RAOC Gazette - page 18
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1968 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1968 |
| Late date | 1968 |
| Transcription |
on his way to see the GOC. He escaped later, none the worse, due to the laxity of a woman guard . , . , , . It transpires that elaborate plans were prepared to kidnap the GOC " To counter this troops were ordered to carry arms and all Jewish places of entertainment were placed out of bounds. When two Officers were attacked the next day, one drew his revolver and shot one of the assailants dead. He was placed under close arrest, a step of which Sargent did not approve. When thirty-one terrorists were put on trial at the end of June, they adopted an attitude of studied insolence towards the Court, referring to the members as ' Officers of the enemy, the invader' and reciting bellicose passages from the Old Testament in their own favour. The next day troops were ordered to occupy the Jewish Agency building and, as a result of their search, over 1,000 Jews were rounded up on suspicion. Zionists and sympathisers in England and US protested vigorously about this comparing it, according to Sargent, to—" a typically Nazi anti- Semitic action designed to stifle the aspirations of a long suffering tortured people for a national home " " 7th July—Two Arabs of Hebron shot dead by Arabs be- cause they sold land to the Jews. The Arab anti-Jewish boy- cott is still operative and every Arab landowner is closely watched. Better to be poor and alive than rich and dead/ 1 " 22nd July A lovely Palestinian summer's day. The people of Jerusalem went about the day's task temporarily free of apprehension. The grey walls of the Old City contrasted with the haze-enveloped hills of Transjordan and the green hills of Judea suggested a background of permanency, security and strength From the window of my office (near Julian's Way) \ occasionally glanced across the road to the King David Hotel. At intervals girls in summer dresses would emerge on one of the balconies and gaze on the busy street below; on the top story (the Secretariat of the Palestine Government) a khaki clad soldier or ATS would do likewise from their windows . . .** " Just after noon. Brigadier Roe, vacating Brigadier IC Ad- ministration, came into my office to say goodbye; he was leaving for UK by air that afternoon. As he left there was a prolonged burst of automatic gunfire. It seemed to come from the King David, but that was fantastic in such a heavily guarded area , . . I looked from the window and saw men running, gesticulating. towards the Scottish Hospice . . . . . . Then there was a minor explosion and the road was littered with fragments of metal. I immediately sent four soldiers with tommy guns to the roof from which they could command approaches " M Suddenly, as T stood musing, there was a blind- ing red flash and, instantaneously, a violent earsplitting explosion that rocked our building and smashed almost all the windows. The whole area of the King David was obscured by dust and debris; there were shrieks and shouts and then an ominous silence. I ordered my staff to evacuate the building in case other areas had been mined and placed a guard at the entrance. Nothing more happened." When the dust and smoke had cleared, Sargent saw a terrible sight: one wing of the King David Hotel had been reduced to an immense pile of shattered masonry, twisted metal and debris Beneath this—" were human beings, soldiers and civilians, torn, mangled and crushed who a few seconds ago had been alive, unaware that Jews, in whose cause they laboured so diligently, were planting machines of terrible potency beneath their feet." More than 100 people were killed and many more injured. The dead included 14 soldiers, but the rest were either civilian workers or visitors to the Secretariat—senior officials, clerks, messengers, drivers, British, Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Jews. The Chief Secretary, who narrowly escaped whilst his personal detective was crushed beside, him, said, * These were more than official colleagues no man could have wished to be served by a more industrious, loyal and honest group of ordinary people. Their only crime was their devoted and impartial service to Palestine and its peoples. For this they have been rewarded by cold-blooded mass murder.' The work of clearance and rescue took several days. Lines of ambulances waited whilst through day and night soldiers sweated and laboured to reach the bodies. One official was recovered alive after being buried for three days, hut died later in hospital. The charges which blew up the building were brought in by the service entrance by men disguised as Arabs carrying milk churns which held the explosives. An Officer who became suspicious and began to question some of these deadly milkmen was shot in the stomach before the explosion went off. Sargent reported that Jewish leaders were quick to express horror and grief and repudiated the perpetration of such crimes by the few — " and, anxious to avail themselves of any opportunity for propaganda, added the usual " h u t s ' . . . . . . 'in desperation' 'the only way' . . . . . . 'effective in the case of Ireland' . . . . . . until the chorus was ended by the British Government's accusation that the Jewish Agency was implicated in this and other outrages . . , . . . " In commenting at length on the hostility between Arabs and Jews, Sargent contrasted the behaviour and motives of the two —" Jews, whatever their class and conditions, whatever their domestic rivalries and internecine quarrels, present a single united front to the world Arabs are not so cohesive and racially loyal as the Jews. The loose feudal system still persists and proximity of other Arab villages or tribes excites more envy and enmity that abstract hate for (a people) not in their vicinity . . . . . . It is mainly among Arab landowning and professional classes that active hostility exists, and the main- spring of this is fear . . . . . . Jews, even when persecuted by Moslems, have been contemptuous as well as fearful Now there is no fear but an intensified contempt remains . . ." The Journal continues to list shootings and bombings; Sargent tries scrupulously to find out who are responsible for each attack. In the period 20th March 1946 to 3lst December 1947 he recorded 137 separate 'incidents' in which lives were taken (sometimes a single incident accounted for several deaths, the King David Hotel explosion claiming over a 100). Of these he attributed 66 to Jewish terrorists* mainly the work of Irgun Zvei Leumie Or the Stern Gangs; 32 to Arabs and 29 he could not establish as the clear responsibility of either. In nearly all the Jewish. British police or soldiers were the main targets or became casualties when they intervened to restore order and stop the shooting spreading. Features of attacks by the Jews were the shooting in the back of soldiers who were off duty and booby trapped land mines. Sargent recorded—** Prominently displayed mines, which are in fact dummies, are laid, so that when a vehicle swerves to avoid them it runs over the real mines which explode. Then Jews in ambush open fire on their victims, if they are still alive ** He also records, 3\st October, some " revulsion of feeling among the Jews against the perpetrators of terrorist crimes . . . . The acting head of the Jewish Agency has castigated the illegal organisations and this time there is a ring of sincerity in the reprimand. The truth is, the Jews are beginning to understand that these repeated acts of violence, so far from intimidating the British Government, are stiffening it in its attitude of non- conciliation " But still the outrages went on—" 31st: Yesterday's bomb explosion took place at the Jerusalem Railway Station, A car drove up and a Jewish girl got out and carried three suitcases into the hall. She hastily re-entered the car which drove off towards Zion Hill. Suspicion was aroused and police on a nearby roof opened fire. The occupants of the car responded with tommy-gun fire, A police car gave chase but found the car abandoned Meanwhile at the station police attempted to remove the suitcases. One was got outside and harmlessly exploded by gunfire, but the remaining two exploded as a British Police Sergeant was about to remove them. He was killed instantly. A total of three police were killed and several Arabs are missing A large portion of the station was completely wrecked . . . . . . 18th—Yesterday saw terrorists again active . . . . . . A Royal Engineer Officer was killed and an OR seriously injured attempting to remove a mine from the railway line Three British Constables and an RAF Sergeant killed and six more wounded when their truck was blown up at Tel Aviv on an electrically detonated mine Christmas 1946 was rigidly regimented for the troops in order to reduce the risk of casualties. Those wishing to go to Bethlehem were paraded armed and went by heavily escorted lorry convoy. Whilst appreciating the need for these precautions, Sargent could not refrain from comparing it with the normal concept of peace to all etc. On 3rd Januarv, 1947 he notes— "Today finds us back to normal, that is normal for Palestine. True to their promise, terrorist organisations, having suspended operations during the Basle Congress, resumed activities When Benjamin Chimkhin, bank thief and member of the IZL murder gang, was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for his part in the Jaffa bank raid, he was also awarded 18 strokes with the cane. The Irgun threatened that if the caning sentence was carried out reprisals would be taken. The sentence was carried out. On Sunday, 29th December. Major Brett DSO, an Anzio veteran, was kidnapped by armed Jews whilst sitting in a hotel, taken to a deserted spot, flogged and then released. At Pichon (Continued on page 6, column I) |
| Book number | R0238 |