15th & 16th March, 1948 - A damp journey back from Sarafand to a scene of disarray...

Monday, 15^th March, 1948

A shower of rain opened this morning of my leaving hospital.  I put on my badly creased uniform, had my breakfast and bid adieus to my new friends.

First thing on leaving the ward was to hand in all the clothes issued to me by the hospital.  Then with the others going out today I went to the reception room outside the OC’s office to await our parting interview.  The Colonel just asked me if I had any pains now to which I answered in the negative, then he gave me a discharge certificate.  We now all went to the camps reception office to await transport back to Jerusalem.  This transport eventually arrived in the form of two open three ton lorries.  It was now raining lightly and we were told it was the brigadier’s orders that the trucks be open.  We set off getting gradually wetter then the rain poured down and we put in at a nearby army camp and put a cover on before proceeding.  The journey was very tiring & boring.

In warmer weather the open back
of a truck was not so bad!

Tuesday, 16^th March, 1948

What a place to come back to, it is perpetually cold and the barrack rooms are always damp.

There have been a number of changes in staff since I left.  The sergeant who was so put out at my untimely illness has gone to take charge of the reception camp in England.  Another sergeant was released from close arrest yesterday for being drunk on duty.  Another sergeant is going to the Bahamas as an A.S.P.

Two B/Cs a few days ago stole 13 T.M.C.s from the armoury loading them onto an Arab truck parked outside the wire and absconding with it.  The armourer & the tower guard are both under close arrest as a result.

This morning I woke to find a layer of four inches of snow outside.  It is bitterly cold inside the room as I write this.  My feet are feeling as though they are frozen stiff.  I am not looking forward to getting back on static points again.  Roll on the summer & the boat.  My Gratuity works out to be just over £100.

13th & 14th December, 1948 - Nablus Urban & Rural come to Jerusalem but the conditions are pretty Spartan...

Tuesday, 13^th January, 1948

All in my room were up at 6.30am this morning to finish the packing started last evening.  We have been expecting this move for a long time but no date had been fixed.

At 8am we moved all our kit down to the veranda, where it was to stay until the lorries arrived.  For myself I had two suitcases a kit box and a bundle of blankets.  Both the Urban and the Rural Foot Police are moving out and their places being taken by Palestinians.  We were supposed to start out at 8am but as is usual in this force, unforeseen delays were encountered so that the convoy did not move off until 10.30am.  the Rural Station Officer was i/c the convoy and was in the lead in a G.M.C. Truck.  Behind this came four three ton lorries with all our kit on them and three 15cwt trucks with the 35 or so B/Cs in them.  The rear was brought up by two Motor Cyclist

A random picture of a convoy heading
 towards Jerusalem in 1948.
 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Jerusalem_convoy.jpg

Police.  We first went to Mount Scopus who knew nothing about us then we went on into the heart of Jerusalem to the Police H.Q. and about 100yds away a pistol shot was fired from the roof of a building down onto the main road.  This was all that happened and Police on Patrol cocked their rifles and were ready for more.  Our convoy carried on its journey entering the so-called safe zone of the “German Colony.”

Wednesday, 14^th January, 1948

Last evening a party of us decided a visit to the nearby cinema would be very pleasant after our lack of entertainment of this type in Nablus.  It was a very good programme in a quite pleasant cinema.

All today we have been establishing ourselves.  When we look around and see how the army left this small camp we are very thankful that we are not numbered among their ranks.  A £P1,000 is the estimated cost of repairing the sanitary facilities alone.  I doubt not that more money than this will not be spent on or other badly needed necessities.  We have literally nothing in the room other than what we brought with us.  We have been forced to drive nails into the walls on which to hang our uniforms.  We all fear to hang up our civilian clothes as the fence around the camp is so weak that any thief could enter or escape via it in comfort.  Our mess has not yet been established so we are using the mess of those Police in the camp proper.  Late last night Police from Hebron arrived in the camp but I have not come into contact with them yet.  We still have received no information as to what form our duties will take.