British High Commissioner Departs

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26773, 17 May 1948, Page 5

British High Commissioner Departs

In Jerusalem the standard of the High Commissioner, General Sir Alan Cunningham, .was struck. General Cunningham left Government House to the sound of a piper playing from the roof and drove with the British G.0.C.. Major-general Gordon Macmillan, to the airport. They flew to Haifa in an Anson with an escort of Spitfires and Lancasters. At Haifa General Cunningham inspected a guard of honour. Hundreds of troops crowded the roof toos of the heavily-guarded port building to watch as he stepped into a naval barge and raised his hand in a final salute and sned towards the cruiser H.M S. Euryalus. The cruiser fired a salute and! 25 Spitfires dipped as they passed overhead. General Macmillan is staying in Palestine to supervise the evacuation. The Euryalus was due to sail at midnight. In the House of Commons the Min-

ister of Defence. Mr A. V. Alexander, said there was nothing in the conduct of the British in Palestine of which any Briton need feel ashamed. The main consideration now was the safe and speedy evacuation of British troops. Britain had no intention of putting fresh troops into Palestine as reinforcements or for any ulterior motives. Mr Alexander said reinforcements had been sent because it was felt there might be an increasing element of danger during evacuation. Mr Alexander assured the House that whatever force was required to give British troops proper security during the evacuation period would be available if needed. He paid a tribute to General Cunningham and to the men of all the services in the Palestine area, who, said, had exercised restraint and done a magnificent job.

Mr Alexander said that now the mandate had ended it was oqen to the Jewish Agency to send immigrants to Palestine, except to Haifa. It is officially announced in London that the Bank of England will “ consider ” releases from Palestine sterling balances of “ reasonable sums to make essential payments in sterling ” if individual banks apply. The British Treasury said that no further fixed releases would be made for the time being, in view of present conditions in Palestine, and particularly because no effective central exchange control would, for the time being, exist.. The British Government, however, had expressed a willingness to discuss more permanent arrangements as soon as circumstances allowed. A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain would continue payments to the Arab Legion under the terms of the Anglo-Transjordan Treaty.