On board HMAT Orvieto

The finest ship on the convoy taking the troops to Albany was HMAT Orvieto. She weighed 12,130 tons with an cruising speed of 15 knots. She was owned by the Orient SN Co Ltd, London, and leased by the Commonwealth of Australia.

On board the HMAT Orvieto were 1,457 men and women. Included in these numbers were the 5th Battalion (with Colour Sergeant A. G. Adams), the 1st Division headquarters staff, nurses and the Second Field Company Engineers. Seven or eight horses were accommodated with boxes aft of the lower promenade deck. Sergeants and the Postal Corps had second-class cabins. Officer cabins, on the boat deck, were considered very comfortable.

Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (the celebrated author of The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918) was amongst those on board. C.E.W. Bean was employed as a journalist and was travelling with the courtesy title of Captain for the purposes of precedence in the mess.

German sea-raiders were scouring the seas so there were attempts made to keep secret the staggered departure of the troopship convoy which left Melbourne from 17-21 October 1914. By the time HMAT Orvieto, the last of the convoy, left Melbourne on 21 October, this was a secret which most of Melbourne knew about. Many concerned families in the city were aware the ships were leaving but they were uncertain as to their son's departure day  and did not know which ship held their loved one. Each day, larger crowds gathered at the wharves. By Wednesday 21st, an armed guard was set at the entrance to Station Pier to prevent crowds gaining entrance to the Orvietto's wharf. In the end, the armed guard was overwhelmed and the people rushed down the wharf and alongside the Orvietto. The ship was farewelled with waving families, colour streamers and the 5th Battalion band playing on the upper deck.

The passage to Albany in W.A. was to take five days. In the meantime the soldiers made a close inspection of the ship, the crew's quarters, engine room, stokehold and all they could get to (except the boat deck which was reserved for officers). The saloons were also forbidden to the ranks. Sleeping on the deck was popular with blanket roll, hammock and lifebelt arranged during the day to reserve a place. There was no time to be bored as the men were kept busy over the next few days whilst they headed west across the Great Australian Bight.