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and '''Troopships'''.
The '''Indian Trooping season''' generally began with troop ships leaving England in September, and ended with the last ships leaving India in March.  This pattern was probably established once troop ships no longer sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and started using the "Overland Route", and then the Suez Canal after its opening in  1869.
The '''Indian Trooping season''' generally began with troop ships leaving England in September, and ended with the last ships leaving India in March.  This pattern was probably established once troop ships no longer sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and started using the "Overland Route", and then the Suez Canal after its opening in  1869.


The reasons for a restricted period were to restrict travel to the cooler months so that
The reasons for a restricted period were to travel in the cooler months so that
*troops  were not travelling during the hot summer months in unventilated ships , particularly in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, when conditions could become dangerous.
*troops  were not travelling during the hot summer months in unventilated ships, particularly in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, when conditions could become dangerous.
*unacclimatised  troops from Britain were not travelling from the ports of Bombay or Karachi to their cantonments during the heat of an Indian summer.  
*unacclimatised  troops from Britain were not travelling from the ports of Bombay or Karachi to their cantonments during the heat of an Indian summer.  
:In 1916, when normal procedures were disrupted due to the [[First World War]], the "Karachi troop train incident" of the 5th June, 1916, resulted in the death of nineteen Territorial Troops due to heat stroke on a troop train between Karachi and Lahore.
:In 1916, when normal procedures were disrupted due to the [[First World War]], the "Karachi troop train incident" of the 5th June, 1916, resulted in the death of nineteen Territorial Troops due to heat stroke on a troop train between Karachi and Lahore.


Initially it appears troops changed ships at Suez, so there were different ships on the routes England to Suez, and Suez to India, but subsequently (and by 1904-05) ships sailed a round trip from  England to India, approximately three weeks in each direction.
Initially troops changed ships at Suez, so there were different ships on the routes England to Suez, and Suez to India, but subsequently (and by 1886) ships sailed a round trip from  England to India, approximately three weeks in each direction.
 
Each season generally there were only two of the twelve or so voyages which  called at Aden on the way out to India and three on the way back. The extra one coming from India was needed to effect the annual relief of the British infantry battalion in Aden.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141117074608/http://www.peterpickering.com/aden/page282/page303/page336/page336.html Troopships] from "Aden in Days of Empire". peterpickering.com/aden, now archived</ref>
 
==HM Indian Troopships==
Although generally referred to as HM Indian Troopships, the official designation was  '''HMS  Her Majesty's Ship'''.
The Euphrates- class troopships were a group of five  purpose-built troopships paid for by the Indian Government and launched in 1866-7. The sister-ships were the  'Crocodile', 'Euphrates', 'Jumna, 'Malabar' and 'Serapis'. Each ship could transport a full battalion of infantry with its married families, or about 1,200 people.
 
Before the opening of the Suez Canal the 'Crocodile' and 'Serapis' ran between England and Alexandria, whilst the other three ran from Suez to Bombay.
 
By 1894, four of the five naval troopers were laid up while two P&O ships, 'Victoria' and 'Britannia' had a trial as troopers on charter. The two newcomers soon demonstrated that they could make a better job of it than the old naval ships and 'Crocodile'  and her sisters were disposed of in 1896<ref>Preece, Nigel [https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/list/india.rootsweb.com/thread/12901967/ HM Indian Troopship Crocodile] ''Rootsweb India Mailing List''  28 January 2000. Retrieved 18 January 2019.</ref> (or 1894<ref>[https://www.worldnavalships.com/directory/shipinfo.php?ShipID=2942 HMS Crocodile] worldnavalships.com </ref>).
 
The ships were then designated '''HMT Hired Military Transport'''.  During the First World War  HMT could also mean  His Majesty's Transport, but this use was probably unofficial, as the terminology would officially only apply to commissioned ships.
 
==Movements of Crocodile 1886-1888==
:'''1886'''<br>
:6th Oct Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay;
:2nd Nov Arrived Bombay
:13th Nov Sailed Bombay for Portsmouth via Suez
:8th Dec Arrived Portsmouth
:22nd Dec Sailed Portsmouth for Egypt<br>
:'''1887'''<br>
:8th Jan Sailed Suez for Bombay;
:14th Feb Sailed Bombay for Portsmouth;
:11th Mar Arrived Portsmouth
:17th Mar Capt. Richard Evans assumed Command. End of trooping season.
:7th Sep Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay via Queenstown. Commencement of trooping season.
:5th Oct Arrived Bombay
:15th Oct Sailed Bombay;
:10th Nov Arrived Portsmouth
:23rd Nov Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay;
:20th Dec Arrived Bombay
:31st Dec Sailed Bombay
:'''1888'''<br>
:25th Jan Arrived Portsmouth
:08th Feb Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay via Plymouth;
:7th Mar Arrived Bombay
:17th Mar Sailed Bombay
:12th Apr Arrived Portsmouth
:7th Sep Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay<ref>qprdave <nowiki>http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8957</nowiki> HMS Crocodile from ''World Naval Ships Forum''  9 January 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2015, but now not available.</ref>


==1904-05 Trooping Season==
==1904-05 Trooping Season==
Line 21: Line 62:
:10. January 28, 1905-March 28
:10. January 28, 1905-March 28
:11. February 7, 1905- April 5
:11. February 7, 1905- April 5
:12. February 18, 1905-April 13" <ref>[http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/20th-august-1904/15/chaplains-for-troopships "Chaplains for Troopships"] page 15 ''The Tablet'',  20th August 1904</ref></blockquote>
:12. February 18, 1905-April 13" <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150919090024/http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/20th-august-1904/15/chaplains-for-troopships   "Chaplains for Troopships"] page 15 ''The Tablet'',  20th August 1904, archived page.</ref></blockquote>


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.peterpickering.com/aden/page282/page303/page336/page336.html Troopships] from "Aden in Days of Empire". peterpickering.com/aden
*[https://www.findmypast.com/blog/discoveries/troop-ship "Life on board a troop ship"] Findmypast Blog 10 September 2020. Stated to from February 1898 ''Army and Navy Gazette'', however this article could '''not''' be located in the Findmypast newspapers database.
*[http://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/troopships.html "Troopships and Trooping"] Transcript of an article from ''Shipping Wonders of the World'', part 39, published 3 November 1936.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120224181422/http://www.movcon.org.uk/History/Documents/DID/D-MCHS%200290.10.htm Troopships and Trooping] by R G Robertson movcon.org.uk, now archived. Includes mention of troopships to India. 
*Bad conditions on troop ships coming to India in the late 1700s are mentioned in [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1081841/?page=14 "The soldier's friend—Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick"] by Richard L. Blanco ''Med Hist. 1976 October; 20(4): 402–421'', particularly 415-417
*[http://www.jstor.org/stable/44223063 First page  "A Soldier's Life in Burma and India 1854-1874"] by W. G. Shelton, ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'' Vol. 52, No. 209 (Spring 1974), pp. 17-33. Based on a memoir by Sergeant-Major Alexander Morton of the [[35th Regiment of Foot]]. jstor.org.  Contains a description of the conditions on board the ship to India. Register with jstor.org and read online for free, see [[Miscellaneous tips]], including details of conditions.
*[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1858/08/13.htm "Transport of Troops to India"] by Frederick Engels from ''New York Daily Tribune'',  13 August, 1858 states that some troops were sent from England by the overland route from 1857. Marxists.org. This route became permanent some years later, see [[Trooping season#Historical books online|Historical books online, below]].
*Terrible conditions are described in a [http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/infantmortality.html Letter home from a soldier’s wife on a voyage to India] 1859  As a result, the Captain was murdered!
:[http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/EasternMonarch.html Eastern Monarch 1859] Fire broke out in English waters on this ship, whose passengers included 352 invalid soldiers from North West India. Old-merseytimes.co.uk.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150226054503/http://greenhowards.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Job-Waterhouse1.pdf *The Diary of Job Shepherd Waterhouse, 1864 – 1870] Pte. [[19th Regiment of Foot|19th Foot Regiment]] No.1691. There are descriptions of the voyage to India in 1865 on the Malabar,  and the return to England in  1870, on the Euphrates. greenhowards.org.uk, now an archived webpage.
*[http://www.garenewing.co.uk/angloafghanwar/resources/troopship_crocodile.php Troopship movements: The Crocodile 1878-1881] during the [[2nd Afghan War]]. garenewing.co.uk
*[http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/U187019/The-Indian-Relief-Trooping-Season-passing-through-the-Suez-Canal?img=3&search=delight&bool=phrase  The Indian Relief Trooping Season, passing through the Suez Canal] Illustration for The Graphic, 12 September 1891.
*[http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/U187019/The-Indian-Relief-Trooping-Season-passing-through-the-Suez-Canal?img=3&search=delight&bool=phrase  The Indian Relief Trooping Season, passing through the Suez Canal] Illustration for The Graphic, 12 September 1891.
*[http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1894/jan/01/indian-troopships Indian Troopships] Hansard 01 January 1894. Crocodile is about to be paid off after a serious breakdown near Aden. Serapis and Euphrates shall be withdrawn from service at the end of the present season.
*[http://longwaytotipperary.ul.ie/the-military/10th-royal-hussars/service-british-india/p6a_1372_7/ Image:  HM Transport "Rewa" No.4 Mail List (Trooping Season 1909-1910)]. The "Rewa" travelled Southampton to Karachi, and return. University of Limerick WW1 Online Exhibition
*[http://longwaytotipperary.ul.ie/the-military/10th-royal-hussars/service-british-india/p6a_1372_7/ Image:  HM Transport "Rewa" No.4 Mail List (Trooping Season 1909-1910)]. The "Rewa" travelled Southampton to Karachi, and return. University of Limerick WW1 Online Exhibition
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/76/a8543676.shtml The King's Shilling — Part 2a – India] by Neil Walker .bbc.co.uk..Contains a mention of the Trooping season c 1937
*[http://www.voyagetoindia.co.uk Voyage to India: Memoirs of the 1st/3rd Kent Battery 1914] Frank William Critchley was 22 years old and a sergeant in the 1st/3rd Kent Battery, Royal Artillery. He travelled to India on the troopship Grantully Castle which departed Southampton 29 Oct 1914 and arrived Bombay 2 December 1914. voyagetoindia.co.uk
* A letter written by Harry Beaumont, 1/6 [[East Surrey Regiment]], No. 2297, from a collection of letters written by staff at the Audit office for the Great Western Railway (GWR) based at Paddington, London.  The National Archives.
:[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/letters-first-world-war-1915/troop-ship-five-weeks-on-board/ Troop ship: ‘five weeks on board’]  29 November 1914,  written onboard  SS Grantully Castle.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050901153643/http://digiserve.com:80/peter/kcb/waters3.htm An Excerpt from the Diaries of Private John Charles Waters February- March, 1916], now an archived webpage.  He was a member of the 1st/1st Kent Cyclists  and travelled on the S.S."Benalla" a Peninsular and Oriental liner, to Kebbal Camp, [[Bangalore]].
*[http://www.warlinks.com/memories/brown/life_on_a_troopship.php Life on a Troopship] A Pictorial History featuring the photographs of John Ernest Brown [[3rd Bengal (European) Light Infantry| Royal Sussex Regiment]]. warlinks.com. He sailed to India in 1932, and returned in 1937, via Egypt (1935) and the Sudan (1936)
*"Every Day A Bonus" by Ken Clarke from ''Regimental Association of The Queen's Own Buffs (PWRR): The Journal'' issues No 11-14 Autumn 2005- Spring 2007. The pages covering the voyage to India in 1933, time in India, and voyage back to England in 1938 are (11)48-49; (12)29-39; (13)15-25; (14)38.
: [http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Journal-No-11-Autumn-2005.pdf  Issue 11], [http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Journal-No-12-Spring-2006.pdf 12], [http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Journal-No-13-Autumn-2006.pdf 13], [http://thequeensownbuffs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Journal-No-14-Spring-2007.pdf 14] thequeensownbuffs.com
:Issues 11 and 14. He joined the Army as a Boy Musician in 1932 aged 14 and went as part of a a draft to India leaving 4th February 1933 on the troopship HMT Dorsetshire, returning to England on the Dilwara  arriving Southampton on 13th January 1938.
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/76/a8543676.shtml The King's Shilling — Part 2a – India] by Neil Walker. bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar. Contains a mention of the Trooping season c 1937
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/03/a8777703.shtml Troopship to Bombay [1944<nowiki>]</nowiki>] from the 1944  diary of Sidney Greaves. He was a radar operator for the RAF. bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
*"Voyage to India (1945)"  by Des McDougall. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/24/a9001324.shtml Part 1], [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/97/a9001397.shtml Part 2], [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/86/a9001586.shtml Part 3], [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/58/a9001658.shtml Final Stage] He was a British Officer Cadet, who travelled on the  S.S. Otranto, whose destination was the Officers’ Training School, [[Bangalore]]. bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
*"Death Of Territorials In India". House of Lords. Hansard [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1916/jul/25/death-of-territorials-in-india 25 July 1916] vol 22 cc911-6, [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1916/aug/01/death-of-territorials-in-india 01 August 1916] vol 22 cc1037-42. "Karachi Troop Train Incident". House of Lords. Hansard [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/may/18/karachi-troop-train-incident 18 May 1920] vol 40 cc390-404, [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/jul/21/karachi-troop-train-incident 21 July 1920] vol 41 cc413-20. [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/aug/10/karachi-troop-train-incident  10 August 1920] vol 41 cc1169-79
*"Death Of Territorials In India". House of Lords. Hansard [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1916/jul/25/death-of-territorials-in-india 25 July 1916] vol 22 cc911-6, [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1916/aug/01/death-of-territorials-in-india 01 August 1916] vol 22 cc1037-42. "Karachi Troop Train Incident". House of Lords. Hansard [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/may/18/karachi-troop-train-incident 18 May 1920] vol 40 cc390-404, [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/jul/21/karachi-troop-train-incident 21 July 1920] vol 41 cc413-20. [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1920/aug/10/karachi-troop-train-incident  10 August 1920] vol 41 cc1169-79
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3011881/ 'Perceptions of, and reactions to, environmental heat: a brief note on issues of concern in relation to occupational health"] by Delia Rizpah Hollowell ''Global Health Action'' December 29, 2010. (scroll down) Includes the statement  “In 1884 Major-General MacGregor, Quarter Master General in India, wrote of the ‘risk incurred by the prolongation of the trooping season so far into the hot weather,’ arguing that the last British vessel should leave India no later than the 1st of April (14)". Footnote 14 states "14. MacGregor CM. Letter from Major-General Sir CM MacGregor, K.C.B., C.S.I., C.I.E., Quarter Master of India to the Secretary to the Government of India, Military (Marine) Department No. 3515-A. 1884 Indian troop service: general arrangements 1884–85. The British Library File No. 12861 IOR:L/MIL/7/10235".
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3011881/ 'Perceptions of, and reactions to, environmental heat: a brief note on issues of concern in relation to occupational health"] by Delia Rizpah Hollowell ''Global Health Action'' December 29, 2010. (scroll down) Includes the statement  “In 1884 Major-General MacGregor, Quarter Master General in India, wrote of the ‘risk incurred by the prolongation of the trooping season so far into the hot weather,’ arguing that the last British vessel should leave India no later than the 1st of April (14)". Footnote 14 states "14. MacGregor CM. Letter from Major-General Sir CM MacGregor, K.C.B., C.S.I., C.I.E., Quarter Master of India to the Secretary to the Government of India, Military (Marine) Department No. 3515-A. 1884 Indian troop service: general arrangements 1884–85. The British Library File No. 12861 IOR:L/MIL/7/10235".
*[https://500px.com/photo/23071721/troopship-otranto-1947-by-scott-mcculloch Photograph: Troopship HMS Otranto. Voyage home from India to UK in 1947], from the collection of  James Wilson, Royal Artillery  
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrates-class_troopship Euphrates-class troopship] Wikipedia
**[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Euphrates_(1866) HMS Euphrates (1866)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jumna_(1866) HMS Jumna (1866)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Malabar_(1866) HMS Malabar (1866)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Serapis_(1866) HMS Serapis (1866)], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Crocodile_(1867) HMS Crocodile (1867)] Wikipedia
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/126652127@N07/15111064472/ Photograph: HMS Malabar c 1870] flickr.com
*[https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1965-05-73-1 The Last of the Indian Troopships, HM Indian Troopship Malabar], painting 1881. nam.ac.uk
*[http://www.kingsownmuseum.com/galleryship003.htm Troopships - HMT Malabar the last of the Indian Troopships] kingsownmuseum
*[http://nelsonlambert.blogspot.com/2011/10/hms-serapis.html HMS Serapis] nelsonlambert.com
*[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/t/019pho000000312u00001000.html The Indian Troopships "Clive" and "Tenasserim" in Madras Harbour c 1885]. Click to enlarge. British Library Online Gallery
*[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/a/019pho000000312u00003000.html Arrival of the "Tenasserim" at Rangoon on 8th Nov, 1885] Click to enlarge.      British Library Online Gallery
*Troopships and the Regiment. [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/troopships/ts001.shtml 1], [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/troopships/ts003.shtml  2], [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/troopships/ts004.shtml  3] queensroyalsurreys.org.uk
*[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_and_J_Inglis_No_193_Palitana_Troop_Ship.jpg  Postcard: Palitana troopship leaving Bombay]  Wikimedia Commons.  Palitana sailed from Bombay on 23rd September 1899 carrying 2nd Bttn. Gordon Highlanders and this is probably that departure.<ref> dunnboer [http://www.angloboerwar.com/forum/11-research/9205-numbers-for-transport-ships?start=30#15587 Numbers for transport ships?] angloboerwar.com.</ref>
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140726104656/http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/Troopships.html BI Troopships 1902 to 1922],  [https://web.archive.org/web/20140811103629/http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/Troopships2.html BI Troopships from 1923], now archived. merchantnavyofficers.com
*[http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMTroopshipPlassy.html HM Troopship Plassy]. Sailed 1901 until scrapped in 1924, including the Indian Garrison rotation run.  During the First World War she was converted for use as a hospital ship. roll-of-honour.com
*[http://www.kingsownmuseum.com/galleryship024.htm HMT Dongola]. Used for seasonal trooping from 1906 between England, India and Hong Kong.  King's Own Royal Regiment Museum. [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/PO_Liners2.html#Dongola1905 Dongola 1905-1926] simplonpc.co.uk
*[http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMHSGrantuallyCastle.html H.M.H.S. Grantually [sic<nowiki>]</nowiki> Castle] Prior to becoming a Hospital Ship during WW1, the Grantully Castle was used as a troopship, including a trip to India at the end of 1914, refer above.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151226102549/http://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum%20Ships/Old%20Ships%20H/slides/Hecuba-04.jpg  Image: HMT Hecuba] photoship.co.uk, now archived.  Originally the "Brandenburg", built in 1901 for Norddeutscher Lloyd. The ship was awarded to Great Britain as war reparation in 1919 and had brief service as a troopship 1922-1924<ref> Ebay, seller three4five</ref>.  There was a voyage from Southampton to Bombay, arriving 1 December 1924.<ref> [http://jramc.bmj.com/content/46/3/214.full.pdf  "A Few Stations In India"] by Mrs. H. V. Bagshawe. ''Journal of the  Royal Army Medical Corps ''1926;46:3 214-223. </ref>     
*[http://www.the-weatherings.co.uk/pccship0457.htm HMT Neuralia - Troop Ship]  the-weatherings.co.uk.  Neuralia, built 1912,  operated as a permanent troopship from 1925.<ref> A History of the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited , pages 17 and  62.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20160508162545/http://www.rakaia.co.uk/downloads/british-india-history.pdf  Pdf] rakaia.co.uk, archived.</ref> The book ''Pick up your Parrots and Monkeys'' by William Pennington, see  [[History reading list]],  contains a chapter on the voyage to India on the  Neuralia in the 1930s, see [[Trooping season#Historical books online|Historical books online]] below.
*[http://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/SHIPS/The-Royal-Navy/SUPPLY-SHIPS-AND-TRANSPORTS/25278036_5mNnFn/2290341600_sXphPfH#!i=2290341600&k=sXphPfH Photograph: HMT Nevasa - Troopship] Nevasa, built 1913, operated as a troop ship from 1925<ref>A History of the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited,  page 62.</ref>
*[http://www.ssmaritime.com/British-India-Dilwara-Class.htm MS Dilwara and her three sisters, MS Dunera, Ettrick and Devonshire]  ssmaritime.com. MS Dilwara and Dunera were completed in 1936 and 1937, and the second pair MS Ettrick and Devonshire in 1938
* Scroll to Image 3: [http://www.mid-day.com/photos/independence-day-special-reliving-history-in-pictures/5861/56226 Photograph: August 17, 1947, soldiers from The Royal Norfolk Regiment embark on the S.S. Georgic bound for Britain] on the quayside in Mumbai, the first British Army unit to leave Indian soil after the country achieved independence. mid-day.com. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxckDsWPko  Video: British Troops Leave India 1947]  British Pathe on YouTube . This video appears to be of the same troops as in the photograph although they are  unnamed. They are however sailing on the 'Georgic'.
*[https://500px.com/photo/23071721/troopship-otranto-1947-by-scott-mcculloch Photograph: Troopship HMS Otranto. Voyage home from India to UK in 1947], from the collection of  James Wilson, Royal Artillery
*[http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/index.html Convoy Web: The Website for Merchant Ships during WW2]. Includes [http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/port/index.html?home.php~armain Search: Port Arrivals/ Departures] including Indian ports.
===Historical books online===
===Historical books online===
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=c1lNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA308 "East India (Transport of Troops")]. Report of Select Committee c 1858 page 308 'Series F British India, Colonies etc' ''Annals of British Legislation, Volume 5'' edited by Leone Levi 1859 Google Books
*[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=z58EAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PR50  "Report on the Ships "Clifton Belle" and "Dudbrook," which arrived at Kurrachee with Soldiers' Families in March 1860"] by Surgeon Major D.Grierson M.D., Staff Surgeon, Kurrachee. Appendix page l, ''Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bombay, Volume VI, New Series 1860'' Google Books. There were many deaths on board, particularly of young children
*Conveyance to India of soldiers’ wives and families: Mortality statistics on the voyage, for 1859-60 [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=jB5cAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA14 Page 14] onwards and [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=jB5cAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA74 Page 74] [Parliamentary Papers] ''Reports from Commissioners'': [including] Emigration Session: 5 February-6 August 1861. Google Books
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=m-yDhirnqWAC&pg=PA226 "The New Overland Troop Service to India"]  ''Colburns’s United Service Magazine 1867 Part 3'', page 226. Google Books. (The Suez Canal was subsequently opened for navigation on 17 November 1869)
*[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=RCsAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA239 Periods for embarkation] page 239 ''The Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Army'' 1868 Google Books
*''24 coloured views of H.M. Indian troop-ship to Bombay & back'', published 1885. Bodleian Library Oxford Digital version. Possibly "Jumna".  [http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:oxfaleph014026612 Catalogue entry with link], [http://dbooks.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/books/PDFs/590522458.pdf  direct pdf] (may be slow to load)
*[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b747693?urlappend=%3Bseq=55  A voyage to India on the Malabar in 1889]  page 47, ''Some Rambles of a Sapper'' by  Brigr-Genl. Herbert Henry Austin. 1928 Hathi Trust Digital Library
*[https://archive.org/details/jramc-1913-vol21/page/461/mode/2up "Trooping Season 1913-1914 - A few Notes"] by Major J B Anderson page 462  ''Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Volume 21 1913'' Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/stream/blackwoodsmag211edinuoft#page/178/mode/2up "The Peregrinations of an Officer’s Wife"] page 178 ''Blackwood’s Magazine'', no 211 January-June 1922 Archive.org. Includes description of voyages to, and from, India.
*[https://archive.org/details/jramc-1925-vol44vol45/page/n241/mode/2up "Notes on a Voyage from Southampton to Bombay on a Trooper H M T "Marglen" 10,500 Tons (Canadian Pacific), January 23 to March 17, 1923"] by Major A D Stirling, RAMC page 218 ''Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps'', Volume 44 Jan.-June 1925. The emphasis is on the ports of call, including Constantinople. Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.527935 ''Seven Cantonments''] by Major SEG Ponder c 1938. The author was an Officer in the Royal Artillery.  He describes the voyage to India on HMT Devon in the c 1930s from [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.527935/2015.527935.Seven-cantonments#page/n21/mode/2up  page 21]. Archive.org,  Digital Library of India Collection.
*[http://digital.nls.uk/indiapapers/browse/pageturner.cfm?id=74987996&mode=transcription "Hot weather precautions"] ''Volume II [2], Part I - Annual report on the health of the army in India for the year 1939'', page 107 National Library of Scotland “ Medical History of British India”
*[http://digital.nls.uk/indiapapers/browse/pageturner.cfm?id=74987996&mode=transcription "Hot weather precautions"] ''Volume II [2], Part I - Annual report on the health of the army in India for the year 1939'', page 107 National Library of Scotland “ Medical History of British India”
*[https://archive.org/details/valiantvoyagings0000saun/page/n9 ''Valiant voyaging : a short history of the British India Steam Navigation Company in the Second World War, 1939-1945''] by  Hilary St. George Saunders 1948. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
*[https://archive.org/details/pickupyourparrot0000penn/page/60/mode/2up "HMT ''Neuralia'' Liverpool to Bombay December 1925 to January 1936"] Chapter four, page 60 ''Pick up your parrots and monkeys : a boy soldier in India'' by William Pennington 2004, first published 2003. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 05:41, 3 March 2023

and Troopships.

The Indian Trooping season generally began with troop ships leaving England in September, and ended with the last ships leaving India in March. This pattern was probably established once troop ships no longer sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and started using the "Overland Route", and then the Suez Canal after its opening in 1869.

The reasons for a restricted period were to travel in the cooler months so that

  • troops were not travelling during the hot summer months in unventilated ships, particularly in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, when conditions could become dangerous.
  • unacclimatised troops from Britain were not travelling from the ports of Bombay or Karachi to their cantonments during the heat of an Indian summer.
In 1916, when normal procedures were disrupted due to the First World War, the "Karachi troop train incident" of the 5th June, 1916, resulted in the death of nineteen Territorial Troops due to heat stroke on a troop train between Karachi and Lahore.

Initially troops changed ships at Suez, so there were different ships on the routes England to Suez, and Suez to India, but subsequently (and by 1886) ships sailed a round trip from England to India, approximately three weeks in each direction.

Each season generally there were only two of the twelve or so voyages which called at Aden on the way out to India and three on the way back. The extra one coming from India was needed to effect the annual relief of the British infantry battalion in Aden.[1]

HM Indian Troopships

Although generally referred to as HM Indian Troopships, the official designation was HMS Her Majesty's Ship. The Euphrates- class troopships were a group of five purpose-built troopships paid for by the Indian Government and launched in 1866-7. The sister-ships were the 'Crocodile', 'Euphrates', 'Jumna, 'Malabar' and 'Serapis'. Each ship could transport a full battalion of infantry with its married families, or about 1,200 people.

Before the opening of the Suez Canal the 'Crocodile' and 'Serapis' ran between England and Alexandria, whilst the other three ran from Suez to Bombay.

By 1894, four of the five naval troopers were laid up while two P&O ships, 'Victoria' and 'Britannia' had a trial as troopers on charter. The two newcomers soon demonstrated that they could make a better job of it than the old naval ships and 'Crocodile' and her sisters were disposed of in 1896[2] (or 1894[3]).

The ships were then designated HMT Hired Military Transport. During the First World War HMT could also mean His Majesty's Transport, but this use was probably unofficial, as the terminology would officially only apply to commissioned ships.

Movements of Crocodile 1886-1888

1886
6th Oct Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay;
2nd Nov Arrived Bombay
13th Nov Sailed Bombay for Portsmouth via Suez
8th Dec Arrived Portsmouth
22nd Dec Sailed Portsmouth for Egypt
1887
8th Jan Sailed Suez for Bombay;
14th Feb Sailed Bombay for Portsmouth;
11th Mar Arrived Portsmouth
17th Mar Capt. Richard Evans assumed Command. End of trooping season.
7th Sep Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay via Queenstown. Commencement of trooping season.
5th Oct Arrived Bombay
15th Oct Sailed Bombay;
10th Nov Arrived Portsmouth
23rd Nov Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay;
20th Dec Arrived Bombay
31st Dec Sailed Bombay
1888
25th Jan Arrived Portsmouth
08th Feb Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay via Plymouth;
7th Mar Arrived Bombay
17th Mar Sailed Bombay
12th Apr Arrived Portsmouth
7th Sep Sailed Portsmouth for Bombay[4]

1904-05 Trooping Season

"The Indian Trooping season will begin in September… The following are approximately the dates on which the ships will start from Southampton and arrive there on their return.

1. September 8-November 3
2. September 30-November 12
3. October 1-November 24
4. October 11-December 8
5. November 15-January 6, 1905
6. November 23-January 18, 1905
7. December 6-January 28, 1905
8. December 17-February 8, 1905
9. January 17, 1905-March 11
10. January 28, 1905-March 28
11. February 7, 1905- April 5
12. February 18, 1905-April 13" [5]

External links

Eastern Monarch 1859 Fire broke out in English waters on this ship, whose passengers included 352 invalid soldiers from North West India. Old-merseytimes.co.uk.
Troop ship: ‘five weeks on board’ 29 November 1914, written onboard SS Grantully Castle.
  • An Excerpt from the Diaries of Private John Charles Waters February- March, 1916, now an archived webpage. He was a member of the 1st/1st Kent Cyclists and travelled on the S.S."Benalla" a Peninsular and Oriental liner, to Kebbal Camp, Bangalore.
  • Life on a Troopship A Pictorial History featuring the photographs of John Ernest Brown Royal Sussex Regiment. warlinks.com. He sailed to India in 1932, and returned in 1937, via Egypt (1935) and the Sudan (1936)
  • "Every Day A Bonus" by Ken Clarke from Regimental Association of The Queen's Own Buffs (PWRR): The Journal issues No 11-14 Autumn 2005- Spring 2007. The pages covering the voyage to India in 1933, time in India, and voyage back to England in 1938 are (11)48-49; (12)29-39; (13)15-25; (14)38.
Issue 11, 12, 13, 14 thequeensownbuffs.com
Issues 11 and 14. He joined the Army as a Boy Musician in 1932 aged 14 and went as part of a a draft to India leaving 4th February 1933 on the troopship HMT Dorsetshire, returning to England on the Dilwara arriving Southampton on 13th January 1938.

Historical books online

References

  1. Troopships from "Aden in Days of Empire". peterpickering.com/aden, now archived
  2. Preece, Nigel HM Indian Troopship Crocodile Rootsweb India Mailing List 28 January 2000. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. HMS Crocodile worldnavalships.com
  4. qprdave http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8957 HMS Crocodile from World Naval Ships Forum 9 January 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2015, but now not available.
  5. "Chaplains for Troopships" page 15 The Tablet, 20th August 1904, archived page.
  6. dunnboer Numbers for transport ships? angloboerwar.com.
  7. Ebay, seller three4five
  8. "A Few Stations In India" by Mrs. H. V. Bagshawe. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps 1926;46:3 214-223.
  9. A History of the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited , pages 17 and 62. Pdf rakaia.co.uk, archived.
  10. A History of the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, page 62.