| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Hotel Terminus, Lyon, to her relatives, regarding new writing paper; visit of Mlle. Perrollaz; Uncle saw them off in Rome after chatting to seven sailors in the next compartment - they had been torpedoed in the Straits of Messina; another crew of a torpedoed boat was travelling with them, comprised of 'Lascars, Negroes, Russians, Swedes, Poles, Dagos', Chinese and Africans; the Chinese travelled without complaint and the Africans complained constantly; delay at Grosseto; some breakfast at Genoa, courtesy of a Red Cross lady; no water on the train, but flasks obtainable here and there; an Australian sailor from the next compartment brought them water and stayed to chat - his companions were from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Greenock, Dundee, Canada and England; he was damning of the Italians who are 'too cowardly to protect their own territorial waters'; an Italian baron tried to get assistance for their ship as it was being shelled, but none of the Italian harbours would listen to him; the Straits of Messina are full of enemy submarines moving at will; a French sailor corroborated the whole story; he was travelling to Le Goff's village in Brittany, so Amelia sent greetings with him; contrasting diplomacy of British and French in Brindisi and Taranto with regard to their co-operative society; the French are the only go-betweens for the British and Italians; late arrival at Modane but everything smooth, though crowded; description of the passport check; helping a man who had become irritated with an official; families arriving from Peru; sharing accommodation with servicemen; wait at Chambéry; sharing food and mutual assistance with the servicemen; lack of facilities for servicemen travelling. [Letter breaks off unsigned] |