OFFICIAL NEGLIGENCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2886, 26 September 1916, Page 7

OFFICIAL NEGLIGENCE

fHE INDIAN TROOP TRAIN TRAGEDY THREE BRITISH OFFICERS CASHIERED Responsibility for the recent tragic blundering which. sent a'.troop train jfull of unacoliniatised British troops .through the Indian desert of Sind in midsummer with fatal consequences has been fixed on three British officers, . who have been removed in consequence —Brigadier-General Roe, Acting Quar-termaster-General In India; the General Officer Commanding ot Karachi, tyn his oapacity as embarkation officer: snd the Assistant Director of Medical Services at Karachi. '.' Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Secretary tor India, speaking in the; House .of Commons, announced their dismissal, 'an. which lie concurs, by' reading, in ■reply to a question by Major Astor, tho following "telegram from tho Government of India:— ~ ' ' .. BaHaist, —We'can now give a considered opinion, having received report •of oomrniltee. .The responsibility for, diverting the ;sbip from Bombay to Karachi rests jiVit-li Brigadier-General Roe, who was tectmg_ as Quartermaster-General at *tho time.. He knew unacclimatised !troops had never before been sent in large numbers by rail in themiddlo of summer throngh the-Sind Desert. He i'knew, or-should have known, that.the ;Comamnder-in-Chfef in December, 1915, had decided that Karachi should not" be used as a port at which wounded 1 and sick British troops should bo landed and distributed to other stations, on-accouiit of danger of sending them in the hot season through Sind. I It follows that before Ballarat was 'diverted to Karachi,- Acting Quarter-master-General should have consulted 'Commandewn-Ohief,. and lie did not do this. _ Having taken on himself re'sponsibility, ho should certainly -have '.•warned Karaohi military authorities to take special, precautions for safety of droops during journey by rail. He did not do this. ,'..'.:. ; We, therefore, must hold him responsible, and propose to remove him from -•his appointment'as Deputy Quarter-' Kmaster-General. / ' _ Bareheaded in the Sun. It is clear from evidence that the mischief began before disembarkation, many men having been seen on deck bareheaded in the sun. All the officers i ton board were quiie inexperienced, and I ',wo cannot therefore hold them blameworthy.; The G.O.C. at Karachi was responsible for the arrangements for * railway journey in'."his capaoity "as embarkation officer.. It is shown from evidence that on the day concerned be .was very busy, but he had ample warning of Ballarat's arrival. Though he know responsible members of his staff, with one exception, were inexperienced he, took no steps nor gave any orders to see that tho safety or comfort of the troops was provided for. In this wo consider he failed in his duty, and we propose Jiis removal. Special blame, we consider, attaolies io the. Assistant Director of Medical Service's at Karachi, an officer of long experience of tho Indian medical service. In the circumstances it was undoubtedly his duty to see ; that every precaution suggested by medical- science ior the safety of the troops was taken. Ho failed, in our opinion, to do this. iWe therefore propose to remove him. . !A number' of omissions and errors oh the part of other officers were committed, but theso were due partly to inexperience and parthtj to-adherence to regulations intending to govern only ■the ordinary trooping in cold weather. iWo do not proposo to take any action in these cases. The only excuses that can be urged in favour of the'officers . who are, in our opinion, responsible are that many of the casualties were due to' faots that in many cases the men loft their carriages bare-headed, and that tho temperature during journey was unusually high. Nevertheless, though these facts may have increased the number of oasualties, we aro clear 'that there can be no doubt that the train left Karachi insufficiently equipped, overcrowded, and without experienced officers, either medical or combatant. Wo' place, for these reasons, the responsibility on BrigadierGeneral Roe, on the G.O.C, and on tha senior medical officer at Karachi. All that was possible seems- to have been done by tho local authorities be- ■ yond' Karachi throughout the journey. Inquiries in India. "I should add," continued Mr. Chamberlain, "that I have expressed my concurenco in the course the Government of India have announced they intend to take. lam inquiring whether. special instructions for the removal of drafts of troops for the hot weather have been issued, and if not I am : directing that officers should be warned of the_ danger of such removal. "Will any special compensation be .paid to the relatives of those who have ; suffered from this negligence and incompetence?" asked Sir Edward Carson. ' "I am not quite certain how that stands yet," replied Mr. Chamberlain. "I "have directed that these causes should be treated as'casualties on active eervice, hut that may require the assent of the War Office." "Will the Secretary for India see that these officials who have been removed do not get other responsible positions?" asked Sir-Clement Kinlooh-Cooke. : "I think the India Government can : be trusted not to. do so,"' was Mr. Chamberlain's answer. Last evening 'Albert Funiess, a worker in a confectionery establishment in Quia Street, was admitted to the Public Hospital suffering from an injury received through his left forefinger becoming caught in some machinery. Last evening it was uncertain whether the finger would have to bo amputated. ■ Two men were found dead at Stratford on Sunday morning. The body of a man named Frank Treves, aged 35 years, was found in the Te Popo River, and upon examination, it was found that. death had occurred somo hours previously. The other fatality was that of an old man named Cresswell, wlo was also found dead at an early hour. Deceased, who was an old Canterbury piou- . cer, had for somo months been living , with his daughter, Mrs. Haggie, of Solo Road, Ngaerc, and had been in in- - different health for somo time.