19th and 20th March, 1948 - Spring in the air, thoughts of home

Friday, 19^th March, 1948

The cold weather is gradually leaving us now and this morning saw brilliant sunshine.

Bob Matthews my old school friend is still here and occasionally we wander about the colony together.  He spends a lot of his time up with me and I find him good company.  There is quite a deal of competition as to who will reach home first.  The standing joke is that the first one of us to reach home will spread marvellous tales about the life out here and he will have to pay enormous sums of “Hush” money to the other on his return in order to perpetuate the story.

We are all wondering whether or not the decision on America’s part to abandon partition will have an adverse effect on our going home.

Saturday, 20^th March, 1948

I see on the detail for next week’s duty that once more I am assigned to the Public Works Department Work Shops.  This will be about the fifth time I have had this guard.  It will be different in as much as the partnership of Barclay & myself will be broken, the first time since our arrival in Jerusalem.

This evening I went to the local “Regent Cinema” to see “Dr Jeckyll & Mr ydeHydeHHyde.”  I had never read the story or seen the film before and found it exceptionally well played and the photography well done.

18th and 19th February, 1948 - Ron goes out snapping and takes issue with a young bird hunter.

Wednesday, 18^th February, 1948

This morning when we awoke the sun was shining brightly so we just had to get dressed and go out for a walk.

I first called Bob Matthews and we each took our cameras for a walk around the Colony before lunch.

We came back with a hearty appetite for our lunch and the heat of the sun coming up the slight incline before the billet made us perspire.

I met Mr Pattle on the walk.  He is my old Station Officer and is going home on Saturday.  He said that he had heard from H.Q. that between now and May 1^st 800 of us are going home and in the first 2 days of May there are 5 ships each carrying 500.  Roll on May.

Thursday, 19^th February, 1948

I dislike the shift I am working this week as the morning is too short for anything useful to be done in it, and the evenings as I have said before are too cold here to be enjoyed.

This afternoon I saw a boy with a bird in his hand.  He had just shot it with a catapult.  I took it from him and began to chastise him for doing such a thing.  He laughed at me and said “you kill men, I kill birds.”  That is what this boy is thinking.  What sort of man will he make?  What sort of country will he be a man in?  What Religion is this that allows his thoughts to run ungoverned in this way?