maths and English were run first before vocational training began. The teachers and instructors for the courses were service personnel selected on the basis of their civilian occupations. In addition, sport competitions were conducted to keep the men busy. Many men in the SWPA believed that the demobilisation process was too slow. On 10 December 1945 4,500 men at Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies staged a protest march demanding that shipping be made available to return them to Australia. Soldiers at Bougainville also complained about having to remain on the island after the war had ended, and Prime Minister Ben Chifley's plane was sabotaged in an apparent protest during his visit on 27 December 1945. Minister for Defence Frank Forde was largely blamed for the slowness with which military personnel were being demobilised. As a result, he lost his seat at the 1946 election though the Labor Party itself comfortably retained office. Despite the dissatisfaction of the men in the SWPA, the demobilisation and repatriation process generally proceeded smoothly. Most men had been returned to Australia by January 1946 and 80 percent were demobilised by the middle of the year. Before leaving the military service men and women attended either a dispersal centre or naval depot where they were provided with a medical examination, interviewed by a rehabilitation officer and provided with information about the benefits they were eligible for. The Manpower Directorate was then responsible for placing discharged personnel in employment as well as providing them with identity documentation and ration entitlements. Training courses were made available to veterans, and by 1951 94,000 had completed university, technical or rural training courses and 39,000 were still in training. A further 135,000 began training but withdrew before completing their course. Demobilisation also included establishing arrangements for the medical care of ex-service personnel. After the war responsibility for medical treatment was gradually transferred from the services to the Repatriation Commission. The Army's hospitals were also transferred to the Commission, meeting its immediate need for facilities. It proved necessary to build new hospitals for the treatment of tuberculosis and mental disorders, but as the specialised Army hospitals established for the treatment of the conditions were respectively unsatisfactory, they had to be returned to the Government of New South Wales. The Department of Social Services was responsible for providing assistance to veterans with a disability not caused by their military service, which led