for the 1970s BBC comedy series It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Doolally The soldiers' name for the camp, "Doolally", became a slang term associated with mental illness. The term is a contraction of the original form "Doolally tap", where the latter part is derived from "tapa" ("fever" in Hindustani and "heat" or "torment" in Sanskrit). The whole phrase is perhaps best translated as "camp fever". The term was in use from the late 19th century and the contracted form was dominant by the First World War. It was said that soldiers at the camp, who often had a long wait for a troop ship back home, broke down from the heat of the long Indian summers. The ships only sailed between November and March so some men had to wait at the camp for months. Having been disarmed and allocated only light duties there was little to occupy the men. The camp was often full by the end of summer with soldiers awaiting troop ships; new arrivals in this period often had to sleep on the floor owing to a lack of beds and suffered from sand flea bites. Men were allowed to spend time in the nearby city of Nasik which offered numerous gin bars and brothels; as such venereal disease was common. Malaria, which can affect the brain, was also common in the Deolali area and remained a major issue for the British Army right through the Second World War despite the development of anti-malarial drugs. Suicides in the camp were not uncommon. Despite its reputation the Deolali area actually has a milder climate than nearby Mumbai or Pune, though it was known to be incredibly dusty in the period leading up to the monsoon. The camp had a sanatorium (military hospital) but, despite its reputation, there was never a dedicated psychiatric hospital there. Cases of mental illness were instead confined to the military prison or sent to dedicated hospitals elsewhere in the country. References Military of British India Installations of the British Army Military psychiatry