17th & 18th December, 1947 - Contraband and rumours...

Wednesday, 17^th December, 1947

When I went to the office this morning I found that the Urban Police had caught a lorry load of contraband rice and sugar outside Balata and on searching the lorry at the Rural P.S. (Police Station) a rifle and 19 rounds were found.  Apparently this belonged to one of the “Gibney Kabears” in Nablus and I received orders to leave everything until I received instructions form the S.P.  On my way to the Billet where the lorry loaded was parked I saw the Mayor leaving the Billet.  He had been to see the S.P. to get the whole case cancelled.  The S.P. must have been very embarrassed over the whole affair.  The case is however being continued but instead of prosecuting under contraband it is amended to conveying foodstuffs (controlled) without a licence.  The rifle case has been transferred to the Urban as it was found in their area.  I did not know what to do with the 32 sacks of sugar & 10 of wheat (sic)*  No-one wants anything to do with it, neither the Food Controller nor the Customs People.

* Ron described the haul as rice above and again below.

Thursday, 18^th December, 1947

I had to rush around this morning trying to find somewhere in which to store the sugar and rice.  The Armoury in the Station has been transferred to the billet so we moved all the rice and sugar in there.  If I had put it in the court exhibit it would have been filled to the roof.

A hot rumour came in today that we are leaving Nablus in the second week in January and are going by the illegal immigrants boats to Cyprus where we will live in the Detention Camps[1] there until suitable transport is found to take us home,  I rather hope this rumour is fulfilled as it would mean another country to see. 

Cyprus, August 1946-February 1949.source United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

All manner of rumours are in the air but nobody has heard anything official yet.

[1] There were 11 Cyprus Internment Camps which were maintained by the British to house Jews who had tried to immigrate into Palestine in contravention of the British policy at the time...  

3rd - 6th October, 1947 - International politics lead to a sense of uncertainty, while local politics lead to a sleepless night...

Friday, 3^rd October, 1947

The “I.G.”[1] came to the station today and men from all over the District came to hear him say he knew nothing of the future for us but advised us to carry on with our long term plans and not jump to conclusions read from the newspapers.

The cinema in the club tonight showed “ The Hidden Eye” which I have seen on two occasions before.

 [1]At this time the Inspector General was a former Royal Marine Commander, Colonel William Nicol Gray

Saturday, 4^th October, 1947

Sunday, 5^th October, 1947

No entries 

Monday, 6^th October, 1947

Modern day Balata-al-Balad - literally "Balata the Village"

At half past one in the middle of the night myself and all the station were awakened by the sounds of rifle & automatic fire from very nearby.

We thought the prisoners were giving more trouble so went back to sleep only to be wakened by the Sarg. who was very inebriated, and told to get dressed.  The shooting had been in Balata Village [2] about a mile away.  After four hours in the village in which time the A.S.P. who had been in the prison wine-ing and the Palestinian Inspector and others arrived on the scene.  Questioning revealed that the Mukhtar (on his way to Mecca) and an Elder had been recently deprived of their black marketing control of the village rations by a majority vote led by another elder.  It was the house of this latter on which the shots had been fired.

[2]Balata became the site of a large refugee camp housing up to 30,000 Palestinian refugees displaced from the Jaffa region during the troubles that followed the British withdrawal in early 1948.