During WWll, Australian soldiers (from Dubbo and Bathurst, New South Wales) intended to be reinforcements for the survivors of the fierce New Guinea battles of the Kokoda Trail and Gona were moved to Townsville by train and went into camp .
Soon after , they were loaded aboard the American Liberty Ship, SS Egbert Benson, named after one of the American Founding Fathers, built in 11 days as a freighter, not a passenger vessel.
Soon after , they were loaded aboard the American Liberty Ship, SS Egbert Benson, named after one of the American Founding Fathers, built in 11 days as a freighter, not a passenger vessel.
In the quaint Aussie way, the hundreds of troops packed into the holds nicknamed the ship , Eggbound Bastard,and sat there for a week in Townsville. With poor ventilation, in hot weather, limited food supplies , the holds reeking of petrol and oil, men became seasick and chundered, adding to the stench .
The only toilet facilities consisted of an open trough on the afterdeck, where the soldiers sat packed together, in the open ,flushed by the sea, no toilet paper available as the Navy thought Japanese submarines might spot it and make some kind of military deduction.
A man who tried to organise a mutiny against the appalling conditions was hastily put ashore , but all the others were allowed ashore for a few days before again being taken aboard for the trip to New Guinea.
