Rations to Nazareth

by Norrie Dunsmore

Jim Dawson, from Skelmorlie in Ayrshire, enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps in Glasgow
on the 18th of September 1939. He was 23 years of age. He had read that the Army was short of
drivers and, to ensure he got into the corps of his choice, gave his occupation - according to his
Pay Book - as that of ‘chauffeur’ although he was, in fact, an insurance clerk. His father was a
chauffeur, however, and Jim had learned more than enough about driving and vehicle
maintenance to justify the honourable deception.

For the next two-and-a-half years he kept a regular diary of his service which, along with a small
archive of official documents such as his pay book, personal writings, and other memorabilia
including photographs, kept by the family, constitute the main sources for this article. Useful
websites consulted, especially on events in Iraq, included www.regiments.org, and
www.ccc.nps.navy.mil. A continuing investigation into Jim’s military career is being conducted
through the Army Personnel Centre based at 65 Brown Street, Glasgow.

The two pocket diaries he used were bought in Palestine, the first on his arrival there in 1940 and
immediately back-dated on the memoranda pages to September 1939. It has suffered sweat
damage from being carried around in his breast pocket and some parts are difficult or impossible
to read; the entries for 1941 have also been crammed into any available spaces left over from
1940. The second, for 1942, is in good condition and completely legible.

What emerges is not a story of great heroism or even of great suffering, but a record of getting on
with it and making the best of it in a very British way, of often unglamorous duty done well and
with good humour, in far from congenial circumstances.

On the evening of the very day of his enlistment, Jim was on a train heading south from
Glasgow, with its ‘hordes of tipsy and almost hysterical women on the platform’ to London. The
next day he arrived at Aldershot to find ‘the sleeping quarters dirty and the feeding arrangements
almost bestial’. The following day he was pleased to move on to his basic training camp in
Wiltshire; there he and the rest of No 11 squad were quickly knocked into shape.

On the 1st of October he had a day’s leave in London where he met up with his sweetheart Isabel
(surname unknown) from Scotland, who had also enlisted, probably in the ATS, and with whom
he would correspond for several years. A few days later he was posted to the 549th Co. RASC
based in Shepherds Bush in London and was soon busy doing local convoy work. At the
beginning of December he was transferred to the 552nd Coy based in Worksop, and on the 5th
returned to Ayrshire on leave where he was again able to meet up with Isabel. This was his last
leave in the UK for five years.

At the end of December he set sail from Portsmouth with his unit on the SS Amsterdam, and on
the 9th of January arrived at Haifa, having joined the British Middle East Force in Palestine. He
disembarked the following morning and travelled by train to a new camp near Jerusalem and
spent the mornings of the next few weeks digging trenches and clearing and levelling the ground,
which he described as: ‘Hard work in the hot sun. Large numbers of insects in the ground e.g.
ants, grasshoppers, centipedes, and even scorpions’.

On the 22nd of January, after passing a driving test which consisted of a few basic manoeuvres, he
transferred to the Palestine Recruits T.D. for intensive training. The following day, however, he
reported to the MO with a rash on his chest and was immediately sent to the isolation ward of a
nearby RAF hospital with suspected scarlet fever. He spent the next three weeks there and,
despite his circumstances - ‘Very comfortable. Clean white sheets, lavatory attached, good food,
attentive sisters, decent orderlies’ - he soon began to fret, and was delighted to be allowed
outside at last ‘in the walking out clothes of an invalid - white shirt, blue trousers and blue jacket
with a red tie’.

On his full discharge in the middle of February, he rejoined his drivers’ training course, a large
part of which was simply learning the routes. There were plenty of other activities to keep him
busy, too: square-bashing, rifle practice on the range, gas drill, parades, inspections, road-
mending, guard duty, fire pickets, lectures, fatigues such as ‘washing dishes in the Officers’
mess‘, ‘spit and polish in the barrack room’, and, not least, rehearsing for and carrying out a
special ceremonial parade for General Wavell, GOC Middle East Command.

But it was not all hard work and no play. The favourite recreation was football with scarcely a
week going past without at least one inter-unit or inter-service game taking place in a complex
pattern of leagues and cups. Jim was a regular participant in these games, kept a detailed record
of players and scores, and where possible took photographs too, many of which survive.
Watching an endless stream of films, both American and British, at the Garrison Cinema and in
Haifa was also popular, as was reading the large number of books which seemed to circulate,
with Jim averaging about one a fortnight. Cards, snooker and billiards were available at the
NAAFI as was supplementary food. The quality and frequency of ‘feeding’ features strongly
throughout the diaries; usually without too much complaint on either account. Jim was also an
assiduous correspondent, writing frequent letters to Isabel, his father and other members of the
family, and friends.

Perhaps surprisingly, he and his fellow servicemen were able to travel quite freely within the
theatre - they were even issued with an official guidebook - and he records several tourist visits
to places of interest such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Bethlehem. As a Christian in the Holy Land
he also notes how his ‘original feelings of awe and wonderment gave way to disquiet at the
tawdry ornamentation and trappings surrounding the Holy places and the air of commercialism
enshrouding them’. In the spring of 1940 he wrote very perceptively too of the: ‘many contrasts
between the large Jewish cities, good roads, modern transport, artificial modes of agriculture etc.
on the one hand and Arab villages, tracks, donkeys and camels, wooden ploughs and desert on
the other. Through the veneer of politeness of the Arabs and Jews can be seen an intense hatred
of one another. Will the fighting for Britain heal the breach or will peace between the great
nations resurrect the trouble?’

After completing his training course Jim moved to a base near Haifa, and his life took on a
rhythm and a pattern which changed little over the next 18 months. In the hot season he and his
fellow drivers worked from 8am to 1pm and 6pm to 8pm, the rest of the time more normal hours.
Each morning he reported for duty and was given a work ticket detailing the cargo he was to pick
up, where from and where it was to be delivered to. These trips took him all over Palestine,
including the delivery on several occasions of ‘rations to Nazareth’, and even into Syria and
Egypt driving one or other of the unit’s fleet of 30cwt to 5ton Bedford, Morris and Chevrolet
‘wagons’. The complete maintenance of these vehicles, which required considerable mechanical
knowledge and skill, also occupied much time. Many diary entries record the crucial last duty of
each day: ‘filled petrol tank’.

For most of May, Jim was again in hospital suffering from a skin condition, probably impetigo.
Throughout the summer the fact that they were at war became more of a reality as news of the
disasters in Norway, Belgium, Holland and France all percolated through to the Middle East,
which, from a personal point of view, meant that he and his fellow soldiers were not likely to see
home for a long time to come. Listening to news broadcasts now became part of the daily
routine. There were also more immediate dangers. On the 15th of July: ’Saw Italian Air Force raid
Haifa and several I.P.C. tanks hit. Flames and smoke for miles around. Only one civilian killed’.
This was the first of several similar attacks on Haifa’s important fuel installations and on Tel
Aviv.

From September Jim was given the occasional duty of driving instructor which he detested due
to the amount of maintenance he had to do afterwards to restore the clutch and gearbox to
working order. On the 29th of that month he felt distinctly homesick: ‘In reminiscent mood.
Within sight of the blue waters of the Med. And a blue sky above yet I am strangely unhappy and
have a strong desire to be home’. At the end of the following month he also writes wistfully: ‘A
very pleasant detail. Staff all civilian and a very attractive German girl made herself very
pleasant. Strange to talk again with a member of the opposite sex’.

In the middle of November his company was sent westwards to Cairo as part of General Wavell’s
preparations for his counter-attack against the Italian forces threatening the British railhead at
Mersa Mutruh. His duties there, which included much hazardous driving at night, still allowed
him to visit the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the horse racing at Gezira and Heliopolis, as well as
shop for a Christmas present for Isabel. A keen golfer in civilian life he noted on 26th November;
‘Handled golf club for first time since last November’. The battle duly began on the 9th of
December and resulted in a very substantial British victory: the Italians suffered heavy losses and
over the next three months were forced to retreat further and further west into Libya; in mid
February 1941 Hitler sent Lieutenant-General Rommell to North Africa to bolster the Axis
position there. Although he was kept very busy, Jim did not see any action himself, and at the
end of December wrote: ‘Royal Fusiliers return from Western Desert with many tales and
trophies’. Christmas dinner that year was: ‘A slap up feed - turkey, plum duff etc. well cooked
and well served’.

At the end of a further and very busy three months transporting soldiers, ammunition, ‘captured
biscuits’ and much more within the Canal Zone, he was again taken ill, this time with dysentery,
and admitted to a local civilian hospital for over a week. On returning to duty in April he
undertook several journeys to Mersa Matruh where he noted, ‘intense activity in its defences’,
reflecting a change in fortunes in the western desert with the Axis forces once more on the
offensive, and threatening Tobruk. The entry for Friday 11th April reads: ‘Heard the news of
further retreats in Libya and extension of war in Balkans’.

At the end of April, a pro-German faction seized power in Iraq and immediately laid siege to the
British airbase at Habbaniya. By this time Jim had returned to Palestine, and he and his company
were immediately detailed to join the 6000 strong Habforce (Habbaniya Force) of infantry,
artillery, and armoured cars which had been created on Churchill’s express command to raise the
siege. Jim was in the leading unit called Kingcol and the many hazards of this week-long
journey from Palestine, through Trans-Jordan and Western Iraq to Habbaniya included daytime
temperatures of 120 degrees, driving at night without headlights, impassable areas of sand which
had to be detoured around, and regular attacks by ‘fast and daring’ M.E. 110 and 111s against
which the RAF, ‘Gladiator’ plucky effort unavailing’, although these were soon to be reinforced
by Hurricanes.

The mission was completely successful with the pro-German faction fleeing the country on the
last day of the month after being persuaded by British Intelligence that Habforce had 100 tanks at
its disposal instead of 8 armoured cars. But for Jim, as the adrenalin dispersed, the next few days
were ‘featureless’ with few duties and no ‘excitements’, prompting him to ask himself: ’Is this a
cushy job?’ On the 28th he ‘had a look round and a slap up feed’ in Baghdad before returning to
base with a fleet of new Chevrolet trucks and a few days later set off once more for Palestine.

Most of July was spent on postings to Damascus with which he was ‘unimpressed’ and Aleppo
where he was a regular visitor to the Roxy cinema.. At the beginning of August he enjoyed a few
days’ leave in Tel Aviv and was struck by how well-supplied the shops were. In addition to
driving duties, the remainder of that month and September brought endless parades and
uncomfortable training exercises: a ten mile route march resulted in blistered feet and intensive
musketry practice in skinned elbows. And there were countless games of football which, as a
committee member, Jim now helped to organise as well as to take part in. Not on the 13th,
however, when the punishment for ‘dirty equipment on the C.O’s parade’ was ‘5.30pm no
football’.

In October 1941 Jim’s general reliability was rewarded by being appointed as one of the drivers
of the small fleet of Humber staff cars at the Corps’ disposal. At first he continued to drive a
lorry as well, but by January his duties exclusively consisted of transporting officers and visiting
VIPS wherever they wanted to go - and, of course, keeping the staff cars smart in appearance and
reliable in performance, neither of which was easy in desert conditions.

On the 30th of December he began a week’s leave based in a military hostel in Jerusalem. New
Year’s Day was typical: ‘Long lie as usual. After breakfast (egg, fried bread, fruit, tea etc) to
YMCA to play billiards and snooker. Lunch at International. Pictures in afternoon and evening’.
On the 3rd he awoke to find the city ‘covered in a blanket of snow’, and was soon engaged in
some furious snowball fights.

For the next two months it was pretty much business as before, driving officers, including
Captain Quentin Hogg MP, and VIPs around the theatre - eg to Tripoli, Baalbeck, Alexandria,
Aleppo, Gaza and Jerusalem. On the 14th of January he was ‘chosen for special job with S.I.B.
Be. Real G men job’. On the 15th and 16th he took three senior officers on a trip to the Turkish
border: ‘Travelled via Bab. After this, track deteriorated and several times had to detour into
ploughed fields. Mud everywhere. Hot reception from village dogs’. More mundanely on the
24th: ‘Received pair of socks from the comforts fund’.
Whenever the often cold, wet and misty weather abated there was football. On the 7th of
February: ‘Played for transport against MPs in seven-a-side league. Won 5-1 in a very dirty
game. Black eye as a memento’. There are surprisingly few references to relationships with
NCOs and officers throughout the diaries, but on the 12th he writes angrily: ‘A barney with two
stumer (stupid) S/Sgts. re lack of lubrication. Red tape and bullshit’. On the 13th of March: ‘To
Gedera to see Anti-Gas demonstration by Army and RAF. Good show in which Hurricanes,
Lysanders and tanks took part’. Throughout this period there were also occasional letters and a
photograph from Isabel; there was also a parcel from his former employers at the Commercial
Union.

Then, on the 16th of March 1942, Jim either volunteered or was ordered to take the Clerk’s test
which he describes as ‘a very simple affair’. He was successful, promoted to Corporal and on 6th
April started at ‘A’ Branch where he quickly developed the skill of one finger typing. Initially
‘doubtful if I will like this change’, he quickly settled into the new routine, which reminded him
of his pre-war work in insurance. On the 8th of April his unit set out on a three-day ‘Practice
Move’ into the hills, during which the lorry he was travelling in nearly dropped over a cliff edge
on a difficult bend, and there was a brief air raid alarm.

On the 19th of April he attended with friends the races in Beirut and noted ‘the amazingly
colourful spectacle with all the bright feminine dresses and flashy uniforms’. Afternoons at the
races remained a popular recreation all through May. Maintaining correspondence, especially
with his father and Isabel, was also a duty he was happy to spend time on, but he was sometimes
disappointed by the tone of Isabel’s replies. How or when exactly this relationship ended is not
recorded but, like so many relationships tested beyond endurance by wartime separation, end it
did, as subsequent events will show.

Strategically over the past year both sides had enjoyed successes and suffered defeats, but in
April 1941 Rommell’s star was very much in the ascendant - very close, indeed, to its zenith -
with the capture of Tobruk only a few weeks away. A few months after that, however, and it
would fall again at El Alamein.
The writing of the diary begins to falter towards the end of April and the last entry - for the 20th
of May 1942 - is the cryptic: ‘P.T. and Duke of Gloucester fiasco took up most of morning.
Danny Rixon and Ted Cobb livened up afternoon’. A clue as to why Jim gave it up is probably to
be found in the phrase, ‘same old round’, he uses towards the end, reflecting the humdrum
similarity of each succeeding day, week and year spent so far from home and loved ones.

He returned from the Middle East to England in October1944 and was based in the south of
England. After a spell of disembarkation leave, he rejoined his unit, now attached to the 116th
Infantry Brigade Royal Marines, in Holland in February 1945 for the invasion and occupation of
Germany. Jim was awarded Oak Leaf clusters for distinguished service in North West Europe
and was demobilised on the 5th of April 1946 after six-and-a-half years with the Colours. He
married, not Isabel, but a Devon girl called Doreen, subsequently had three daughters, and
returned to the insurance industry. Doreen was my mother-in-law. Jim died in 1962 before I
could know him personally.

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