My Life by Lionel Graves. (Page 25)
One outing was to Jerusalem where we stayed overnight and saw the sights, the old town, the way of the Cross, where dents in the walls were supposed to be where Jesus banged the Cross while carrying it to Golgotha, ignoring the fact that the city had been reduced to rubble three or more times since Christ's day. We saw the Dome of the Rock, the Wailing wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the place where His body was supposedly laid after being on the Cross. I felt a bit ashamed of myself here because the Christ Priest was selling bits of the stone of the old building as repairs were being done and I refused to buy some, looking at him as if he was one of the money changers in the Temple. How pi can you get? Still I put it down to my youth. We saw the Garden of Gethsemane across the valley but didn't actually visit it. Coming back to Haifa there was a branch of a tree across the road and the driver swerved violently to miss it and go round it, bomb, mine, or boobytrap.
Course over it was another journey by rail overnight to the Canal Zone, as we were moving out of Cairo. King Farouk had stopped our issue of 50 free cigarettes a week, We were preceeded by an armoured engine which didn't help us to feel much safer as the mines and bombs were detonated by plunger after it had passed.
Back at 78th Military Hospital I found it preparing to be almagamented with the 19th General Hospital a much larger hospital where it would just be a mental wing or department. We had a farewell party in the sergeants' mess and I imbibed a bit too freely, a pity because I was orderly sergeant major that night in charge of the guard. I arranged with the Basuto corporal to check the guards and then sat on the wickerwork lounger and slept till morning. Then I was informed that there had been a break in at the company office and a typewriter stolen and I would have to attend a court martial to give my evidence. This I did saying I had made two circuits of the wire during the night and found nothing amiss, and nothing was reported by the vigilant guards, this was accepted and I was complimented on my efficient action. It all ended well because the culprit was caught, an Egyptian civilian clerk who worked in the office. Each camp was self contained in that it had shoemakers, dhobi wallahs (washermen), tailors and waiters on the premises.
When the move finally came to the 19th General Hospital I found I was quartered in the sergeant's mess, with a German P.O.W. barman and Sudanese waitress. I shared a room with Laurence Winfield, known as Duke and along the corridor were Frank Blaine and John (Ginger) Houghton all of whom had been on the diversional therapy course in Haifa. The regimental sergeant major was a very nice chap and it was a friendly, happy, mess.
I was taken off working with patients and put in charge of the Education Centre. I really was sorry and organising and running the library, cataloguing the books to the Dewey system, holding classical music record concerts which I would collect from the main Education Corps Centre, make out a programme with notes using a musical reference book then give a concert for about 20-35 mainly officer patients and staff. Later I had to prepare and give current affair lectures to the medical staff. I would march the 30-40 strong body from the parade ground to the Education Centre and their drill was a shambles, so I just spent a quarter of an hour basic drilling on the square, attention, stand at ease, attention, right turn, left turn, quick march, about turn, etc, etc, until they realised they had to smarten up or be there all evening. I heard later that the C.O. had been watching through his office window and wanted to know who the smart sergeant was.
I also organised a wireless quiz show for teams of staff v's patients which was broadcast to the wards on the hospital radio system as well as putting out request programmes.
Email: Lionel Graves (lionel@graf-tek.com).
Copyright ©2000-2008 L. Graves. All Rights Reserved.
