Death Of Well-Known
p. 15 · Read in the full issue
Bp Skipper
Captain A. Donaldson
C Captain Alexander Donaldson,
J commodore of the BP Line, col lapsed and died suddenly in Sydney on March 27. He had not been in ill health and had expected to sail shortly on the “Burnside” for Melbourne, while waiting for the “Merkur” to refit.
No one appears to know exactly how old Captain Donaldson was—except that he admitted to being over 70 and had
been at sea for 57 years, during which time he had sailed over three million was best kn own as the master of BPs ‘Marella,” which he commanded y ears on the Sydney-Singapore run (Marella was sold a few months ago: she was German built in 1913 and became a prize of war in 1918.) However, he served ms time in sail; made six trips round the Horn in windjammers; was, at one time, mate on a Yangtse paddle-steamer; served in African waters; and knew the Gilberts, Solomons and New Guinea.
He joined Burns Philp about 1913, and three years later was master of their Matunga ’ when she was captured by the German raider “Wolf.” near Rabaul. in spite of his long service with an Aus tralian company, he still described him self as a Scot—because, he said, Aus tralians were bent on making a mess of their fine country, by sheer apathy.
He had been told by many people that he had been awarded the QBE in the New Year’s Honours, in 1944, but he main tained that he had never received official advice of this, or a citation. • , is sur vived by his widow who lives m Sydney.
Details of transactions of the Societe Francaise des Nouvelles-Hebrides the company controlled by Maison Ballande of Bordeaux, are published in the French ?£n nc i al press > for the years 1940 to 1946. 1940 showed a loss of 184,159 francs; 1941 a of 325 > 621 francs; 1942 showed neither profit nor loss after certain war tax and other obligations were met; 1944 showed a profit of 1,222,716 francs; 1945 a loss of 1,887,545 francs; 1946 neither profit nor loss after losses of previous years had been balanced and 1,261,593 francs allotted lor reconstruction purposes.
Captain Donaldson