DO & CLERICAL STAFF No.2 BASE WORKSHOPS. AFTER VJ DAY
Sometimes we went into Ismailia, a nearby town for a change of pace, perhaps to the open air cinema or to buy something to send home; I remember sending packets of jordan almonds and dates back to Britain. The war with Japan was now officially over but mopping-up would still take some time and troopships of pink Brits were constantly passing; we used to cheer them up by yelling, “Get yer knees brown, Pinky.” or, “Yer going the wrong way.” Many of the old stagers among us were fried to a deep brown and could easily pass for natives and some used to swim out to the troopships and emulating the natives dive for pennies thrown by the unsuspecting pink Brits.
The army had spent a lot of time over the years teaching us to do the most uncivil things and now they attempted to re-humanise us; for this purpose members of the Army Educational Corps were sent out to lecture us on several subjects dealing mainly with the practical side of living, buying houses, mortgages, how to deal with uncooperative neighbours, a little applied psychology and the like; quite useful really.
With my Jewish friend I took the opportunity to go to Palestine; we stayed in Haifa in the Hotel Mizpah on Hadar Harcarmel. We did the rounds there and then split up for a while as he had friends in the area, later we went on to Jerusalem staying at the YMCA. On my own I wanted to see a bit of the city and as I was wandering around trying to decide which way to go I was accosted by a self-appointed guide who insisted on showing me the sights. I said, “No -- no -- NO” but I couldn’t shake him off, whichever way I turned he was there chatting away and pointing out things that he thought I should see. Actually he spoilt my day and when the tour was over I felt obliged to give him something, he told me his fee and I gave him half; that didn’t please him but he might have learned that “no” means “no.”
I went on to Tel Aviv where I booked in at Toc H, Talbot House; wanting to see as much as possible I parked my belongings on my bed and off I went into town. I don’t remember too much of the place, I wasn’t there long enough. It was a lovely sunny day and the brilliant whites of the buildings stay in my mind -- and of course the beach. Going back to my room I discovered a letter on my bed, it was addressed to A British soldier, somewhere In Israel and bore at its top right-hand corner what purported to be a facsimile of an Israeli stamp though of course Israel didn’t exist at that time. The gist of the message inside was to this effect, If you are ordered to open fire on Jews, disobey the order.” I carried this letter around with me for ages until after I was demobbed when I put it aside with other memorabilia and although I’ve hunted and hunted it has unfortunately disappeared. After my stay in Tel Aviv I returned to Jerusalem for a few days, looked around again, this time without a guide and got set to go back to Haifa. This was on November 11th 1945 and there had been some Israeli terrorist bombings. The bus company decided to go on strike but I managed to flag down a jeep and hitch a ride all the way. Arriving at Haifa the Military Police stopped me from returning to the Hotel Mizpah as more bombings were expected and I was forced to put up at The Union Jack Club near the waterfront. The accommodation was dormitory style, one floor up and my companions for the night were all Jews, about six of them, members of the British forces. The conversation naturally turned to the unrest in the country and I was given a comprehensive and detailed account of Jewish history and of their aspirations. I was told with some exaggeration of all the famous people in the world who were Jews, some claims I knew to be true, of others I was uncertain but I didn’t argue. After three-quarters of an hour of this one said, “We’re wasting our breath, he doesn’t believe us.” and the conversation turned to more innocuous subjects before we drifted off to sleep. The next day I went along to the bus station feeling a bit peeved to think that I was the owner of an unused return half ticket and was prepared for a minor confrontation but to my surprise the bus company offered me, without the slightest murmur, half the cost of the original fare. The Military Police allowed me to go back into my hotel to collect my belongings; I bought some Christmas cards that had pressed flowers inside labelled Flowers from the Holy Land and then with Louis I returned to No.2 Base Workshops.
Now that the war with Japan was over the steady homeward flow began of those British civilians who had been their prisoners. Some were to pass through our area. Our work was tending to wind down and thinking mainly of the children one workshop was turned over to the manufacture of toys; these were fairly simple ones generally in wood and although we didn’t have exactly a production line going we certainly made large quantities and lots of wheeled ducks were painted by me.
PAINTING THE DUCKS
The other main sights to see long before the creation of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser were Luxor, Thebes and Karnak and together with Jock Grey I went to Cairo and booked up a trip at the YMCA. Our train companions were an American, Howard Sorrel and an ATS girl whose name now eludes me. We stayed at the Hotel de Famille in Luxor on an upper floor. In the afternoon, hearing an unusual sound of human voices we looked out of the window and saw a procession approaching at a jog trot; this was an Arab funeral and the women were wailing. The coffin was carried shoulder high by six or eight bearers who changed places frequently, it was open topped but covered with a green baize cloth and the occupant was having a rough ride, bouncing around in keeping with the jog trot.
Later we were given an extensive tour around the antiquities of Luxor and Karnak; then crossing the river by dhow and going overland by estate car we reached Thebes and The Valley of the Kings. There we toured several tombs including that of King Tutankhamen.