"On June 5th at 4am we started on our voyage to North Russia, from Victoria Docks, London. We are part of the North Russian Relief Expeditionary force and our unit is the Hospital Corps. The boat on which we sailed is one of the Belle Company boats, ours the London Belle, and another which sailed with us, the Walton Belle. These boats are fitted out as River Hospital Carriers. The London Belle had 165 beds, the Walton not quite so many.
"The fitting out of these paddle steamers incurred great expense, everything being done to ensure the comfort of the patients. If only some consideration had been shown for the crew and sick berth ratings, life on board would have been lived with some degree of comfort. Apparently such mundane thoughts did not trouble the Admiralty, hence, from the very start, all loudly expressed dissatisfaction and dissentions were the order of the day.
"The provisioning arrangements too were most unsatisfactory and gave a conclusive instance of government mismanagement. We were not a day out of port before we were out of bread. The boat was tied up to a buoy off Sheerness, and myself, with two others of our staff, went ashore to buy food. Another cause of complaint was the utter lack of washing accommodation. This was particularly inconvenient for the stokers, and greasers, who had to bathe every time they came off duty. At last a couple of buckets were found. There were no brooms or brushes provided, indeed nothing was served out to us for cleanliness and comfort.
"The voyage was continued on the 6th at 6pm. North Shields being our next port of call, where we arrived the next day. Our stay at Shields was most enjoyable giving us opportunities of visiting Newcastle and South Shields. It was at North Shields too where the discontent of crew and staff found open expression. Lining up on the top deck in front of the Captain's cabin we demanded to state our grievances. The Captain appeared and our case presented to him. The stokers and greasers absolutely refused to take the ship to sea unless great alterations were made both in regard to food and accommodation. At last definite promises were made that these matters would be remedied. The crew then returned to duty. Taking advantage of leave being granted we visited places of interest in the neighbourhood.
"Getting on a tram some little distance from the quay I had a nice ride to Newcastle and was well repaid. Fine buildings, streets and gardens and favoured with bright sunshine combined to give a very good impression of this city. It happened to be Whit Monday. The streets were thronged, everyone apparently bent on a days enjoyment. The weather was at its best behaviour, the glorious sunshine making the faces bright with gladness. One place, which claimed special attraction, is Jesmond Dene, a great natural park. Crowds of people gathered there for the day. In one part there is an open-air theatre and various other amusements. The lakes were very popular with the children. One regrettable incident occurred which marred the pleasure of a few holidaymakers. A little girl leaning over a high bank overbalanced and fell into the water. She would certainly have been drowned but for a sailor who chanced to be passing. He immediately went in and got her out. Except for the soaking neither were any the worse. It must have been very uncomfortable for the sailor. Jack always appears to be at hand when wanted.
"On the opposite bank to where our boat was lying is South Shields. I was fortunate in being able to visit this place several times and some very pleasant hours were spent on the sands, which extend far out and along the coast. The corporation has reclaimed some hundreds of acres from the sea and transformed the sands into parks and gardens. It reminds one of Southport. They have been somewhat spoilt by military operations. Gun emplacements have been erected and other parts commandeered for camps etc. Although the expense of reclamation was certainly heavy, yet the results have amply justified the expenditure.
June 12th
"Early on the morning of the 12th some little excitement was caused by hearing loud cries of "ship ahoy". We could not see who was calling for some time but at last we discovered a man in the water astern of us holding onto a 'scope with one hand and a bicycle with the other. He had been riding along the quay wall when he was tripped up by a stone and thus had an early morning dive. He was rescued by one of our seamen, named Pat, a typical Irishman.
June 13th
"On the 13th of June at 4.30am we left for Aberdeen. It was a good trip and without incident except that about half-way across the engine bearings became overheated, making it necessary to lie-to for them to cool. This delayed us about two hours.
"Reaching Aberdeen at 6pm the same day we tied up alongside the quay to go through the usual experience of cooling and watering. Being allowed ashore we paid an evening visit to this interesting city. Aberdeen is a very fine town. Its fish quays are marvellously clean and well arranged. The streets too are kept in splendid order. Its system of tramways is one of the best I've seen. Union Street is a street of which any city might well be proud. Fine commercial buildings of granite give a most imposing and substantial appearance to this wide thoroughfare, speaking of prosperity and progress. We all hope to visit Aberdeen again.
"I went for a long tram ride to the Dee valley and was well repaid. One thing amused me both in Newcastle and Aberdeen in connection with the trams:- viz. The corporations issue ½d tram fares, both for soldiers and sailors. It is very considerate of them. We appreciate greatly these acts of consideration. Speaking generally, wherever we went, the people were always kindly disposed towards us; there was scarcely an exception.
June 15th
"The boat left port for Lerwick, in the Shetlands, on June 15th at 4.15am, arriving at 10.15pm the same day. The weather was fine but cold. Lerwick is a place of some importance; there are some good-sized buildings. Unfortunately we were not allowed ashore because (so we were given to understand) of the misdeeds of former sailors, overstaying their leave etc, thus delaying the sailing of their ships, a very serious offence in the navy.
"We made the best of our stay and a boatman kindly did all he could for us in bringing goods from the shore. We were highly interested in watching the thousands of fish playing about the paddle wheels. We tried to catch them with all sorts of improvised fishing tackle, potato nets, coal sacks etc, but we were not very successful. Two small fish were the total results. We need not have troubled for fish could be bought cheap enough. A box of Kippers for 3/6, 72 large fish for 3/- and the sailors bought a large skate weighing some 60 or 70lb. The fish made a very welcome change from the continuous bully beef and biscuits.
"The provisioning of this ship is a positive disgrace to those responsible, also the absolute lack of accommodation for bathing and cleansing. So bad was the accommodation for the crew, and the food for us all, that at Shields the whole company lined up on the top deck to see the Captain and absolutely refused to take the ship to sea unless things were remedied. On the Captain faithfully promising to carry out some improvement the crew proceeded to their duties. It is needless to say that the promise was not fully carried out. I do not think that any of the sick berth staff would have gone to sea had they known the conditions under which they had to sail.
June 17th
"We left Lerwick on the 17th at 5am for Norway. The North Sea was wonderfully kind to us and except for a heavy ground swell there was nothing to complain about. Crossing the North Sea there is some danger of striking floating mines. Our old pack had a narrow escape from two. One passed within a few yards of her port paddle box.
"We reached the coast of Norway about noon, arriving at Aalsund, our first port of call, in the evening at 8pm. We were allowed ashore. Everyone was very kind to us. Crowds of people lined the quay to watch our arrival. Aalsund is a charming little town of some 3,000 inhabitants. At one of the cafés the proprietress kindly made our party some excellent coffee with plenty of milk and sugar, also beef and cheese sandwiches, all of which was very enjoyable. This was about 9 o'clock in the evening. Business did not really begin till after 12 when the theatres opened and people turned out to enjoy themselves. The view from a little café perched high on a rock was magnificent.
June 19th
"The boat left Aalsund at 8am on the 19th. All the way the trip through these Norwegian fjords and between the numerous islands was a real delightful treat and I for one stayed on deck as much as possible. We had very little sleep because it never got dusk and sleep seemed out of the question when amongst such beautiful scenery and with such glorious sunshine. At the foot of the high rocks and hills we noticed numerous patches of bright green grass and funny little houses painted in vivid colours - red, green, yellow and some white making a most picturesque scene.
"Arriving at Christiansund the same day at 1.30 we anchored some distance from the shore. The people here did not seem quite as hospitable as those at Aalsund, but perhaps it was mere imagination. It is a much larger city and quite a charming place with its varied colours, architecture and peculiar positions of the buildings. As usual we took on board coal and water. No one was sorry to leave Christiansund.
June 20th
"At 7am on June 20th the next stage in our journey was commenced. From now onwards the country near the sea became more fertile. Trees covered the lower slopes of the hills. Villages and fishing centres became more frequent. Little patches of cultivated ground were noticeable and the pretty white churches dotted here and there made the whole scene from Christiansund to Bodo very beautiful. I think we enjoyed our short stay at this place more than at any other thus far. One or two of the people could speak fluent English. Two gentlemen took me to their home and entertained me to tea. One peculiar item of diet was the sweet cheese, which was very appetizing. Perhaps this was because I had been living on ships biscuits and bully beef so long. As usual crowds of folk lined the quay to greet us and send us off with good wishes.
June 22nd
"On the 22nd at 3.30pm we left Bodo for Tromso arriving at 8pm the same day. It was an enjoyable trip although it was a bit choppy when we got to the open sea. This was only for a few hours for we were soon amongst the islands again and into calm water. Tromso is in the Vest Fjord. We were not allowed ashore at this port but as one looked at it, some little distance off, the town had a clean and prosperous appearance. Our stay here was only for a few hours, just to take on coal and water. While lying there the tug Flying Foam from Murmansk came alongside and reported passing through a severe storm, also that she had sighted our sister ship the Walton Belle which had preceded us by some 12 hours. She had to take shelter in the nearest port. The Flying Foam carried our mails to England.
June 23rd-24th
"Proceeding from Tromso at 5pm on the 23rd we arrived at Hammerfest the most northerly port in the world early in the morning of the 24th. This night I had my first view of the midnight sun. Hammerfest is a quaint little town and just at the back of it there is a very high hill on the other side of which is a lake, which was still frozen over. There was also plenty of snow. On Midsummer Day our lads had the unique experience of a good game of snowball. The entire absence of trees, shrubs etc give this region a very desolate and forlorn appearance. There are just one or two tiny wild flowers. In the windows one notices a few plants such as geraniums, ivy and carnations. The only relief to the monotonous aspects are the varied coloured houses. I noticed that in several of these Norwegian towns many of the houses had thick turf on the roof and long grass growing. The reason, so the people said, was to keep the interior warm during the winter. Coming up through these fjords there are many tiny little lighthouses perched on the points of rocks. These lighthouses are about as tall as a man and painted white. They are all connected with an electric station, lighting automatically.
"On June 24th at 10pm we left Hammerfest. All the population seemed to be on the pier to watch our departure. The skipper threw them all into a state of excitement by giving three tremendous blasts on the siren. It was amusing to see them crowding around the paddle box to watch the wheels revolve. One young urchin was caught actually crawling through one of the openings and was just rescued in time. It must have been a rare occurrence to see a paddle steamer. To them the London Belle was a very big ship. Many of them came aboard before we sailed. They admired the hospital beds (of which there are 156) and other arrangements for the reception of patients. The 18,000 horsepower engines were a source of wonder and fascination to the male portion of the visitors.
"Proceeding on our way towards the Murmansk coast we approached the most northerly cape in the world (North Cape). It is here that the best view of the midnight sun is to be obtained. We were particularly fortunate. Although there was a strong wind blowing the sun was unclouded. One of the finest sights I've seen was on this night at 12 o'clock, as bright and clear as a midsummer day in England. One of my mates took my photo on the upper deck just as the clock struck twelve. Both of us stayed on the deck till about 1am. It then became too rough so we turned into our hammocks.
June 25th-26th
"As the morning advanced the wind increased so much that it was impossible for us to weather the North Cape. The course of the ship was altered to starboard and passing between some islands tried to escape the storm. The pilot should have been transferred to the mail steamer, which was sighted about 3am, but the rough sea made it altogether impossible. Our boat was now shipping a lot of water so we flew for shelter into a little fjord where is the small fishing village of Kjolly. We anchored here on the 25th. Just before entering this fjord a small tug was sighted apparently having a rough time of it. Sometimes her screw was some feet out of the water and it appeared as though she was nose-diving down below. There is only provisions, water and coal enough for two days. Unless the storm abates we must about ship and return to Hammerfest for fresh supplies. The ships steward tells me this morning that the last of the margarine has been issued. To atone for that a great surprise was sprung on us. The cook has actually made some bread. Of course this might have been done before, had it but occurred to the provisions department. The crews are anxious to know whether the treat is to be continued.
"Towards the morning of the 26th the storm slackened and we left Kjolly Fjord at 7am. The wind freshened up again and very soon the storm was worse than before and the poor old London Belle was having her roughest experience. Her starboard paddle wheel almost came off, her decks sprung and altogether things began to look awkward. The Captain tried to enter a little port called Vassoe, but no pilot answered our signals and after getting somewhat knocked about the Captain steamed ahead for Vardo, which was reached at midnight in beautiful sunshine. Crowds were waiting on the quay. In this part of the world the people take full advantage of the short summer time. The life of these Norwegian towns seems to commence after eleven at night when the folk come out for their pleasures. Vardo does the largest fishing trade in Norway. It is a dirty, dusty little town of about 3,700 inhabitants. There is always an intolerable small of fish and glue pervading the place. There are no trees or shrubs growing here. In a very few gardens just a limited number of flowers that we are accustomed to see in England such as tulips, daffodils, wallflowers etc. Not many wildflowers can be found, some small pink and white moss blooms, a yellow flower like a buttercup and one very much like our wild anemone appears to exhaust the catalogue. Provisions, clothing, ironmongery and in fact everything is very dear, excepting matches and fish. Margarine is 3/6, tea 5/-, boots 45/- to 50/- and other things proportionally expensive.
June 27th-28th
"I had a very enjoyable walk across the island, which is pretty in some parts. There are peat bogs covering a considerable portion. The peat is dug, dried and used for fuel. A good deal of snow was still lying in the hollows. The night of the 27th and 28th was beautiful and the midnight sun shone with exceptional brilliance, not a cloud in the sky. Leaving Vardo at 1.10am we proceeded towards the Murmansk coast reaching the depot ships HMS Glory T at 5pm on the 28th and we anchored off the town of Alexandrovsk. After the stormy passage from Hammerfest to Vardo, the voyage through the still island waters was very agreeable. It is a beautiful 'night' of sunshine again, sleep seems out of the question. The weather is very hot and we are constantly tormented by swarms of mosquitoes. The welcome message has just come through that peace was signed at 3 o'clock today. This was duly celebrated in the usual naval fashion by the blowing of the sirens of all the ships in harbour. Our little steamer seemed to make the biggest noise of all the lot. After this there came the splicing of the main brace and all who wished had a double tot of rum.
June 29th
"Today, the 29th (Sunday), the ship was coaled and the tanks filled with water. We also took aboard some American officers and men. At 10pm the voyage of 500 miles to Archangel was commenced. Night was calm, cool and clear. I stayed on deck till about 1 o'clock watching the midnight sun and the beautiful scenery. Before leaving Alexandrovsk there was a good deal of bargaining with some Russian sailors and seamen off the boats lying close to us. Sometimes the scene was quite exciting. They were apparently eager to buy anything, especially articles of clothing. The great regret of us all was that we had not brought a good supply of old civilian clothes and boots. Such things as these fetched a lot of money. It is all paper money some being issued by the British government which is of the value of 6d per rouble and some issued by the Russian government which is 3d per rouble. 100 kopeks go to the rouble.
"In beautiful weather we passed through the White Sea, our boat steaming well at 15 knots. If the provisioning of the ship had only been better all would have been just A1, as it was the bad food spoilt it all. We have had no margarine or potatoes for several days. Fish for breakfast, fish for tea, fish for supper, bully beef dished up in a variety of forms each worse than the other. This has been the daily routine except that today we were given salt junk, which apparently must have been part of the provisions of Nelson's fleet. During the cooking of this salt junk the whole ship was permeated with an intolerable odour but this was mild torture compared to what we passed through when the stuff was put on the table and cut up. Two or three plucked up courage enough to try and eat it after it had been thoroughly disinfected with pepper, mustard, sauce and pickles but they soon gave up the struggle.
"10pm - The real history of this salt pork has just come to light. It was not part of Nelson's provisions but when alive it was closely related to the herd that ran violently down a steep hill and was drowned in the midst of the sea, hence its saltiness. This pork was found during dredging operations. In future, gas masks have to be worn in consequence of the odoriferous perfume that emanates from it during the process of cooking. Once a man succumbs to this overpowering perfume his recovery is very slow and tedious.
