ABSTRACT
Balboa, formerly HMCS Norsyd, has been mentioned earlier as having transferred immigrants embarked in France to the Akbel whilst at sea. The former corvette then returned to Greece for fuel and provisions before passage to the small Yugoslav port of Bakar at the north-east corner of the Adriatic. There, with the assistance of German prisoners of war, preparations were made to embark as many illegal immigrants as possible. The prospective passengers, refugees mainly from Transylvania, were brought to Yugoslavia by train. UNRRA provided free use of vehicles for their transfer to a camp, run by pioneer youth movements, supported by a field kitchen provided by the Yugoslav Army. On 22 July the migrants moved in two trains to Bakar for embarkation, a highly organised operation with a prearranged schedule, orderlies sent ahead to control movement and assist people with large bundles and a mobile hospital, formerly a mail van (in which a woman gave birth to a baby boy). In all 2,538 passengers, including 430 children, embarked in the 200-foot vessel. The Croatian authorities then passed on a message of thanks from the Jewish organiser to the central government in Belgrade, which readily granted permission for further sailings.
