-.1.ucd for
Page 145
•
- 491 -
... ty .LJ~ of tr'•nsc·Ctic,n in which c uipment is c.cc ... pted sight
uns un by an civilirui ~i:;oncy an l moved to an i:ireu where
c c,mp.1.otcly d~quc> te r"'pn.1.r fn.cili tJ.IJ s c rv not r.vailcl>l\3. I
believe that in gcn8rrl the ef:'timr:!.tcs of rcmr-ininu lif0
oxpvctnncy .. r1;; tco hi ,h •••••• In ad ::i..tion., no further fr.ctor
of detcrior tion since the date ... origiru.l survey i.s
apparently "'. lo o<l, .nc in such :1. climn te nu thirc. vf n. Y- ' ..
uf icU-'in ss in the open is worse than norr.ml w0nr on n.
running v hicle for a similn.r period of time;.
1-1purch! sc. Ore l:,,,r OP-4-•• EO \·,as ~rfectly straightf rm r
r q il:i.J:lt on .... y tl 1very of 4620 KN Rations to our Ui.IRF •.
r~oros-0nt .tiv in Tehc.r·.n h-.1 w~s t~king out a flight af
ref e s.
Purc~s~ Or ors OP-5-MEO an l OP-6- .1EO, covering the
purahas O'f 2-06 Rail uy w~ ons ~y· gin Egypt, ~r~ the
subjt;ct of n sepnr t disscrtati n in nnother p~.rt of
this history, ason for this eing th~t the disrJsal of s~.
has not yet b~en finn.lly c1..nclu ~e, •
o SURPROP purchase ord rs, uthl]r than for the
rollin stock, w ru l~cec. "g"'in antil 24 July 1946, bccaus
F.uC r turnin~ ve th ir surplusi~s so r~pidly on nee unt
f th1.; t.:"'rly ·~ithc!r~~al c,f ,he r ric n hrmy in this, t tr
that it w"'s impossble tc l t Washin n v hc~t w~s
c..vnil ble thnt i ht b of interest t1.. UNf:1R/ ,.nd LCt w r ~
b ck in tim t b , lot prvcure it.
Page 146
- 492 -
0P-7-.ME0 covGred purchc.se of lend-lec..sG perm·ment
way repossessed. by FLC from the British .i~rmy as follows:
37 5/6 trQck miles 75-lb. rail, 166 tons 75-lb. Fishplatcs,
,_ 42.8 tons Fishbolts, 122 Turnouts, aric1. 8¼ tr'lck miles
of 70-lb, This was all shipped to'Yugosl{~ViO. in S€ptombej_
•
und Uotobor of 1946.
11.fter much negoti2..tion bnck and forth between the
Ire.qi Government, FLC and ~\i1EO, it wc.s fin,'.lly nec.css.::.ry tc
c .ncel PurchGSG OrcGr OP-8-MEO for npproximntely )
1800 tons cf permanent w::...y, components for China lying in
B2.sr.n., becr..usd cf th8 closure of UNRRA opernt ions on
30th June 1947. The Iraqi GovE:rnmcnt refused to issue
nn ex11ort permit until nft(.;r c,ur shipr;iug der.'..c.lin0.
Purchc.s0 Order OP-9-M.EO w2.s r. purchc.sc order on
vrhich this cffice 2..ctcd cs purch·.sin i· ngont c,nly for uur
Ethiopian Mission on some unserviceable batteri0s lying
in Djibouti which \iTere the pr0pcrty CJf FLC, C3.il'C'.
Ethiopia L~rrr:r.gecl j_ts own collecti0n.
ull in nll_, SURPROP opernti.:ms in this area diC not
r.!:i.terialize to th8 extent originally cnticipate<l becnuse <
the rapicl withdrawal of the .tUnericn.n Army from tr..1 s the.:i.tr
f ollcwinG V-J Dny •
Page 147
Ba:;1ter UNHRA Sail way ,~•agons to •.rurki sh State Ra1lv•ays for Cigarettes
------------------------------- -The Middle East Office acting on instruc ~ions
from ~.rl.O. and Washington, traded t o ~he Turkish
E. ·•:ate Railways, 204 Surplus Rail Wago~1s, ·i:-E: cei ving
in return 230 Miilion Ciga r e v tes l:hi ch , €. r '3 s:up1;f.d
to Germany. I'he 204 Wagons were originally pµrch a s ed
tor use in ~ugoslavia a.nd Greece i' r or,1 0. ,_. • L .J.fter
& year of negotiations a contract to purchns ~ these
r: .gons was signed. by Col. H. ·_ . Mor .. :ris, U. lL h. h .A. ~
Area Eurplus Procuremen t Agent on 20 February 191+6.
Several months elapsed befcre the Pur9hasc Orders
were issued pending receip . of ins tructions from
H. ~. ·:~ shington ~s to the nrch:.se p:rocedu ... e to be
followed. These instructjons vrer~ finally re ~eived
and Surp:.-op Purcha se Orcie number OP-5-1L ... O r..nd
OP-6-MhO we;•e executed on 1~ ,ray .')46.
Since both Yugoslavia and a ~eece had a lTe~dy
stated that these Wagons -.:re un ·-3ui table fo:· ope ; ation
in those countries, it is not cl•m r· from our files
Y1hy Wash1ngcon insisted on compl.~ting this purc:1ase.
However, it ras completed and th3 question of dis po sa l
was raised by M.1.0. The original 1urchase includ~d
for disposal.
Page 148
During -chis period the t,gyptian State Railv-ays
reque sted pcr:--11i ssion to rent 66 of the 50 tons War
Flats whiJ::h was done after approval of Vlashington
and Lond0n , These 66 Wagons ~ere hired to 1.S.h,
f ;· o:11 AF~il 1946 to 31 December 1946, The total
.amount --ecei -~€d for hi re charges was U 4,365 , 360 ,
1-~ft e:-:- se-veral mon-chs of fur chor cablos c,nd
lo 'ctc rs .1. •• 1LO. cabled a.uthority on 3 Eeu1:0mber 1946
autho ··· izing M.1.0. to dispose of the Wagons. How
ever, Washington requested further d~tails before \
giving their &pproval and it was not until 13~h
DecembEr that final authority was ~r antE::d. Me&nv:hile
M.1.0 . h~d negotiated with O.F.L.G. in Cairo for
return of' the ~'1agons without result . ~lso offers
to sell had b een made to Egyptian Str.te Railways,
Palestine Bailvrays, Suda.n Government, Irac;_i Govern
men~, Lebanese Government and the Turkish State
Pailv-rays . Of thes8 only the ':" urkish State
Rail~ays a ppeared inteTested.
When final permi ~·. sion for disposal vras "eccj vcd
}L....:.o . cabled ·chE:: ·rurkish Ltate Eailnr~ys, vrho s en ...
c.' ch~le gc: ci on r,o Ca.iro on 27th Decemb 2:· 1946) t o
inspec~ the Wagons end negoti&te th~1r purchase
After thei r inspection and considcr&ble ne~otjations
it was a greed to trade the 204 Wagons for
Page 149
:0.000,000 Cig~ret~es A contract &f.:,reement
cov~J; ·ing ,,his exchange v"a.s eifucted in Cairo on 9th
.April 1947. Purchase Orde1· No . .i1.HK-1i.V~-l dc1t&d ll.4,47
was subseruently issued to ccr.rer payment in Sterlin[
fo ~ny ~uantity of Cigar~tte.s not coverBd by an
equal exchange o~ Wagons. This stipulation was
necessary since the Wagons used by th~ British Army
and others hired to B.S.li. ti.ee<l.€d e~te:J.SiV~ repairs
to their vroodwork, also hand brakes 2.n.d portion of
AL: Brukt.l equipment were •'lissing as a result oi
this use It ~as also necessary to collect all
v:ap.;ans in Haifa which was the. ag:rccd r,oint oi hand
ov,;r· to the •.furkish State Rail\·ays.
Ne~oti!l cions v,,i th the British Arr,1y resulted in
rm rp;rL<:.rricn,J on their part to ~
1. ~1ove (. 11 ·wagons in · .. §fypt to H1:.i fi:.. v·l Jhout cos c
< Io i.·e':'"I<.! i &11 wr~~ons used by them f: eu of ch&1 '-.e
J. To F<··ne.jr ·.--r~:ons used by L.b.h. Oil reimbur.se-
ID(m t by UWL,tU1..
4 fo assist in the handover by putting all w~ o~s
in condition to rnove over thl- 1.•ai ls i.e. :t J 11
oil boxes and adjus~ brakes
i1h1 s work (.l.lso to be reimbursed by UN1iliA.
1Ph1lr- the. Army did thej ~• best to cc:..rry out th(:i r P~ rt
of tho a~rcemcnt, circmnstances beyond their control
Page 150
slo0"ed up :he deli Vury rnd rep.s-.ir . .Che single trr.ck
r2.i h ,c-.y to Pales tine W£0.~ already ovcrloadE.d becaus0
of' Mili t 2.ry COID.li1i tments and PalestinE- terrorists
continual ly kept part of the lin~ out of operation by
blowing up the track and bridges. 'rhus while th0
fL st handov0r of 105 Wz,gons whic.'11. were already at
Haifa was completed on 22 May 194?~ serious delays
~!"€ oc~\ll'ing in the h,mdovcr of tho remaininis 99 vrarons.
Finally a supplemented agreement was reachsd wi ·l,h
the Turkish State Railv·ays that the Wagons would bu
handed over without making e.ny v.roodvm ;.'king re:9aj r",
only had brakes fitted and oil boxr:s filled. Sui ,&blc
q1ductions ·- ·ould be i-:i.!:de in th~- ,,,.1c .-, of cho VJagons
~.o cov J".' :.. uch T:epai rn . on this ba~>i s t he i'inJ 1 99
Wa ;:; ons WL ,~ he.nded ov•~r on 17 July 191+7. The tot&l
d'.:C.U C vions ~gr~ (,d upon was £1080 . ':·hj s amount M ... ,.o ,
z.utho·izec. 1.,.1.;j..O. to pay in Sterling · o the ·_;:ur11.:ish
s ta t0 nail ways in Ankara.
Th,• 1~djudicu tor appointed under the terms of tho
original agreE:ment was Mr. Amin GH1~11) Deputy Chief
Mech2nic.:.l Engineer of tho Egyptian S t2.tc Railwc.y s .
His expens cs end f (:OS we1·e divided between UNhnA i._nd
Turkish btatc Rnilways. His service s were very
valuable as he helped gr1;:1atly to expedite the mov8m<.c>nt
of :11e Wa gons from Suez to Iaifa . Hjs experience und
technicc:,l knowledge was utilized ext nsi vely by bo ch
Page 151
partj es. IU s decisions "ere always sound and
f ... cconteci by both pur-cies ·i thout cuastion .
. he f ollo·.•jng Balance Sh8et sets forth (ihG
fin ncial side of this tvansnction
1.
2.
J.
4.
5.
6
7.
Original Cost of Wagons
Fees & Lx.penses of .ndjudica-tor ....•.
Cost of Repairs to Wagons (Paid to British hr.my)
"' a o • • " • •
Deductions on Value of Wa.gons at Handover .••...
Value of Cigarettes L>i, 79,493 .. .-.,93 ll••·(.~ ••••••• , .,;., J,
Peni..nls from E.5.H. 11 4,365.360
Depreciation n.t 7% per annum from d.te of purchase to d.:ite of disposal ..••.. 11
Difference
7,551.835
LB 94,164.677
503.500
1,115.810
1,080.000
Lb 96,863.987
91,410,593
Lt!.,
~his J·~nsaction on the ,~ole was~ \01y fa~ou:Lble
one for U!h,h..-. vre got ;· id of a conm10d:i ty :or ·hich ch•~:
vc..s r.o othc.,,, possjble pu!chaser and rLceiv,ed in · iscurn
a useful commodity priced at considerably less thrn
tho normal commercial price in Turkey.
Page 152
..
•
- 4Cf3 -
WAREHOUSING.
-~ i th the tclcin.g Oil~ -0f t.b.e Balk,:n stockpile
on 1st July 19,4.5 it- .also became ll,GOGSS.:l.J11 to rave
sto~~ DJ:l.d- londing of B~lkr.n civil rcli f stores ~ouung
frc;Jr.; J.W.:.i,..2('U.e E[-l.st militcll'y depots.
On 23rd June 1945 we entered into ['.n P.grcement
with the Egypt1m1 Bonded Wai·ehouses Cc. Lt<l., Alexandr in,
for the reception, hn.ndling, storage, insure.nee, etc ...
of all goo(s which we r.-light h:-.ve for shipment through
the pert 0f Alexandr i:-1... UNRRA I s stc,ri.:;s were tc oe kept
[1.S sepnrc..t1:.: lc•ts by the B<.:mcled Waruhouses .'.ln,i a scherl.uli2
of ch:.recs vms set up, based on pre-w~r raten, less
cart~in specified reductions.
A smnl~ UNRRA Office w~s est~blished .in the
Bended Wnrehcuses in ~lexandrin to hm1dle c.ll necess~ry
cocumentation a.nd supervision, and ~11 c.epots and
consignees concornec:. were notified c.s t ,_, how r,·,ods were ...
to be '1 :livered o.nd documented. All ch~rges r::l.is-r1 by
the Bvnde..:.1 W[~rohc°Juscs were checked ~nd curtified by our
Alex2.ndria rcprGsent2ti:fte :..nd forw:rdcd to our Hon.dqu:lrter ::.
Cairo Office f<.,r p,'.yrnont. This ;:tr .t.' '...ngements worked out
on the who.Lo very effi.ciently, ~~:.:1 l in c heclting our officlr.·
rocor, · s we lrwc. not c.s yet turned up c1ny un·tccuunt?..bl-e
losses.
Page 153
•
•
- 494 -
Since the Militnr. depots at t,uez are near the docks,
we did not rnc k~ nny warehousing R.r.ran 15ements, but instead
delivered go s irectly· to shipside, only incurring
occasional charges for storage on qun.ys.
The bulk of the ship?ing handl8<l thruugh Port Said
has been transhipment cargoes from Austrnlasi~. All
storage nrrungements on these goods h£..ve been hnndled
by our a.gents in Port Said, Messrs. The English Coaling
Co. Ltd., who ht ve paicl for such storage accommo<lc.. tions
at st ~dard rrt\3s ~:nd. re-billed us for reimbursement.
From the end of 1945, when the transhipment cnrgo ~S bcg:1n
to come in from Australcsi~, w0 have mr.int~ined rn UNRR
representative in Port Snid to suparvise, prcp·1re nocess··r.
ducumentation and certify our agents invoic8s.
Altogother our warohousing operati0ns including
recaption, h."..ndlin , st""C 1'ing nd lo, ding h:-ive l t1en a
c mparc.tively simpl matter, s·ncu they hav been done
by agents with only UNRRA supervision ._,.,here necessary •
Page 154
•
- 495 -
SHIPPING.
Commencing with the physical takeover of the
Balkan stockpile on 1st July 1945, it w~s necessary for . l UNRRA MEO to ha.ve its own shipping programme. Shipments
were handled through the Ministry of War Trnnsport ag~inst
requests made by this Office to Lon on.
On 5th August 1944 a Unitud 1~ritime Authority
was estr'.blished ihich becc..me an internc;.tion"'l shipping
body, subscribed to by 13 of the United N~tions. Fr·m
this time we took wha.t shipping 1:1::s o.l ... occted to us by
OMA ago.inst our forward bids for n~ccssnry shipping sp~ce.
Our ship,Ji,ng en.me un 1 er Zone 3 of UJ.;tA 1.nd our bi s for
space wero ch~nnelled thrcugh ERO and/or Casscrta. rei ht
on this ship.ing wus pai~ for by the London Office nt
.fiWT rat s.
In March 1946 U A ceased to function nnd we w r ,,,,...
thrown on our own resources for obtnining shipping
spc!ce. Fortunntely this did not present the difficulties
that were t first thought probable, and in time we worked
out a very satisfactory system for procuring loca
\·e iterr,:me;;i.n shipping at highly competitive rates. ERO
• chartered shipping ahead where we he.c~ kn:m,n bulk c'!rgoes
such as cotton seed cnke e.nc~ salt. r~.L mt;.jor freights have
been certified here ::mcl passed to Lornlon for settlement.
Page 155
(Figures expressed.in Gross F~ei~ht Tons)
Balkan Stockpile
Bulk Procurement
E.R.O. Purchases
M.E.O . Surpluses
Jiscellaneous
........ ...... ,. . , . ' . .. ................... ..... ... .... ........
..... ... .............. ......... • .. ........ .. .
P~ocurement f rom British Army ... . ..... ,
Surprop · ··· ··· 1'· ······ ·"• •11•
29,000
72,000
57,000
J,000
1,000
2,000
6,400
'Ions
H
,, ,l
11
fl
Su:-:·uk ,. C' • • t t ,1 • t t I t O • t C • t • t t 12, 000 \I
T r ans-shipmen ·cs . .. . . . -~ . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 50,000 I I
·.J..O '.i....t~L . . . .. . .. . . . . . . 232 1 40'1 Gros5 Freight ·rons
PL U S
Egyptian Contr ibution
Cotton 1485 nett metric tons Salt 25165 fl It ii
Turkish Gift, Contribution, and Barter
Cigarettes 2958 Gross measurement tons
Coal
Salt
Cereals
I I i ., ,)!
20000 Nett metric tons
74634 If II ,,
31000 II II It
"le:· - 1 )-l/'7 ) .,t ,;Uy .,.i, -
Page 156
f 1
- 496 -
RECORDS, REPORTS .~D MISCELL.ri.NEOUS.
It has been impossible to give in this history of
the Bureau of RequireL16nts and Supply m:..ny of the det;.1iled
statistics which form a part of our final r~cords. The
more important of these roports, records and statistics .:,..re
listed below:
1. Out-turn Reports on all incoming vessels nn~
~ir shipments including trQns-shipments as well
as c argo consigned to MEO.
2. ·•rrans-shipr.1ent R0ports - ,_ :1':) report r...:...s been
prepared far each inco::1ing vessel cnrr:ring
trons-shipment cargo, listing c2.r.:o roceivet'
as per Out-turn Report, names of un-c;:·rryini::
~essels, B/L nwnbcrs, dJtes, routing, cargo
c0rried on c~c~.on-carrying vessel, Issue and
Order V,jucher number, and a. ni.)to. tion .:.s to
whether proper FI-159 or Out-turn Report has
been receive~1• fron Country 1ission.
3. Shipping Report - This report lists in chronologir
order all ships fr,Jm tho Middle Ee.st that MEO has
had ~nytning to co with~ giving dnte, routing,
Mission uestin~tion, cargo carried, category
(Balkan Stockpile, Bulk Procurement, SURUK, etc.:
IOV number, whether properly· receipted, tonn~'!ges
DVJT c.nd measurement, frcj_ 0 ht wherG known, and
whore p~id.
Page 157
If
- 497 -
4. B:~.:.kcm Stc,ckpile 0tc;..tus - showing th<.t part of
the 3alk2n Stock~ ile which vvas received :-_nd
shippcc: c.s .::.n HEO responsibility, set up on
separate sh~ets, lcdg~r style, for each item of
nomenclc1 tur2.
5. Stock Record Car,ls c.nd suppe-rting Stuck Sheets
giving complete record of nlex~ndriu WnrehousD1v
Operations, including supporting wc..ybills, . Vl.1uc ••
6. ERTI/17 f;erie s of Files - one for e[ ch separ2.te
procur2v11.mt unc~ert,2kc.n by this office for
other missions, includin&, SURUK, SURPHOP, Tur lei
Contribution, Egypti:m Contribution, Bulk
Procurement, Procurement dirc~ct from the Bri tir ·
~Lrrny, etc. These files have been prepc'..:rcd in
; .. ccordcl.nce with E. R. Technical Instruction
No. 17:; ,'1nd incluJc ir. e.:-tch file c.mung other
clet:.dls c a lled far, u.ll pc.id vc,uohcr s against
th0t p~rticul~r procurement. Forms SS-51
(f10~1:i.fied) :1re now in process of prcpc.ratj_c,n.
? • Shipping Files - one file each incomint:, :'.nd
outE;oing ship, including Bills of L;.clini:,
pertinent IOV 1 s, Out-turn R,.:ports, Ch2.r-t1vr Pnrt:i
8. Surplus Disposcls - Complete re cords in acc0r'·
with E.R. Order No. 75.
Thero Qrc ma:ny other lesser cc:.tegoriGS -.f filvs e.nc..
smv.11 reports, and these togethl:r with those 1.bove listed f
n part of the final Supply lJivision Records which, after
hy the Council I s 1mcli tors, will be nro111 rty listed and
de:spr!tClhed to ERO London for final disposition.
. . .
