Note from the Editor:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member @Doctor Alan.


When my parents decided to emigrate to Australia in 1955, we left England on a cold and wet day in April on the P&O ship SS Orsova – a very new ship. Even though we were housed at the back of the ship, we were treated really well – the service was excellent, with tea and biscuits being brought to our cabin first thing in the morning. We had a great send-off at Tilbury, with streamers being thrown to keep a last connection to England as the ship pulled away. It was about this time – two days aboard ship – that I developed itchy spots and was quite feverish. My parents had some Dettol ointment they used to ease the discomfort, and the spots started to disappear. I think they kept me out of the way of other passengers, which was just as well.



We called at Gibraltar, Naples (where we took a tour to Pompeii), then headed out to Port Said, the Suez Canal, and Aden. My two siblings and I slept in a cabin with my father, and my mother slept in a nearby cabin with three other women. We were given salt tablets every day, and I found the trip very enjoyable. At Port Said, there was a ‘Gilly-Gilly man’ (conjuror) who kept us amused for ages with several shows while we were there, and in addition, there always seemed to be people trying to sell knick-knacks and souvenirs to the tourists, even coming aboard on some occasions before being ejected by the staff. At Aden, I was able to buy a leather cosh with copper wire embellishment. It wasn’t until years later I found it was, in fact, illegal to carry one!

It was after we left Port Said on the way to Columbo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) that both my brothers (one older, one younger) came out in spots. Unfortunately, my older brother inadvertently left the cabin, and the rash on his chest was seen by another passenger, who reported it. Both of them were then put into isolation, where they spent the rest of the voyage, missing out on seeing Bombay, Fremantle, and Adelaide – and the whole ship had to be checked for chicken pox – I was, by then, in the clear! Luckily, nobody else had caught it – I’d apparently picked it up from one of my cousins in England when we were visiting to say our goodbyes.

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