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Year in Palestine I was called up for National Service in 1945 and after various training courses was posted to an Airborne Artillery Regiment. In January 1946 we were sent out to Palestine (as it was before Israel became independent in 1948) We were going to help police the friction between the Jews and Arabs, rather like the situation in Northern Ireland some 20 years later. The Jews were generally the protagonists. I had been born and brought up in the Watford area and had never been out of England before. The thought of travelling abroad was both daunting and exciting. We boarded a boat at Newhaven destined for Dieppe. I stood in the stern and watched the Seven Sisters reflecting the winter sunshine and wondered what I was going to find and how I would enjoy it. At Dieppe we were loaded into a train which had no heating and had some of its windows missing, presumably damaged during the war, which had ended less than a year previously. The journey through France was painfully slow as we had no priority over any other traffic, and 24 hours later - in the same clothes and having slept in the carriage - we arrived at Marseilles. We boarded coaches for the drive to Toulon, where we embarked on a troopship. The journey through the Mediterranean was uneventful apart from a short stay offshore of Valetta, for a reason not disclosed to the troops on board ! The other memory is of a violent storm which made the ship pitch and roll - on the day I was on galley duty. It was the first and only time I have been seasick. We docked at Alexandria about a week later and once again boarded a train for a journey to Cairo. My vivid memory of this is of the Arab traders who would run alongside the train with their fruit and drinks and trinkets, and would haggle prices with the troops. Some soldiers were careless enough to hand money down to the traders without first receiving the goods, and a few were swindled. We arrived in Cairo and spent one night in barracks. We were given a warning by the Regimental Sergeant Major about pickpockets in the city and were particularly advised not to put our wallets in our back pockets. One person in the party did, and had his pocket cut open with a sharp knife - the R.S.M.! The next day we boarded another train and set off through the Sinai Desert. This time we had proper sleeping berths and I remember waking up as we crossed the border into Palestine, and the border guards came through the train to satisfy themselves that we were genuine British soldiers. We eventually arrived in Gaza and were housed in barracks on a large camp. We had to take our turn in guard duty at night, which included patrolling the perimeter of the camp. The local Arabs were skilled at cutting their way through the wire and stealing the wheels from vehicles. This happened one night when I with several others had been on perimeter patrol, and we saw and heard nothing. From then on every night vehicles had to be jacked up and their wheels removed for safe storage under lock and key. I spent a year in Palestine and had many things to write home about. On a day's leave I visited Jerusalem and saw many of the famous “tourist” sights, though there were no tourists at that time. I went to the Dome of the Rock (and have a certificate) and the Wailing Wall (as it was called then) and to the Via Dolorosa. Unfortunately I was still very young and did not fully appreciate the uniqueness of what I was seeing. I wish I had had more maturity then. I went several times to Tel Aviv which even then was a smart and modern city with many shops and bars. I had my photo taken in Photo Martin in Allenby Road and still have the picture. I went to Jaffa to provide guard cover for Military Police who were searching for terrorist weapons. On one patrol I was the armed guard for a jeep driver. In hot weather we often drove around with the windscreen folded forward flat on the bonnet; for some reason (sixth sense maybe) on this occasion we drove with the windscreen up. On a remote road we ran into a wire stretched across at face height. We hastily got out, removed the wire and drove off at high speed! I was taught to ride a motorcycle and enjoyed the thrills of fast and independent travel. I remained a keen motorcyclist for the next seven years until I had my first car. One of my most vivid memories is of a trip in May 1946 to Transjordan, as it was then known. It had been given independence and my regiment was asked to provide a 101-gun salute at the coronation of Abdullah, the first king. We drove from our camp at Nathanya, past Jerusalem and onto the Jericho road. I was particularly impressed by the road signs giving the height below sea level. At the lowest level (about minus 1400 ft) we could just make out the Dead Sea to the south in the distance. We arrived in Amman and camped on the airfield. The next day, at the appointed time, we fired our salute and were given refreshments. The day after that, we drove back into Palestine by the same route. Other abiding memories are of the lovely golden beaches and warm sea, and of the gorgeous Jaffa oranges we would scrump from groves as we drove past. Not so pleasant were the practice parachute jumps we had to complete every few months to remain qualified for our extra pay. One was just after an officer had died in a parachute accident and we had to jump to prove our confidence. I was finally posted back to UK in January 1947. We sailed from Haifa to Southampton, a fairly uneventful journey, though I remember the excitement at seeing the Rock of Gibraltar, and of experiencing rough seas in the Bay of Biscay. I arrived back in the middle of the worst winter for many years, when the snow lay on the ground for months. Our camp on the Salisbury Plain was frozen up and our leave was delayed while we got it working again. Quite a contrast with sunny Palestine! I did not
go abroad again until 1963 when I went to Sweden on business. I have since
travelled all over the world but I have never forgotten that first trip
by courtesy of His Majesty's Forces First published in VISA issue 50 (March 2003) Other "first foreign trips": |