PALESTINE ALERT

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 62, Issue 4402, 14 March 1941, Page 6

PALESTINE ALERT

TEEMING WITH SOLDIERS. TROOPS OF ALL NATIONS. BRITISH POWER AND PRESTIGE. From the mountains of Galilee in the north to the parched plains of the Negeb in the south, Palestine stands alert, says a special correspondent in a recent issue of the Star, Johannesburg. On its soil dynasties, races, and creeds have battled from time immemorial; it is ready now for what may prove the greatest battle of all. Whether its hills and valleys will echo with war once again, or whether it will continue as the military and supply base of the Middle East, is one of the unfathomable secrets of the future. For the present the threat of invasion lies low.

The sea approach is closed by the navy. Air attack has caused little damage. It may cause more, but it can hardly result in invasion or occupation. To enter Palestine enemy infantry would first have to penetrate the Egyptian desert and cross the Delta of the Nile, or cut their way through one of the greatest strategic barriers known to military history, the Taurus Range in Turkey, the crags of which rise over 12,000 feet. Thus strategically locked, Palestine on with its task. It teems with soldiers. And up and down the land new camps rise steadily. There is a constant streaming to and fro, within the borders and beyond them. Harbours, roads, railways are closed for days to let the stream pass through. EMPIRE TROOPS ON GUARD. As diverse in appearance, speech, uniform, and experience as Edinburgh and Cracow, Bulawayo and Brno, these men come from as many parts of the globe. Most come from Britain, But there are loose-limbed Australians, whose fathers before them created a host of legends here that they are reviving, and New Zealanders, as elegant in their appearance as the Australians are ruggedly picturesque. There are bearded Sikhs, Gurkhas, and others of the fighting races of India proud to be fighting again for the Raj. The Southern Rhodesians, distributed among different British units, are cool- and alert. No other body of men, they said at headquarters, contained the makings of as many officers proportionately as they. By the side of the British troops Palestinian volunteers stand out more and more. They wear the British uniform and take their orders in English, but the great bulk speak Hebrew among themselves. A number speak Arabic. They are in almost every section of the Army, and most have already had the taste of active service. JEWS SERVE WITH BRITAIN. When the war broke out 143,000 Palestinian Jews and Jewesses offered

to serve with Britain. Nearly 50,000 are men of military age. Only a small proportion has yet been drawn on, but the others will be as ready when called.

The cap with the Polish Eagle is a frequent sight. Not for the first time has this eagle been seen here. Nearly 150 years ago the ancestors of these men of the Polish Brigade fought with Napoleon in his eastern campaign. Determined, somewhat dour-looking men are the Czechs. Their motto is the motto of Czechoslovakia’s first President, “Truth Will Prevail.” Their emblem the lime leaf. They laugh little, but sing a great deal. Even a remnant of the Spanish Republican Army is here. When France collapsed they fled from the Foreign Legion in Syria to join the British. In their villages, Arab peasants are

working hard to compensate for the losses of four years’ disturbances.

British power and prestige have risen inordinately among them. The days when they ambushed British soldiers might belong to another generation. Rome and Berlin are trying hard to revive them, but the peasants are unmoved.