8/9/2019 1947 Winter

1/30

The Royal

Army Pay orps Journal

Vol. V. No. 42

E D I T O B I I ~

NOT S

District

Pay

Office,

Ladysmith Barracks,

Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancs.

Christmas

1947

With this issue we complete the first

of the

post-war volumes

of the

Journal.

During

the

past two years, we venture

to

think, the Journal

has fully re-established itself

as

a means

of

bringing together

p ~ s t

ar:d

~ r e ~ e n ~

m e ~ e r s of

the Corps. That

thIS

claIm

IS

Justified

IS

borne

out

by

the

large

number

of

unsolicited

testimonials which we receive each week.

The

attainment

of

the object for which the

Journal principally exists is due in no small

measure to

that

small

but

enthusiastic band

of

workers-the office representatives. Not only

are they responsible for distributing

the

printed copies to individuals in their own

offices but they also provide

the

news which

is

of so much interest to those

in

other offices

or

to those who no longer serve.

Theirs

is no

easy task and yet without their co-operation

and hard work any s.uccess that may have been

achieved would

not

have been possible.

We would draw

the

attention

of our

readers

to the arrangements

that

have been made for

binding the newly completed volume.

Owing to

the

heavy increase .in cost

of

materials it

is

regretted that the

pnce of

these

binding covers is

in

excess

of that

charged in

pre-war days,

but

we hope

that t ~ i s

extra

expense will

not

deter readers from wIshmg to

preserve their copies

of

Vol. V

in

a permanent

form.

The

new cover will make a very handsome

addition to any bookshelf,

but

as supplies are

limited readers are advised to make early

application in

order

to avoid disappointment.

Any reader who is in possession

of

copies

of

No. 33 and 34

of

the

Journal

(issued in 1939)

can have them bound in Vol. V

if

they

so

desire.

We take this opportunity

of

wishing all

our

readers a

Merry

Christmas and a Bright and

Prosperous New Year.

537

Winter,

1947

OUR FRONTISPIECE

The frontispiece

of

this issue is a photograph

of

Brigadier

L

J. Lightfoot, C.B.E.

Brigadier Lightfoot retired on the

14th

November, 1937,

but

came back again

f< >r

service during the recent 'war,

and it

was not

until

the

7th

July of

this year

that

he ceased to

be an active member

of

the Corps.

He gave much valuable service

as

Command

Paymaster,

South

Eastern Command and

D.P.I.C. Mid-East

and

21

Army Group. To

many

of

us who had

the

good luck to travel

through Cairo during

the

period he was

D.P.I.C.,

he proved to be a most

g e n i a ~

host

and

inspiring companion.

The

same t:raIt was

noticeable when he was on

the

contment

as

D.P.I.C.

21

Army Group.

After

the

cessation

of

hostilities Brigadier

Lightfoot devoted his energy, which was

un

bounding, to plans for the post-war recon

struction

of the

Corps.

Brigadier Lightfoot received

the

C.B.E for

his services in the Middle East and

the

KnIght

Commander

of

the Order

of

Orange with

Swords in respect

of

his services as

D.P.I.C.

21

Army Group.

The Corps is poorer for the. loss

of

'a ~ o s t

wise and able counsellor who

IS much

mIssed

but

will never be forgotten.

Corps Diaries,

1948

Requests for copies

of

the

above should

not

be forwarded to

the

Editor as no supplies

are held.

Orders accompanied by remittance, should

be sent to'Messrs. Gale &Polden

Ltd.,

Welling

ton Works, Aldershot, Hants.

R.A.P.C. CAR BADGES

A limited

number of RA.P.C. Car

Badges

are available for sale to personnel

of the

RA.P.C.

at a cost

of

10/6, plus 5d. postage.

Application should be made to

the Hon.

Secretary and Treasurer,

RA.P.C.

Central

Fund,

The

War

Office, F.9.A, Northumberland

Avenue, London, W.C.2.

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

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THE ROYAL ARMY

PAY

CORPS JOURNAL

R.A.P.C.

Officers

Club

GOL

The winner of the

Riley Cleek at

the

Summer

Meeting was Capt.

K

W.

Chaundy

and

not

Lieut.-Col. R. C. Thompson, as

pub

lished in the

Autumn number of

the Journal.

The

Autumn

Meeting took place at West

Hill

Golf

Club on

17th

October.

In

spite

of

only fourteen entries being received,

it

was a

most successful

and

enjoyable day, marked by

the

good golf played

by

Capt.

Chaundy

and

Major

Jenkins

in the

afternoon.

From

a com

bined handicap

of

5 they returned 6

up

on

Bogey, having had a gross score

of

two

under

par.

The

results were :

The Meek Memorial r ze Capt. K. W.

CHAUNDY.

The liff up

Lieut.-Col. A. N.

EVERS.

The aptains

r

z

s Capt.

K. W.

CHAUNDY

and Major

E. JENKINS.

A match was played versus' RE.M.E. at the

North Hants

Club, Fleet, on Friday, 3rd

October, 1947, which resulted

in

a draw;

R.E.M.E.

Lt. Patterson

0

Lt. Whittcher

0

Major Dobie 0

C6l. Drake Brockman 0

Col.

Lord

(6 5) . . 1

Major Heath

(5 : 4). . 1

Major Roberts

(3

1

1

Major Norri

s (6 5) 1

4

Lt. Patterson and

Lt . Whittcher 0

Major Dobie and

Col. Drake-Brockman 0

Col.

Lord

and

Major

Heath

(5 4) 1

Major Norri

s

and

Major Roberts

(5 3) 1

2

R.A.P .C .

Capt. Chaund

y (4 3) 1

Lt

.

-C

o

l.Beauchamp

(5

4) 1

Ca

pt. Page

(5 3) 1

Brig. Bednall 4 3) 1

Capt.

Schofield

..

0

M a

jor

Jenkins 0

Lt .-Col. Evers . . 0

Lt .-Col. Burne . . 0

Capt.

Chaund

y

and

Lt.-

Col.

Beauchamp

4

(4 2) 1

Capt

Page

and

Brig.

Bedn

all (4 3) 1

Lt.-Col.

Evers

and

Lt.-Col. Burne.

. 0

M ajor Jenkins and

Ca

pt.

Scho

fi

e

ld

0

2

RI KET

The match

against

the

Cross Arrows

C.C. was played

on the 9th

September

and

resulted in a draw.

Lords

was like iron with

the

wicket pitched

well down on the

Tavern

side giving promise,

therefore,

of

a very high scoring game. The

.Cross Arrows won

the

toss and batted first

eventually d e l ~ r i n g at 222 runs for 2 wickets .

In connection with this innings there are

three points

of

interest. Firstly,

the

Cross

Arrows batsmen took three hours and five

minutes actual batting time to make their runs.

Now

an average

of

about 70 runs an

hour

con

sidering the state of the ground and the position

of the pitch is very slow indeed. Moreover, a

batsman

of

Radcliffe's calibre should have been

able to score very

much

more quickly,

but

somehow

the

club cricket atmosphere seemed

to be lacking

and

one was playing in

a

game

that

closely resembled the grim county matches

before the war.

However, the other two points bear on this.

Betteridge, a newcomer to the Corps side,

bowled with great effort and spirit and bowled

well, 1 wicket for 63

runs

in 22 overs being

very creditable

under

the prevailing conditions.

Forster also bowled very well coming out with

1 wicket for 50 runs in 23 overs. In fact it

was his best performance in Corps cricket

th is

year. Col. Malpass, Simmonds and

Merc

er

bowled for 12, 4 and 5 overs respectively.

The

fielding

of

the side was good and saved

a lot

of

runs. Particular mention

must

be

made

of

Blackwell and Smith fielding at extra

cover and cover for the slightest error on the

Tavern

side cost a four and they made very

few errors

in the

large

amount of

work that

they got through.

By declaring at 3-1 5 and with stumps being

dra

wn at 6 o'clock the Corps had barely two

and a half hours actual batting in which to

make

the

runs.

Forster and Taylor

started o

ff

at a good pace,

the

former making a very

useful 47,

but

after Forster had gone

the

game

became practically stationary until Mercer

came in. He repeated something of his form

against

the RA.S

.C.-in fact he improved on

it

greatly-by

scoring 62

not out in

27 minutes

and

19 scoring strokes.

During

this

tumult

a

victory looked almost possible, but, unfor

tunately, a certain amount of time was lost

whilst

the

ball was being retrieved from

th

e

traffic

in the

road.

The

small autograph

hunting

boys enjoyed

that

last half-hour

before stumps were drawn at 196 for

7.

t

may be within a Secretary's powers to

administer a mild reproof. If it is not, may

be forgiven. Pl

ay

ers

do

react to encourage-

538

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY CORPS

JOURNAL

ment from their supporters

but

on some

occasions when the Corps side has had its

supporters there-and the Cross Arrows match

was a notable example

--

-they have been com

pletely silent.

Major F. S. Walthew has been nominated

as

the

Secretary

for the

1948 season.

CROSS

ARRows

Radcliffe c Smith b Betterid ge 110

Plant c Taylor b Forster

41

Collinson no t

out

36

Levy not out 15

Fardon

HorsfQrd

Caldwell

Price

O'Shea

Nichals

Conolley

did

not

bat

j

Extras

20

222 for 2

declared

Bowling: Pte. Betteridge, 1 for 63.

Col. Malpass, 0 for 46.

Pte. Simmonds, 0 for 19.

Capt. Forster, 1 for 50.

Pte. Mercer, 0 for 24.

ROYAL ARMY PAY

CORPS.

Major Taylor,

h

Levy

27

Capt. Forster, c and b Levy 47

Pte. Simmonds, c O'Shea b Levy 6

L.-Cpl. Blackwell, b Horsford 5

Major Noel-Clarke, b

Fardon

22

SjSgt. Goodwin, l.b.w. Horsford. . 1

S.S.M. Newman, c Price b Levy. . 8

Pte. Mercer,

not out 62

Pte. Smith }

Pte. Betteridge did not bat

Co1.

Malpass

Extras 18

Bowling : Fardon, 1 for 39.

Price, 0 for 13.

Levy, 4 for 77.

O'Shea, OJor 19.

Horsford, 2 for 30.

196 for 7

wickets

539

At the

time

of

going to press some 18

regular officers have retired from the Corps

during the past 12 months and our sincere

wishes go with them for a very happy retire

ment.

t

is hoped

that

many will be seen at

future Corps gatherings and dinners in years

to come.

Brigadier B. .

L.

Burgess, O.B.E., left the

War Office in July, where his genial presence

is

much missed.

Brigadier F. T. Baines, O.B.E., retired in

July

and has now settled for good

in

East

Africa.

Colonels W.

D.

N. Robotham,

H.

W.

Taylor, O.B.E.,

F.

Spilsbury, E.

F.

Cox and

O.

D.

Garratt, and Lieut.-Cols. E. C.

Etherington and J. S. Eynon, M.C., have all

retired after over 30 years' service in each case.

Lieut.-Col. A. N. Evers retired

in

June,

and made his presence felt at the

Autumn

1947

golf meeting by winning the Cliff Cup.

Lieut.-Col. J. B. Cooper retired in August

on

account

of

ill-health and Major C. Erlund,

M.B.E., retired in April. .

Major R S. Davy, M.B.E., after a very long

and heavy spell in F.9 on Costing and

War

Establishments retired

in

June.

Four of the

Assistant Paymasters haye

retired in the persons of Majors G. A. Barnes,

M.B.E., E. B. Godwin, M.B.E., W.

F.

Oram, M.B.E., and W. J. Cox, after long

and

valuable service.

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

3/30

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

B.A.P.C. Old

o m r a d e s ~

Associat io .

ROLL OF HONOUR

On Remembrance Sunday, 9th November,

1947, the Secretary planted a Badge Cross on

behalf of the O.C.A. in the British Legion

Empire Field of Remembrance,

Westminster

r

Abbey,

in

'

memory

of all

Old

Comrades whose

names are recorded in the Roll of Honour.

AREA BRANCHES

1. Addresses of Branch Secretaries Owing

to changes

in

names

and

addresses, it is con

sidered desirable to publish a fresh list

of

Branch Secretaries:

E AST

SCOTLAND AREA. Mr. J. G. George, 24

Castle Street, Edinburgh

2.

WEST

SCOTLAND AREA. Mr. G. W. Wilson,

c/o McKenzie, 37 Garnethill Street,

Glasgow, C.3.

NORTH

WESTERN AREA. Counties of Cheshire,

Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmor

land:

Mr. J. Nash, 12 Spring Avenue,

Whitefield, nr. Manchester.

NORTH

EASTERN AREA. Counties of Durham,

Northumberland and Yorkshire. Mr. H.

Hartley, 38 La'ngdale Terrace, Leeds 6,

Yorks.

EAST

MIDLANDS

AREA. Counties of Cambridge,

Derby, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Leicester,

Norfolk,

Northampton,

Nottingham,

Rutland, Suffolk and Warwick: Pte. G. R

Smith,

RA.P.C.,

R.P.O., RA/AA,

Nottingham.

NORTH

WALES AND WE ST MIDLANDS AREA.

Counties

of

Gloucester, Hereford, Shrop- ,

shire, Stafford and Worcester, and

North

Wales: Mr.

K. D. Goodhew, B.E.M.,

Regimental Pay Office, Wolverley Camp,

nr. Kidderminster, Worcs.

SOUTH WALES AND MONMOUTHSHIRE

, AREA.

, Mr. B. Rowe, Scottish Legal Buildings,

Market

Street, Pontypridd,

South

Wales.

SOUTH WESTERN AREA.

Counties of Cornwall,

Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire:

Major D. Y. Cubitt, RA.P.C., District

Pay Office, South Western District, Nuns

ford Camp, Taunt

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

4/30

THE ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

East

Midlands Area

The Committee

of

this area propose to hold a

reunion of members in January, 1948, at one

or mbre

of

the cities

of

Birmingham,

Leicester.

and Nottingham, according to

the support

glven.

The

tentative idea is for a social evening

commencing

with

,

an

informal dinner, or,

if

this is

not

practicable, a

running

buffet. The

Area Committee would be glad to have mem

bers' suggestions and offers of assistance with

organisation and entertainment. The organisa

tion for a reunion

at

Birmingham would be

rather difficult

and if

any member

or

members

would undertake this task,

it

would be

appreciated.

Will all interested members please contact

the

Area Secretary.

-

3. 0ffice

eunions

Reading.-It is

proposea that

a reunion

of

members who served at Reading be held early

in 1948. Would all those interested please

forward their names, addresses and member

ship

numbers

to

:-Office

Representative,

RA.P.C.,

O.C.A.,

Army

Pay Office, Ranikhet

Camp, Reading, Berks:

Kidderminster All ex-Kidderminster

Officers, men, A.T.S. and civilian personnel

interested

in

a reunion in

London

should

contact Frederick A.

Gommer

(late

Lieut.

Paymaster, R.A.P.C.)

at

44 Avenell Road,

Highbury, London, N.5.

Tel.:

Can. 1350.

Winchester.-Will all ex-members

of the

Winchester office please contact the Office

Representative,

RA.P.C.,

O.C.A., Regimental

Pay Office (R.A.C.), Stockbridge, Hants, with

a view

to

arranging some form

of

office reunion.

Oldham and Leicester Rugby

Clubs.

There

will be a Reunion

of

former members

of

the above clubs

on

Saturday,

3rd

January,

1948, in Manchester. 'Vill anyone who would

like to attend,

but

has

not

received

an

in

vitation, please write at once to : F . E

PAYNE,

5

Hardie

Crescent, Braunstone, Leicester.

51 Battalion (Leeds).-At a reunion held

in London on 26th September were several

former personnel from -38 Battalion and

51

Battalion,

RA.P.C.

They included: W. H.

Gleaves, Enid

Jones, P.

L. N.

Robertson, R. E.

Otterburn,

J.

G.

Howes, B.

L.

Burgess, F. New, C.

L.

Lewis, F. W. Freeman, W.

T.

Welsh,

F.

Lines,

L.

E. Monkhouse, H. Roden, F. Dent,

H. Hoptrough

, H. Abbott.

542

A reunion of

past

and present members of

51 Battalion,

RA.P.C.,

will

be

held in London

in January; 1948.

Will anyone who has not received notifica- '

tion of this event p lease communicate with

anyone of the

following, ,who will

be

pleased

to forward further information.

(1) Capt. J.

G. HOWES,

c/o British Legion,

26

Eccleston Square,

London,

S.W.I.

(2) P.

L.

N.

N. ROBERTsoN,

32 Addison Court Gardens,

Kensington, W.14.

(3)

W.O.II

F.

AnAMS,

51 Battalion, R.A.P.C.,

D e v i ~ e s

Wilts.

Past members

of

the

A.T.S.

will be very

welcome.

4. General

f any ex-serving member has

not

yet

received a circular from his Branch Secretary,

will he please contact him immediately in order

that he

may

be

kept fully aware of any function

or activity

that

may

be

taking place in his Area.

Secretary's

Notes

Following on

the

comments given in the

Home Counties notes in this issue, it may be of

interest to members to know what has taken

place in

the

twelve months ended 30th Sep

tember, 1947, with regard to applications for

assistance, and a brief resume is appended.

Applications received and considered

in

Committee

60

Applications rejected . . 30

Grants made (Regulars 3, Non-

Regulars 27) 30

Grants made total approximately 202

Many

applications were rejected owing to

non-compliance with

the

Rules

of

the Associa

tion (i.e., Loans, Financing Divorce Pro

ceedings,

Further

Education, Normal Confine

ment

and no evidence of immediate need or

hardship).

In

addition to

the

grants made by the

Association, in 11 cases further grants were

made by the

RA.P.C.

Benevolent Fund or

other Charitable organisations, and in eight of

the rejected cases, representations were made to

other Charitable organisations.

With

regard to assistance in obtaining em

ployment,

the

Association has been instru

mental in placing many members in good

positions. This has been done by various

means, e.g., local advertising by Branch

THE

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS

JOURNAL

Secretaries, Old Comrades who are employers

of labour contacting their Branch Secretaries

and the circularising of various business houses

and other organisations, etc.

It is

not

possible to give detailed figures for

the whole of the U.K., but in the London Area

alone the Association has been the means of

placing over 100 members in employment.

The nature _of this employment has been

mainly clerical, ranging from such jobs

as

Temporary Civil Servants to a job

in

a Stock

brokers' -Office at 500 per annum.

It

is

also known

that

quite a considerable

number of

positions have been found for ex

members in the Manchester Area.

Lapel

Badges

A supply of the new smaller type O.C.A.

Lapel Badge has now been received. Owing to

Ex-Lieut. Slim Saunders (late of RP .,

Bournemouth and S.E.A.C.) would like his

old friends and colleagues to know that he

is now resident in Co.

Durham;

and can be

contacted at 2 Rokeby Square, Lowes Barn,

Durham. (Telephone, Durham 657.)

Capt. and Mrs. W. H. T. Spary would be

happy to hear from Major Doggrell, Capt.

Booth and S/Sgt. Leleu and all friends they

knew at Oxford,

Taunton

and No. 3 Formation

College, Chisledon.

Ex-Capt. R. V. Underwood is now the

licensee of the Ritz Hotel, Jersey, Channel

Islands and would be pleased to welcome ex

Manchester friends at all times.

Ex-S/Sgt. F.

Da

vies (3447729) w

as

recently

appointed Costing Clerk to the Surveyors'

Department

of Uckfield (Sussex) Council.

P.

H.

Harris (late 106 Coy.) and AlIen

Smith, have formed the South London

Trans

port Club, which now has

as

members several

personnel who served in the Corps.

The

S.L.T.C. is non-political and caters

for those interested in all forms of transport.

Further

details can be obtained from P. H.

Harris, 85 Benhill Avenue, Sutton, Surrey.

543

the small supply, applications, including remit

tance, should be made

as

soon

as

possible to

Office Representatives or Branch Secretaries.

The price will be 1/6

1

/9 post free).

1947 48 Subscriptions

A considerable number of members have

not yet paid their 1947-48 subscription. Will

they please do so immediately by sending

remittance 2/ 6 per annum) and their Member

ship Card to their Branch Secretary? f any

Member has lost his Membership Card and

cannot remember his Membership Number,

will be please quote office and d ate of joining

the Association ?

GREETINGS

FOR

CHRISTMAS AND

THE N

EW

YEAR TO ALL

OLD

COMRADES.

BffiTHS

SOADY

. O n November, 1947, at

Not-:

tingham, to Kathleen , wife

of

Lieut. J. A.

Soady, a son (Jeremy Henry Charles).

WILLI

AMs. O n 3rd October, 1947, at 155

British Military Hospital, Bergkerchen, to

Bunty nee Shaughnessy) wife of Major

T. G. A. Williams , M.B.E., a daughter

(Margaret Elizabeth Anne).

.

MARRIAGE

On

22nd November, at St. Oswald's (Parish)

Church, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Kenneth E.

Wood (ex. RA.P.C.), formerly

of

Leicester

(H.A.A.), Lagos, Nigeria and Nottingham

(A.T.S.) to Miss Constance AlIen, of

66

Station

Street, Ashbourne.

DEATH

B E ~ M I s H O n the 22nd Nov

.,

1947, sud

denly, at Exmouth, Major Sackville Edward

Cecil Hamilton Beamish, aged 75, late of

West India Regt. and A.P.D., son of the late

Rear-Admiral H. H. Beamish, C.B.

ENGAGEMENT

The

engagement is announced between

Robert Gage Somers, younger son of Colonel

and Mrs. Eustace

Arthur

-Lang, of St. Ann's,

Midhurst, Sussex, and Hazel, widow of

Lieutenant

Hugh

de Graaff Hunter, D.S.C.,

RN., and only child of Mrs. Williams-Meyrick,

of Mongeham, near Deal, and of the late

E. O. G. Williams-Meyrick.

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

5/30

THE

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS

JOURNAL

Corps News

EXTRACTS

FROM

THE

LONDON

GAZETTE

To be Lieut.-Col.

(S.P.1).

Majors and Staff Payrs., 2nd Cl.

(War

Subs. Lt.-Col. and S.P.l) M. Blair,

O.B.E.-27th

April, 1947.

J. B.

Jardine-19th

May, 1947.

(War

Subs. Lt.-Col.

and

S.P.l) H. G. B

Milling,

Q.B.E.-23rd

May, 1947.

G. B. A.

Brayden-23rd

July, 1947.

L. H. M. Mackenzie, 0 .

B.E.-2ndAug.1947.

To be

Major.

Lieut. and Payr. E. A King- 22nd Oct., 1946

To be

Captain.

Lieut.

and

Payr.

L. D. Lee-8th April, 1947.

D.

M. C. Burrough-23rd May, 1947.

C.

Holmes-23rd

July, 1947.

W.

B. Wilton, M.C.-2nd August, 1947.

J

D.

Proctor-13th

September, 1947.

J. J.

Preston-12th

October, 1947.

M. J

Davis-23rd

October, 1947.

Capt. A. R. de H. Mallock, R.T.R. (on

probation)-23rd April, 1946.

To be Major

(Asst.

Paymaster).

Capt. (Asst. Paymaster).

H. Cook-6th July, 1947.

P. E. Matthews,

M.B.E.-27th

August, 194

7

W. W.

Scott-27th

August, 1947.

A E.

Gebbett-16th

September, 1947.

J .Keller-9th

October, 1947.

D.

Syme-14th

October, 1947.

To be Captain

(Asst.

Paymaster).

Lieut. (Asst. Paymaster).

E.

Morten-lst

August, 1947. ,

To

be Lieut.

(Asst. Paymaster).

tCapt.

and Payr. E. Morten-lst August, 1947.

To

be Lieut.

(Paymaster).

*E. A King-22nd October, 1946.

tL.

D. Lee-8th April, 1947.

tC.

W.

Saunders-23rd

April, 1947.

tA. R. Laws-19th May, 1947.

*D. M. C.

Burrough-23rd

May, 1947.

tC. Holmes-23rd

July, 1947.

tWo B.

Wilton-2nd

August, 1947.

* From Emergency Commission.

t From Short Service Commission.

The

notification regarding War Subs. Lieut.

E. A King in Gazette (Supplement) dated

7th

March, 1947, is cancelled. (Page 347,

Spri ng issue , 194 7.)

544

Officers

Short

Service Commissions.

The undermentioned from Emergency Com

missions t9 be Paymasters with rank of Lieut .-

1st March, 1947.

With

Precedence

next below.

J.

H. Rea

A, E. Ayres

Vl.

Wilson C. McLaughton

R. Birleson R. G. Barford

D .

W.

Fox S. J Craddock

A. Willis

J

F. Nichols

C . F. Valentin e T. T. Sullivan

The

undermentioned from Emergency Com

missions to be Paymasters with rank of Lieut.-

1st October, 1947.

With Precedence

next below

D. J F. S. Adlam

J

Pilkington

*R. S. Le Vey L

D. Da

vies

W.

J

Bowen E. C. SarJer

R. C.

Lenham

P.

H.

Mabey

R.

G.

Bunker R.

Tasker

W. W.

J.

Herbert

P.

J

Toole

y

W.

J Pallister '

W.

W. J

Herb

e

rt

J K Gilchrist V.

N. Went

B. D . A.

Hom

e

J

C.

Southern

E . G . Tennuci. T.

E. Leech

A. T . Pearce S. North

J

Colbeck L E . Young

F. Wood T. T. Sullivan

*With rank of Captain.

Retirements.

Major and Paymaster (War Subs. Staff

Payr., 2nd Cl.) J. B. Cooper, retires on ret.

pay on account of disability, 3rd August, 1947.

(Substituted for

the

notification in Gazette

(Supplement), dated 5th August, 1947.) (Page

482 (Autumn) issue.)

Major C. J. Stait ceases ,to be re-employed

with the R.A.P.C. 14th August, 1947.

Major (Asst. Paymaster) W. Moran, O.B.E.,

M.C.,

ceases to be re-employed with the

R.A.P.C., 14th August, 1947.

Capt. A. R.

Hudson

late

Indian

Army,

ceases to be re-employed with the R.A.P.C.,

14th August, 1947.

Major and Staff Paymaster, 2nd CL, E. C.

Etherington, having exceeded

the

age limit for

retirement

is

placed on ret. pay, 17th Sep

tember, 1947, and is granted the hon. rank of

Lieut.-Col.

Capt. (Asst. Paymaster)

T.

Hall, retires on

ret. pay, 1st November, 1947, and is granted

the hon. rank

of

Major.

THE

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

JERUS LEM

By

Lieut. N. V. ALLEN

'W are a divided Camp in Jerusalem.

Divided not over our work, security

duties or our uncertain leisure hours,

but divided over Jerusalem. Each

of

the two

major divisions have a fair following. We have

long learned to respect the other side, occasion

ally individuals may wander into a sort of no

man's land,

but

never the less there is a division

over Jerusalem.

One side reckons Jerusalem to be just another

station, and not a very pleasant one at the

moment. Our rather small camp has received

more than its fair share

of

attention from Jewish

gangsters. Men have been killed

and

wounded,

shots and flares disturb many of our nights and

restrictions on movement frequently confine us

within the barbed wire. The security duties

are no sinecure. This is no place for dozing in

the corner or leaning against the sentry-box.

So it is not difficult to understand t h o ~ who

have no real appreciation

of

the history

and

tradition of the Holy City and who dream of a

posting to Cyprus or Greece or even to the

sands of Egypt.

The other side is just as conscious of all the

trials arid troubles which come through being

stationed in Jerusalem . Thes e difficulties are

becoming increasingly severe and the occasions

rarer when it is possible to explore the country.

But for these now rare occasions when it is

possible to escape to Galilee, Bethlehem,

Bethany, Hebron, Jericho and into Jerusalem,

the restrictions are accounted as worth while.

I confess to belong to the second group and I

suppose our motto could well be the words of

Renan: The

Land

is the fifth GospeL ,

Those of us who have a sincere interest in

Palestine and its people find plenty of scope

for our enthusiasm. Surely it is a paradise for

the Bible student, the archaeologist, the

naturalist, the keen photographer and the view

of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives must

be one

of

the most thrilling in the world.

Where else are the hills and valleys, the domes,

towers and minarets, the roads and the people,

steeped in

so

much history and legend

or

linked

so closely with our Bible. True, a good deal

today is strangled by wire and hidden by

sandbags, but these still' cannot efface the

splendour.

t

is' not easy to give a brief description of

545

Jerusalem and not the least problem is to know

just where to start. My first real acquaintance

with the old city of Jerusalem was through the

Jaffa Gate, so perhaps this

is

a convenient

starting point. Except for the breach near to

the J affa Gate, the Old City is completely

walled. The present wall was constructed

some 400 years ago by Suleiman the Magnifi

cent, though he used much material from

former walls. Only about a quarter of J erusa

lem's population

of

130,000 live within the

walls, the majority live in the sprawling modern

city.

There

are three official languages and

some 60 others are in common use. A reminder

that at the time of Christ there were also three

official languages,

but

the clanging armour of

Roman soldiery has changed for the louder

noise of British army transport.

Life seems to be concentrated around the

Jaffa Gate. On the whole it is a complacent,

easy going existence, the pace set by streams

of

dreamy donkeys. On one side a dozen shoe

blacks line the wall, sitting behind brass t0pped

boxes, with brushes and polish laid in neat

rows. ' Not unlike a kit inspection of my recruit

days. Immediately on the right as we enter is a

large pile of buildings known

as

the Citadel.

Some of the towers, containing huge blocks of

limestone each weighing over five tons, once

formed a part of Herod's palace. From the

steps

of

the Citadel General Allenby

in

1917

read the proclamation declaring the religious

freedom of the city. The Citadel is now largely

a museum piece, but archaeological discoveries

are continually being made within its aged walls.

Very quickly we plunge into David Street,

from which run off many smaller bazaars.

Here the only mode of transport are men,

donkeys and the occasional camel.

The

shops

are open to the narrow, sloping streets, their

wares spilled

out

for inspection by every

passer-by. Some of the bazaars specialise in

various goods and thus we have: The Street

of

the Tanners, The Street

of

the Coppersmith,

and an up-to-date one from the days of the

Crusaders, The Street of Bad-Cookery. The

Old City teems with interest. It is a vast

department of antiquities, giving a glimpse of

the ancient crafts, customs and peoples. But

the present city is built upon

the

heaps of her

former glories.

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

6/30

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS JOURNAL

Jerusa lem-TempleArea in the middle distance a nd the Mt.

of

Olives

beyond

A few sharp

turns at the end of Da

vid

Street

brings us into the Street

of

the Chain, which

leads downwards to

the

entrance

of the Temple

Area.

Today the Temple

Area is

under

the

custodianship

of the

Moslems

and the

magnifi

cent

building named

the Dome of the

Rock

is

the

oldest Moslem building. Jerusalem is

the

third

city

of

the Moslems ; the sacred cities

of

Mecca

and Medina

occupying the first

and

second place.

The Dome of the

Rock,

built on

the

site

of

Solomon's

Temple,

was for

about

one

hundred

years used as a Christian

Church

during the

reign

of the

Crusader Kings

of

Jerusalem.

Not

far away is the well-famed Wailing Wall,

which is really one

of the

high

outer

walls

of

the Temple

enclosure.

This

is

the

nearest any

Jew may approach to

the Temple

area and for

over one thousan d years they have come to wail

for

the

restoration

of the

glory

of the

T.emple.

Today

they still

come; the

ancient oriental

Jews, bearded

and

bedraggled, alongside

their

up-to-date

fellows from

Europe and

America.

Within the

walls are dozens

of

interesting

places, the ruins

of

succeeding conquerors.

Besides those already mentioned, perhaps the

more important are the Church

of

the Holy

Sepulchre,

the

stations

of

Via Dolorosa,

the

Pool

of

Bethesda

and

the ancient

Hour

va

Synagogue.

5 6

Beyond

the

walls rises the

Mount

of Olives

with

the

olive trees

of

Gethsemane nestling at

its foot.

The

Russian

To

wer attracts attention

pointing skywards from the top

of

the

Mount

like a giant pencil. Eastwards the Wilderness

of

J udea falls away t o the north end

of

the

Dead

Sea with

the

purple mountains

of

Moab

beyond. Southwards lies Bethlehem stretched

out on

a long ridge.

To

the north the Judean

Highlands fade into the horizon and looking

westwards from

the Mount of

Olives is the

unforgettable sight

of

Jerusalem, the City of

the

Great

King.

FINANCIAL

DISARMAMENT OF

THE

JAPANESE IN FRENCH INDO-CIDNA

t

is regretted that

in the

above article,

which appeared in

the Autumn

issue, a doubt

was cast

upon the

impregnability of

Chubbs'

strong room doors.

The makers

of

these articles are assured

that there

was

no

intention by the author of

the article to

under-rate

the value of their

products

and

we apologise to

the

firm in

question for any false impression which may

have been given.

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS JOURNAL

A ~ K E R S

IN THE EGE N

By

MAJOR

W. S.

MOORE,

late R.A.P.C.

T

HE

request, in the Spring

number of

the Corps Journal, for authentic accounts

of

operations with which the Corps was

associated, prompts me to submit the following

contribution, for what interest value it may

have, relating to the somewhat disastrous

campaign in the

autumn of 1943,

which culmin

ated with

the

re-occupation by

the

enemy

of

Cos, Leros, Samos and

the

far flung crop

of

islands

of

the Dodecanese.

The

year 1943 was not without incident

in World

War the

Second.

It

witnessed the

victorious conclusion of the Tunisian see-saw

campaign;

the expulsion from North Africa

of

the remnants

of

enemy power ; the recoiling

of

the immensely mighty military spring, which

was to project into Sicily and Italy the forces

destined to create a second front in Europe , and

the capitulation

of

the Italian nation.

The

tide

of success was running at the flood. Hopes were

high for a speedy collapse

of

the central powers.

Middle East sat back momentarily with some

complacency at a job

of

work well done.

Groppi's and Patroudi's, the King David and

the Hotel Normandie scintillated with their

brave quota

of

i c t o r y m i n d ~ d enthusiasts.

Conditions became sufficiently comfortable to

revitalise the latent bu g

of

all military personnel

and

GROUSING,

at the million and one things

which beset the thorny path of all service men

and women, from the most democratically

minded Major-General to the son-of-a-belted

Earl private, again assumed its normal per

spective.

My

own oft-repeated wail at still being a

Lieut.-Paymaster Field Cashier after some three

odd years' commissioned service was, thanks be

to God, rudely interrupted about mid-Septem

ber

by an urgent call to the holy of holies

at

Cairo. Here I was briefed for the taking over

of

Field Cash Office No. 79, for operations with

British Forces

and

Italian Co-operators.

Security forbade the mention of the location,

but

I was to entrain for Haifa, take ov

er the

F.C.O. there and proceed

under

orders

of

MovJ

Tn.

t appeared to be a first principle

of

the particular operation

that

most

of

the

Ackers-Pidgin

Arabic for

Piastres; the un

varying term of endearment

given to

Field Cashiers

in Middle East.

5 7

personnel involved, situated in Egypt, should

proceed by rail to Palestine

or

Syria for

embarkation there and that the personnel. from

Palestine and Syria should rail to Egypt for

the same purpose. Doubtless the train journey

across the Sinai desert was an essential feature

of the

pre-ops. hardening process.

At

Haifa the pot was obviously on the boil.

I was whisked off the train by a well-known

figure in Middle East Cashiering circles,

Pop Riseley, from whom to his regret, the

unit

was being taken over.

If

his genial eye

should chance to read these words, I should

like to re-iterate my gratitude for his grand

services

that

day.

He

rushed me round to

MovJ

Tn.

who detailed the

unit

for mobilising

poi.nt in a few hours' time.

He

handed over his

entire charge, including five colossal cases

of

ca3h and a more than ordinarily elaborate

G 1098, which fortunately had to be consider

ably lightened when it was found impossible

to embark the truck.

He

performed prodigies, .

even for a Field Cashier, in procuring supplies,

rations and water.

He

drove me to the dockyard

and assisted in dumping our goods and chattels

aboard.

He

revived my jaded body and droop

ing spirits ,vith a morale inducing de pth charge,

conjured from the bulging breast

of

his battle

blouse, the while ejaculating a mingled flow

of

philosophy and vituperation at having to hand

over the unit. Finally he disappeared with

truck, excess equipment, driver, and my battle

bowler.

A tinge

of

excitement

at

what the morrow

might hold probably helped to ~ o f t e n the cobble

stones

of the

dockyard, where we lay down to

rest,

s

it

was impossible to embark personnel

until

first light. Shortly before dawn the ever

welcome cup

of

shai was produced and

before long we were filing aboard a destroyer.

M y cash boxes had been safely locked away in a

secure cabin and for the nonce I was free to

enjoy the exhilarating dash

of

the destroyer

crashing along all out.

Mount

.Carmel looked

exquisite s we stood

out

to sea,

but

soon was

just a memory over the horizon.

Time

wore

on and at the Officers' conference sealed orders

were broken, destinations disclosed, and I

became aware, for the first time,

of

the existence

of

the island

of

Leros, which was to be

my

centre from which to supply Cash Services for

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

7/30

.

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY CORPS JOURNAL

the

adjoining islands

and in

particular for

Cos and Samos.

The

Navy lived

up

to tradition.

It

was

embarrassed at having to extend only

the

meagre hospitality

of

service rations

with the

odd

extra, and apologetic for

the

poor variety

(there were only eleven choices)

of

drinks

it

could offer. It negotiated the jaws

of

the rat

trap between Crete and Rhodes at exactly the

right

time in darkness for

the

approach

and the

get-away, for Rhodes

had

been re-garrisoned

a

few days previously

by an

unfriendly type

of

German, whose reactions to British Naval

Units

within reach, were sudden ' and violent. It

cursed the Army for being aboard and so

preventing it from having a crack at an enemy

convoy which was spotted at some distance

during the

night,

and at

almost exactly twenty

four

hours

from

the time of

departure,

it

dropped anchor in Portolago Bay, Island of

Leros, loaded its freight into Italian manned

lighters, wished us a sailor's farewell and slid

off

on

another job. Marshall

Garland in

his

book Long Road t Leros has paid

tribute

to

the work

of

the destroyer flotillas which were

almost continuously

in action

and endured

many grave losses throughout his campaign,

and it

is certain

that

all

Army

personnel who

came in contact

with them

will forever treasure

a deep admiration for

the

glorious

manner

in

which they achieved and continu ed to achieve

the impossible.

A few desultory shots

interrupted the

volubility

of the

Regio

Marina

stalwarts who

were

manning the

lighters,

but whether

intended

as

a last dying kick

of

resistance or as

a ragged feu de joie to celebrate

our

arrival,

was never revealed. No one appeared to suffer

injury

or

inconvenience

and

before long we

were busy dragging

our

belongings ashore, a

back-breaking

job

for

my N.C.O.* and

myself

unaided, for every man

of

the force had his

job to do and do quickly. We scrounged a

temporary home, sharing a room

in

a semi

derelict building,

by

courtesy

of the Transport

Officer and within a couple

of

hours were open

for business. The currency was Metro. Lire.

The Cash Office N.C.O. on this expedition was

7667880

Carless,

W. W., then

an

Unpaid

Acting

Lance-Corporal, who subsequently went

on

Cash

duties to

C.M.F. Throughout

the

Whole of

the

Aegean show he was

called upon to

carry

out tasks

under

enemy

fire calling

for the

utmost

disregard

of

personal

safety. Often

semi-concussed from blast

and always

suffering

from insufficient

rest, he

never

faltered.

All

of

it was old and rpost in poor condition

and having finished the exchange we made a

complete check

up

before getting down to a

badly needed rest for the night.

Next

day a recce. was made for more suitable

accommodation capable

of

housing the F.C.O.

and the F.B.P.O. which was to follow

it

up.

Contacts were made

with H.Q.;

with all

representatives

of

the different services and

with

Italian Officers

in

charge

of

Pay and

Finance. Slit trenches were dug with a sort

of

detached jocularity

at

the very idea

of

their

ever being needed. The sun shone, the sea

reflected its radiance.

No

further

rush of

work

was anticipated for a couple

of

days

and

the

whole expedition began to look like a piec;:e of

cake. M y own personal joy was beyond

description

on the

second morning, at the

thrill of hearing an Irish Pipe Band swinging

down from

the

mountains to march through

the

little

port

with the lilt

and

surge

of The

Wearin' 0'

the Green and

Kelly the Bhoy

from Killane. Life had its moments.

The piece

of

cake, however, - turned out

extremely indigestible.

Two

mornings later

J erry swung his first counter in the form of a

40-plane raid directed successfully at two

destroyers lying

in the

bay, leaving hell and

havoc in his wake. Among other things he

interfered unpleasantly with the interior decora

tions

and

appointments

of

the new

F.C.O.

arid

gave its occupants some vivid moments, his

arrival being quite

un

heralded until bombs

began to explode and the guns opened up It

became apparent that our occupation of Leros

was viewed

with

some disfavour.

From that moment

the tempo

of

air bombard

ment

was gradually stepped

up and

from

the

far-off reverberations which could be heard, it

was clear

that

the island

of

Cos was also being

hammered with little respite. In Leros. the

primary targets were all forms

of

shipping

distributed

round the

shores and as we were,

in

the

first instance, grouped around the

Port

of

Portolago, we were very

much

in the target

area.

For

the

F.C.O. it

became necessary to

lay

on

a form

of

safeguarding for documents

and cash so that, as far as possible, nothing

would be outside a metal box for longer than

was absolutely essential. As each raid started

the

metal boxes were slammed and locked, we

dived for the slits, got back on the

job

at its

termination and repeated

the

process as neces

sary. The daily aggregate of such dispersal

tactics was a simple multiplication of the action

5 8

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS JOURNAL

by the number of serious raids in the vicinity,

and did

not

figure in the Staff and

Work

return.

When

dusk fell the raids ceased, we

cleared away the day's dividends in the form of

debris from broken glass, shattered walls, lath

and plaster, and bedded down for the night.

A week slipped past on this basis until we

were aroused in the small hours one morning

by the continuous roar

of

plane engines over

head. Before long

the

sound

of

a prolonged

and terrible bombardment from the direction of

Cos shook the air and th e news filtered through,

in time,

that

the attack was on, by seaborne

invasion troops and paratroops, supported by

vast aerial reserve s. Cos was the only island

which had an airfield

of

sorts and the only hope,

in the campaign,

of

being able to provide air

cover.

For

this reason it was No. 1 on Jerry's

elimination list. The defenders hung on

grimly for several days,

but

with mere skeleton

ack-ack and complete absence of air support,

they had little chance from the start.

With

Cos gone, the position on Leros

became unpromising. A stepping stone of

islands terminating in Kalymno (Kolynos to

us) runs

up

from the former to within about

four miles of the latter, and the anticipation,

which subsequently proved correct, was

that

the enemy would

push up

sufficient reserves

of all requirements to the nearest jumping off

point for Leros, the while he softened

up the

garrison from the air. Accordingly,

it

was

decided to withdraw from the port area and

take

up

strategic positions allowing

of

more

satisfactory dispersal on the high defensive

points all over the island.

For

the F.C.O.

it

was a well-timed decision, for on the day

following our removal to the top

of Mount

Mereviglia, the premises we had vacated

received a direct

hit

and a considerable amount

of

kit, stores and stationery which it had been

impossible to remove on the first lift, went for

six.

The Notice

Field Cashier, on a sagging

door frame still proclaimed the office open,

which

it

certainly was in the widest sense of

the word.

Conditions on the mountain top were far

from comfortable. We managed to get the

cash boxes into an old hen-house typ 'e of ruin,

which also provided weather cover

of

sorts.

Water was short,

but

was to be shorter before

the end. Ha lf a water-bottle per man per day

for all purposes did not encourage the early

morning shower. .

:An amazing situation 'now developed in the

549

Aegean; During the d ay J erry was

un

disputed

master with unopposed aircraft operating from

Crete, Rhodes, Cos and the Pireaus.

During

the night British destroyers and torpedo-boats

dashed in, bringing reinforcements and supplies

and pouring an intensive bombardment at any

and all enemy strongholds,

before

chasing

back to a discreet distance for tne daylight

hours.

Too

frequently

the

nature

of

a par

ticular operation did

not

give time for a satis

factory get-away and

as

those were the days of

a new weapon,

the

glider bomb, naval losses

began to mount. The Pantellaria-ising of

Leros began. Methodically the recce. planes

nosed

out the

targets for the day, methodically

the bombers came in to write them off, all day

and every day, hundreds

of

them. Italian ack

ack

put up

a terrific

thunder of

defiance,

but

it

was more enthusiastic th an effective, and in all

the thousands

of

bursts which I saw over a

period of weeks, not a single plane appeared

to be even inconvenienced.

The

siege proceeded. A nightly conference

outlined the action for each successive dav.

Little movement was possil?le and had to be

effected in the short intervals between raids.

The

Cash Office as such, became a ' demode

institution. Nobody wanted money. Econo

mists would point the axiom

of

gold on a desert

island. Mter a couple

of

weeks and perturbed

for the safety

of

the cash boxes, which had had

too many near misses for comfort's sake, I

sought a direction and, with the approval of

H.Q.

proceeded to

bury

them, a back breaking

and blister begetting job in such rock and

shingle. The unit then operated full time. on

general terms with the garrison being usually

employed in hauling and disposing stores and

ammo. for the Q side, or assisting in preparation

of

strongpoints.

The

only island still interested

in

finance was Samos and queries from there

were dealt with by signal, until, their demands

for service becoming insatiable, B'de. H.Q.

decided to send myself and N.C.O. across on

a night to be arranged, with orders to get them

organised before attempting the

return

to

Leros. .

Disposal

of

the buried cash was now a source

of grave anxiety,

but

resolved itself into cold

logic.

Transport

could

not

be made available

to get the boxes down to the coast and the

warning it would be possible to have

of

a craft

which would slip us across .the thirty-odd miles

to Samos, would be too short to permit

of

digging them

up

and manhandling them from

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THE

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the mountain

top.

The

crossing was con

sidered risky,

not

only from

the

coastal batteries

of both

islands which were

jumpy, but

also

from

enemy E boats now reported as doing

nightly

prowls,

and our

own naval units

which

had

a

short

sharp

method of

dealing

with

any

seacraft

not

immediately identifying itself.

No

course seemed possible except to leave

the

boxes buried in comparative safety and this

eventually

turned out

a

sound

bet, although we

never saw

the

island

of

Leros again.

Despite forebodings

the

crossing to Samos

wat

uneventful,

marred

only

by the

excitability

of the

island crew who

must

have donned

their

life-jackets (we

had

none)

in

alarm,

at

least

twenty times.

We

disembarked

at

Tigani and

after some delay and language difficulty,

managed to scrounge a camion to take us over to

Vathy,

the

capital town

and

port,

round

which

was situated

the

Military

Governor's

executive.

Samos, see map, an island

of

considerable

size hugging the

Turkish

coast, is

pure

Greek

ideologically

and

culturally and as such

had

maintained an active

spirit

of

resistance to

Axis occupation .Andartis (Greek guerillas)

had

operated

throughout

from

mountain

fast

ness, ambushing and sabotaging

at

every

opportunity.

The

civilian population had

suffered unbelievably,

it

was literally true

that

at

times they had been reduced to living on

grass and roots. Disease was rampant, the

death roll hideous.

Little

wonder

that their

welcome to British Forces

of

liberation was

wholehearted and later to their own

Greek

Sacred Squadron, vociferous. The garrison,

now co-operating Italians, was considerable,

but ll equipped and of poor morale, for they

too

had

suffered from

short

rations, too long

absence from home

and the

continual dread

of

sudden

death. The island was

manned with

coastal batteries but

in

all its length and breadth

there was no evidence

of

a single ack-ack gun.

The

main task

of the

British troops was to

set

up

a civil administration

and

distribute food

and

clothing

which

were

run in

nightly from

various supply depots,

the

while being ready

to repel attempts

at

re-occupation by the enemy.

Preliminary formalities completed, we

t

stab

lished

the

Cash Office

in

Vathy, with an itiner

ary to include all units on the island. The

currency was Drachmae and Civil Affairs were

working

hard

to establish a reasonable rate

of

exchange

and

ensure sufficient supplies

of

cash.

The

.rate was struck at 12,000 to

the

pound,

but

proved impossible. Raised retrospectively to

15,000,

it

was still ineffective. Preparations

were

set on

foot for

the

payment

of

Italian

forces, involving detailed instructions being

reiterated countless times

and

full scale

conferences

at

which interpreters were present.

Working time was curtailed as, there being

considerable uncertainty as to whether Jerry

would first attack Leros full scale, I and if

successful concentrate

on

Samos,

or

first smash

Samos and use

it

as the second jaw of the

nutcracker to squeeze Leros to submission, it

was the usual procedure to retire to the

mountains at

night

and bed-down in

the

open,

in strategic positions. Nightly

rumour

was

mercurial.

At

times impressive

numbers

of

invasion barges were reported to have been

sighted heading for Corlovasi, the most

northerly

point of

the island, at others, the

leasing

of

air-fields by Turkey, for use by

Briti -l.h

aircraft was certain to stabilise

the

whole

campaign.

During

this period enemy aircraft

generally paid a call four

or

five times daily,

intent apparently more on reconnaissance than

attack, although they seldom lost the chance

of

loosing off with cannon

and

machine guns over

Vathy and Tigani,

but

no great .damage was

done.

In

such

manner

a few weeks passed

and

the

position from

the F.C.O.

viewpoint was

becoming satisfactory. Many millions of

Drachmae had changed hands and the final

details for the first Italian paymen t were nearing

completion. Before long, it was anticipated,

it

would be possible to get back to Leros a nd give

some service to the garrison there, if required,

but

the plan did not materialise, for on the

12th November, the enemy launched his

invasion. Employing the evergreen tactics,

where unopposed from the air,

of

pushing in

- invasion troops

under

cover

of

continuous

bombing, he managed at the expense of heavy

losses, to gain a footing in the teeth

of

the

pinned-down defence, after a day and a half

of unsuccessful probing. Once established his

ground forces worked, in the old familiar way,

in

closest co-operation

with

the dive bombers,

which stooged around like a gigantic circus

of

taxi-cabs,

until

signalled down to smash

methodically all points offering stubborn

resistance. Nightfall brought no respite for

the

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Tonring the

oly

Land

By Lieut.-Col. A. L DUNNILL, O.B.E.

I

T is recorded

in

St.

Luke's

Gospel

t t-

A certain

man went

down from Jerusalem

to Jericho

In

those days, this

journey of about 25

miles

could have been no easy undertaking. Now,

however, the trip is undertaken without

much

thought, thanks to th progress made by man

in

the

intervening two

thousand

years.

The

River

Jordan

is no longer a barrier

in

the

centre

of the Holy Land,

but

now forms the

boundary between Palestine

and

Transjordan.

These

two countries abound in relics

of

the

past, but in the opinion of the writer, one of the

most

interesting trips

that

can be made is

through

Jericho

and on

to

Amman

and J erash,

and

it is

with

such a

journey that

this article

deals.

Leaving Jerusalem

by

a first-class road wh ich

skirts the southern slopes

of

the

Mount

of

Olives, one passes through the village of

Bethany, set among fig, olive, almond, and

carob trees.

t

was here, in the house

of

Simon

the Leper that Our Lord

was anointed

with

precious ointments.

Beyond Bethany the road, which here

un

questionably follows

the

ancient route

of

2,000

years ago, descends steeply to the Fountain

of

the Apostles and on past the

Inn

of the Good

Samaritan. Although fragments

of

an old

mosaic floor can still be seen within, the present

structure, rebuilt within recent years, marks

the site of the Biblical parable.

The road to the Jordan Valley is a first-class

metalled road. Its construction is regarded as

an achieve

ment of

no mean skill owing to

th

e

55

2

rocky nature

of

the ground through which it is

cut.

There

are a number of hair-pin bends,

but

these

are Banked much

more efficiently

than

most in England.

Descending steeply

through

stately, but

barren

hills, we pass a board erected on the

roadside to indicate in the three authorised

languages, the level

of

the Mediterranean. A

Sea Level.

few miles farther on, the road emerges from the

hills into a wide and parched plain and then

divides-one

fork leading to the

Dead

Sea,

the other,

through

Jericho to Allenby Bridge.

The

modern Jericho 820 feet below sea

level is no more

than

a village,

but

in spite of

the intense heat that prevails in this, the

deepest hollow

of the

earth's surface, the

plantations

of

bananas and other tropical fruits

present a welcome relief to the bare and p arched

surroundings. .

Leaving Jericho we cross the River Jordan

by the Allenby Bridge, originally

built

in the .

Great

War,

under

the orders

of

the Commander

whose name

it

bears, and replaced within the

last few years by a much stronger and more

up-to-date structure.

The

Jordan here is most unimpressive and

muddy,

but our

road takes us along its banks

co

vered with pink and white oleanders, which in

summer present a most picturesque sight. A

heavy

Krupp gun

abandoned by

the Turks

during their retreat in 1917 still lies among

th

e

rocks below the road.

This

gun w

as

nicknamed

Jericho J ane by the Bri tish troops, because

from its hidden position it used to shell their

camps near Jericho,

10

miles away.

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

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Most of

Transjordan is _desert, while the

remainder

is

only partly cultivated.

The

only

railway-the

Hejaz

Railway-which,

br?adly

speaking, runs from

North

to South, IS

of

little use for sightseeing parties who therefore

have to rely on road communications.

The

roads, however, apart froIl . the main roads,

leave much to be desired

and

most places can

still only be reached by traversing very inferior

tracks.

The

population

of

Transjordan numbers

about 350,000,

of

whom a large

n u m b ~ r

are

nomads.

There

are about 20,000 ChnstIans .

and about 7,000 Moslem Circassians whose

fathers emigrated from the Caucasus after

the

Russo-

Turkish War of

1878.

The

Jerusalem

to

JeriChO Koad

with Mountains of Moab in background.

The

road begins to rise steeply'

and

in a

distance of approximately 12 miles we rise from

1,000

fe

et below sea level to Es Salt, standing

2,750 feet above sea level. . .

Es Salt

is

the second largest town in

Trans

jordan.

Ten

miles farther is Suweila, a

Circassian village lying at the head

of

a valley

and from which leads the rough and lonely

track to J erash.

We continue along the main road for a

further

10

miles to Amman, the capital

of

the

Country, and residence of King Abdullah, some

75 miles from Jerusalem. .

Amman is the ancient Rabbah Ammon ,

or

Rabbath, mentioned in the Book

of

Deuter

onomy and

it

was here that Abishai kept the

Ammonites in check.

In

the following year

it

was beseiged by Joab.

In the third century B.C. the city was rebuilt

by Ptolemy Philadelphus.

The Gr

eeks renamed

it Philadelphia.

As a result of the part played by Amman in

bygone days the town abounds in antiquities

55

3

Amman- the

Roman

Amphitheatre.

some

of

which are still in a good state

of

preservation. The most impressive is the

Roman Amphitheatre

cut out of

the hillside

and the main surviving

monument of

the

Graeco-Roman city. It is well preserved

as

the

photograph shows. Slots for wooden arm-rests

can still be seen on some

of

the seats.

Other relics

of

ancient times can be seen

just

outside the town,

but

exactly what these

originally represented is now difficult to say

with any degree

of

accuracy.

The

modern Amman is an entirely Arab

village consisting of narrow streets made

picturesque by the display

of

native silks and

embroideries in their many shops.

Just outside the town are the Headquarters

of

the R.A.F. and

of

the Arab Legion.

Leaving Amman we

return

by the main road

as

far

as

Suweila, where

we

take the track to

Jerash.

Up

to quite recently this track was only

passable for traffic in

dry

weather,

but

now a

bridge has been built across the river Zerka

which obviates the difficulties previously

encountered

of

being stranded

in

midstream

after heavy rains in the surrounding hills.

Triumphal Arch, Jerash.

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Climbing

the

opposite side

of

the valley we

pass

through

wooded hills

and

soon find

our-

selves faced by the

Triumphal

Arch, which

marks the entrance to the ancient.Jerash.

When

Gerasa (the

Greek name

for .J erash)

was founded is unknown,

but

it

is

thought that

it may

have

been

between

the third and

second

centuries B.C. and

it

is probable

that

the original

inhabitants were Nabateans.

Gerasa's most prosperous period was

the

first

three centuries

of

the

Christian era

and most of

her monuments

date from

the

last half

of

the

Second

Century A.D.

into

the Third

Century.

The

construction

of

roads fostered communica

tions

and

coincided

with the

rising prosperity

of

the neighbourin g towns. Busy

with

trade

and commerce, Gerasa grew and declined

within

the

space

of

three

hundred

years

without

taking any

part in

passing historical events.

From

what is left of this ancient city it seems

evident

that her

original inhabitants were

permeated

with Greek

ideas ;

they

wrote, read

and

spoke

the

Greek language

and built

their

city

in

imitation

of the

great cities

of the

west

with forum, processional way, theatres, temples,

hippodromes and baths, all planned with

oriental exuberance

of

taste.

The

reign

of

Justinian (519-565

A.D.

witnessed a revival

in

prosperity

in

Gerasa

and many

churches were built.

About

1118,

the city was captured

by

Baldwin

Il, King of

Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed. Thereafter

it disappeared from sight.

The modern

village, situat ed a

short

distance

outside

the

walls

of the

original city was made

into a Circassian Colony

in

1879, and consists

mainly

of mud

brick

buildings-a

poor contrast

to the magnificence of its ancient counterpart.

The

ancient city was

surrounded by

a town

wall, to

protect

it

against

sudden.

raids. Th.is

is

in

great

part

preserved

and

consIsted

of

solId

bastions connected

by

a curtain wall 2t metres

thick. '

The Triumphal

Arch, which was a gate

of

honour, only opened to

admit

great

p e r s n a g ~ s

was dedicated to

the Emperor Hadnan

n

A.D. 130. The central arch is 39 feet high,

whilst the whole width is 85 feet. Although

partly destroyed,

it

is still an imposing entrance

to this ancient city.

Just

inside

the

gate is a large

stadium

which

during the

Persian invasion

of A.D.

614 was

probably used as a polo ground.

Close

by

is the

South Gate

similar

in

design,

though much smaller,

than the Triumphal

Arch.

554

High up

on a rocky slope to the left -is the

Temple of Zeus Olyrppios, one of the earliest

remaining

monuments of

J erash, having been

built not

later

than A.D.

23. Originally this

consisted

of

11 columns to

the north and

south,

respectively, and eight to the west and east,

but

only one now remains standing.

Beside the Temple

is

the South Theatre, with

32 rows of seats, some of which still bear their

numbers.

Below this is

the Forum

in

the

form

of

a

horse-shoe

of

straight Ionic columns carrying an

The Forum.

architrave behind which were shops. The

columns stand

on

a wall which is still buried.

The

Street

of

Columns, which begins at the

Forum,

was

the

main street

of the

city

and ran

from

south

to

north

for over one thousand

yards, terminating in the ruined Gate of Trajan.

The

street was lined

with

plain columns with

Corinthian Capitals.

Out of the

original 520

only 75 are still standing. As can be seen from

the photograph these columns were exquisitely

finished and are still in a very good state of

preservation.

The

street was paved

throughout

its length

and

it

is amazing to see the impressions

of

the

chariot wheels which were worn into the paving

stones. Every few yards there is a man-hole

communicating with the drain

running

below

the

street. Each

of

these are closed

with

a stone

lid.

On both sides of the street there were con

tinuous covered passages from the

Forum

to

the

North

Gate, broken only by the intersecting

roads with shops opening on to them. .

Two

other streets traversed the city frQm east

to west. These crossed the main Street

of

Columns at

the

southern and

northern

Tetrapy_

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

The

,

Street of Columns

Ions, respectively.

The

tetrapylon consisted of

four columns, each standing

on

a square

pedestal and probably carrying a domed super

structure,

but

of this latter nothing now

remains.

Farther

along the street we come to

the

Nymphaeum, or public f o u ~ t a i n one of t ~ e

most attractive monuments n J erash.

It S

semi-circular in shape with wit;lgs at the sides

and a circular basin

of

stone on a pedestal in

, front into which played a

jet of

water.

The

photograph shows the basin on

the

ground below its original position. Note also

The

N y m p h a ~ u m

555

the drain for the waste water

in

the bottom left

corner.

Quite close to the Nymphaeum is a narrow

street leading to the high ground on which

stands the

Temple

,of Artemis. Apart from two

fine rows

of

Corinthian columns nothing much

remains

of

this Temple,

but

what is left can be

seen from almost any position in J erash. In

its day it

must

have been a very imposing

edifice.

Of

the beginning

of

christianity in Jerash

little is known, nevertheless in addition to a

Cathedral there are

1

other churches most of

which were erected between the time

of

Constantine the Great

(A.D.

306-337)

and

Justinian (A.D. 519-565).

Temple

of Artemis.

Space does

not permit

the description

of

each

of

these churches.

The

cathedral which was

built about A.D. 375 occupied the exact site of

the

Temple of

Dionysus, the god

of the

wine

harvest. It was a basilica with 24 ancient

columns separating the nave from the two

aisles.

There

is very little left

of

the Cathedral

as it sustained heavy damage in an earthquake

inA.D.717.

Leavipg the Cathedral we come into the

Fountain Court with its portico of ancient

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THE

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JOURNAL

Steps

leading up

to

the Cathedral (seen

in

background).

columns

on

two sides.

This

is

of

particular

interest as, according to a writer

of

the

Fourth

Century there was enacted yearly

at

J erash the

miracle of turning water into wine, as at Cana

of

Gali1ee.

The

vine is extensively cultivated

on the surrounding

hills

and the

festival

probably arose

in

celebration

of the

harvesting

of the

grapes. As

it

was impossible to abolish

so popular_ festival,

it

was dedicated anew in

the service of the christian religion and enacted

in

this place each year.

On the

high

ground at the

back

of the Temple

of

Artemis lies

the

synagogue

church; that

is,

a church imposed on a building designed -as a

synagogue.

As synagogues were oriented towards J erusa

lem

and

churches towards

the

east, it was

necessary to change

the

plan

of

the building as

originally designed.

In the

christian alteration,

part of

the Jewish entrance court with its

colonnade was destroyed.

Several

of the

churches contain very fine

mosaics

in

a wonderful state

of

preservation.

A large

number

were destroyed

by the

Icono

clasts,

but

as some were probably

buried at

the

time they have sur:vived to this day.

Although excavations were begun

in

1924

they are still far from complete

and

every

month

some new

part

is being discovered.

It is-impossible

in

a

brief

article

of

this nature

to do justice to

the grandeur of

J erash

or

even to

mention

much that

is beautiful. Althoug h the

whole city is a mass

of

ruins enough still remains

standing to serve as a guide to the outline of the

various monuments

that

originally existed,

but

to appreciate

it

to the full nothing can take the

place

of

a personal visit.

f such

a visit can be

made in

February or

March,

the

wild flowers

which present such a marvellous sight among

the

ruins, are

at

their best.

Later

in the year

. most vegetation has become parched by the

terrific heat.

556

The magnificence

of

J erash is such that words

cannot adequately describe it. So to any

readers

of

these notes who may get

the

oppor

tunity of

a visit to this ancient city I would say

Take

it-you will never regret

it.

A

Corinthian

Pillar.

THE-

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

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n ir Crash

in

Ceylon

T

HE

many friends in

the

Corps

of

Major

A.

M.

Burrows, will have already heard

of

his narrow escape from death while

flying out to Singapore. As a matter of general '

interest he has given a brief version

of

what

happened, for publication.

I left England from Lincham Aerodrome,

Wilts., on the morning of 11th March, 1947,

and had a pleasant trip to Malta, arriving

about 16-30 hours the same day. During this

period the aircraft, a four-engined York Air

craft

of

Transport Command, R.A.F.,

developed some small technical trouble which,

although

not

serious, caused

it

to be grounded,

and

my

travelling companions and myself were

-transferred to the now ill-fated York which

had left England on the same morning as we

had. Shortly after leaving Malta for Habbanya,

Iraq, this aircraft developed engine trouble

and we were landed in Lydda, Palestine, where

we remained for three days whilst an overhaul

was carried

out

and a new engine installed in

place of the one that had failed. We continued

our journey and eventually arrived at Negombo

Aerodrome, Ceylon, on the afternoon

of

18th

March, 1947, having called at Habbanya and

Karachi en route.

557

We emplaned for Singapore at 04-30 hours

on the

morning

of

19th March and became

airborne at 04-37 hours.

Mter

several minutes

in the air the aircraft suddenly gave a terrific

shudder and almost immediately we received

instructions from the

Captain-Flying

Officer

Arming, D.F.C., R.A.F., to

put

on our' Mae

Wests,' as he was experiencing some trouble

and was going to attempt to land on

the

sea.

t was subsequently disclosed that at that time

one engine had failed,

but

almost at once two

further engines failed and we lost height

rapidly with only one engine functioning

Suddenly there was a terrific crash, the plane

went into complete darkness and I lost con

sciousness.

The

next thing I remembered was

somebody shouting at me to

'get t -

out of

it before the plane

explodes,'-I

pulled myself together, and found I had been

flung out of the aircraft still strapped to the

chair in which I had been sitting. .

The

heat

was unbearable and I

then

realised the aircraft

was burn ing furiously. I released my safety

belt and ran several yards and flung myself

flat on the ground. However, I soon realised

that there would be no explosion and at once

searched for other possible surv.vors. I found

8/9/2019 1947 Winter

12/30

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

two others, Lieut.-Col. Copsey, Royal

En

gineers,

and Warrant

Officer Ball, R.A.F.,

the

navigator. I subsequently discovered

that the

person who had been shouting

at

me was

the

steward

of the

aircraft, Sgt. Stewart

of the

R.A.F.

This

made four in all. The remainder

of the

crew and passengers, making eleven

in

all, were in the wreckage and their bodies

enveloped in flames. t was impossible to give

them

any assistance.

We

could only hope they

had been killed outright. It was a terrible sight

and

one I shall never forget.

We

had crashed

into a Coconut Plantation, several trees

had

been