I think four years is probably a bit extreme. Many, if not nearly all of these "shipwreck" survivors would soon find themselves on another ship headed to Europe.
Don't forget that the UK was still sending troops to the front from home quite late in the war which I think is a good indication of the existance of at least limited shipping.
Add in the fact that foriegn troops, even allies, wouldn't be all that welcome once things started to break down and the UK would be bending over backwards to shift these troops on as soon as they could.
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