If a person has Gone Doolally then they have gone mad. In the late 19th century the British Army established a military base at Deolali, situated 100 miles north of Bombay in India. The base had an asylum, for unstable battle-weary troops. It also doubled as a transit camp where soldiers, once at the end of their duty tour, would be stationed to await the boat home. However, ships only left for Britain between November and March so some soldiers had long months to wait for their transportation home. The drawn-out weeks of heat, exhaustion and boredom would often result in erratic and eccentric behaviour. The behaviour would be explained, once back in Britain, as the man having “gone through Deolali”. The term slowly evolved and back the one we know today.