3rd and 4th March, 1948 - Desperate remedies to turn up the heat, Ron and his comrades scavenge for firewood.

Wednesday, 3^rd March, 1948

These night duties are not unpleasant when we have a fire.  Last night we took a very large and unused plywood notice board off the H.Q. wall for our fire.  Plywood burns very quickly that was the only trouble but with some larger pieces of wood we lasted the night.  At about 3a.m. when everything was deathly still in Jerusalem we reached the stage in our fire where we had to split the notice board down in half.  Not thinking we bent it half and cracked it down.  Now Plywood does not crack cleanly but splinters and this splintering was mistaken by a guard on H.Q. roof for gunfire and he opened up with a burst of automatic fire and fired a flare into the sky*.  He could have had no idea what it was but thought he would show he was awake by opening up.

[*This story of setting the gun fire off was one of Dad's favourites and was often retold when we were children. I hope to produce a page of remembered anecdotes with the collaboration of my siblings at a later date.]

Thursday, 4^th March, 1948

Last night’s duty was started in despair; we had not a splinter of wood with which to light a fire.  I set out from the gate and went around to all the nearby guard positions all of whom had cheerful fires but no pieces of wood to spare.  In my travels I collected all the empty cigarette packets and cardboard I saw.  Returning to the zone gate I decided there was nothing for it but to go and ask the “City Guards” for some.  The Arabs on their ten hour duties had not a large supply but they let us have a few pieces.  My Partner went off on the scrounge now and returned with a large plank which had been serving no purpose nailed to a wall.

Thus we had a fire after all and with the teas & biscuits we were quite happy again.

1st and 2nd March, 1948 - Cold nights, missing trucks and a welcome cup of tea...

Monday, 1^st March, 1948

The first night on our new duty passed reasonably quickly.  During the whole of the night there were about six vehicles in all which passed through the zone gate.

We had no fire last night and we shivered in the freezing cold night air.  I had come prepared for the cold wearing four pullovers and two pairs of sock extra to my normal accoutrement, but this was not enough even then.  My friend and I took a blanket each and this kept our shoulders warm but our feet froze.

This afternoon we were informed that two Police 15cwt trucks had been stolen during the night from H.Q. in our zone, and it was suspected that they had left the zone via the gate we were guarding.  We recorded statements to the effect that we had seen no 15cwts pass through all night.

Tuesday, 2^nd March, 1948

Last night we procured some wood from odd places nearby and built a fire which warmed us all night.

A street tea vendor in Gaza, 1946
courtesy of the acid history blog

My partner purchased a thermos flask yesterday and we were very pleased with the hot tea thus obtained and with the packet of biscuits I took to work.  At about 2.30am we heard a shout from a nearby road and looking out from the Sanger we saw an Arab coming out of the darkness with a tray and a primus in a tin bucket.  He was selling “Tea with milk” at 1½  piastres a cup.

We each had a cup full and the man told us he had no employment so was earning about 10/- a night by selling tea to the night guards.

5th & 6th January, 1948 - Heavy rain and future plans for the evacuation of Palestine..

Monday, 5^th January, 1948

What a beastly night it was last night.  From early in the evening when the heavy rain and cold set in it became gradually worse.  At about 3am I was awakened by a most terrific explosion which, if I had not known of the thunder storm raging outside, I should probably have attributed to Jewish origin.  I learned this morning, from one of the unfortunates who had to static guard in the storm that the explosion had been caused by a thunderbolt which, he said, had landed about three hundred yards away up the mountain.  Now the rains have started I expect they will continue through the winter.  It is only on rare occasions in England that I have seen rain fall as heavily as it did last night and this morning flooding the fields in just that period of time.

The cold has persisted though the rain has eased.  I sat in the recreation room this evening with about eight other chaps.  We all crowded around the fireplace competing with one another when a nearer chair became vacant.

Tuesday, 6^th January, 1948

This morning the Assistant Superintendent of Police held a meeting attended by all the Inspectors & Sergeants in the Sub-District.  I learned afterwards that it was to discuss the approaching evacuation of the country in as much as it would affect Nablus Division.  Apparently all, except a few H.Q. Staff, are moving to a Depot at Haifa or Jerusalem where they will await transport to take them home.  The Administration and Crime branches are all to be taken over by Arabs and a company or so of an Army Battalion are to defend the area until such time as the country is properly evacuated.  The Mayor is going to act as the Liaison Officer between the Police & the Army.  We have all been left very much in the dark over the whole affair and no-one yet knows any dates at which the handing over is likely to take place.  We rather think it will be in the very near future, and I for one am, in a way, looking forward to the move as it means one more step towards England and the beginning of a new job, a thing forced upon me.