Evening star., 1940-06-02
War Threut Touches
Famous battle-ground
BIZ Frederic J. Hdsktn.

will fall, it should be of interest to spare
glance at regions which, so far, have
remained quiet. One of the more inter-
esting Of these is the Middle East, notably
Palestine. The broad general territory
which most Occidentals think Of as the
Holy Land is one Of the oldest battle"
grounds III the world. There were fought
the mighty struggles told of in the Old
Testament, struggles between the ancient
Hebrew kings, such as Joshua whom Sir
Thomas Mallory listed as one of the nine
worthless"
The English speaking people are more
familiar with the Bible than any others
because the English Bible is a great
literary work in addition to being in
splred Scripture. The British troops,
largely Australians, are the most numer-
GUS military body in the region and, be-
cause there Is no important activity now
save intensive training, many short
leaves are granted and not day passes
that groups of Aussies, as the Australian
troops are nicknamed, cannot be SEEN
usually with local guides, seeking out
the places of especial note in biblical his
tory. Further, many of them carry
Bibles as their principal guide books and
it is said these troops after the war will
be among the best-read Bible scholars
in their language.
The sightseeing is done only partly in
a religious mood Much of it smacks of
the military and the scenes of great bat
ties are eagerly sought out. Instead of
far-off things, the events of the Bible
have come alive for these men. For ex-
ample, one newcomer who had not vet
fully caught the spirit, remarked that
the Bible was all very we'll as a guide
book for the student, but would it tell
man where he could get drink. One
of his fellows pointed him the way to
Cana and said that was the most famous
spot in all Christendom where people had
been served.
But it is not only biblical warfare
which fascinates these troops Sen
nacherib and his like attract some, but
others are interested in the campaigns
OF the Persians, of Alexander the Great
and other great captains of classic his
tory. Coming farther down, this very
terrain was fought over by the Crusaders
and one of the British camps, whence
one looks over Jordan, is adjacent to
camp of Richard Coeur de Lion.
tremendous military force Of Allies
is to be found in the East. Men of
Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt
are all here to protect the Suez Canal
and all Allied interests in the East. It is
expected that they before long. will make
an entrance through the back door of
Europe through some Balkan country,
depending on the developments Of the
war in Western Europe.
The region has many special advan-
tages for the training of large bodies of
men. Food supplies are abundant. The
immediate territory is capable OF fur
nishing everything required without
drawing on Europe's stock of foodstuffs
at all. Moreover. the mild weather
makes continuous training possible As
usual, where there are British soldiers,
there is great deal of sport and many
games are played, but football has be-
come the most popular. 1t seems some
what incongruous to see Occidental foot
ball played where David and Goliath
held their great contest so long ago!
Palestine likes the occupation not onlv
because of the obvious protection afford
ed, but because of the revival Of trade.
The long difficulties. chiefly within the
British mandate, between the Jews and
the Arabs hoUo roochoI
even child of either of these trading
peoples is glad to sell native orange to
a soldier for half penny when he has
bought them at penny dozen or less.
Shops long closed because of the Jewish
Arab riots before the war have reopened
and do thriving trade.
Jerusalem itself closely resembles an
armed camp as. to certain degree, does
the whole Middle East, and discipline is
strict. but there is the new Jewish CITY
OF Tel Aviv which offers all kinds of
entertainment and there is that hustling
suburb Jerusalem Without the Walls
which Is full of movies, cafes and cab
| arets and is called by. many New Jeru.
salem.
Whether this region where once the
Roman legions of Tiberius and Pontius
Plate marched will become an actual
| field of battle once more as it was in the
| first World War when Gen Lord Allenbv
took the Holy City, cannot be stated to-
day with certainty statement true OF
| almost everything in this war, but there
are enough troops there for any even-
| tuality
Another region little thought of todav
because there has been such tremendous
concentration Of activity in Western Eu.
rope that news scarcely comes through.
| Is Africa. All over the Dark Continent
there is mobilization, although no clashes
| have occurred. Nazi Germany no longer
has any colonies in Africa as she had in
| 1914
BY series of coincidents the first shot
| by British soldier in the first World
War came from the rifle of a Gold Coast
tribesman of British West Africa. News
of the war reached even the heart of
Africa with astonishing celebrity and a.
British force moved Immediately against
Togoland, then German dependency.
Some Germans near LONE, who were
| ensconced in a German factory, opened
fire on British frontier patrol The
| fire was returned and the bullet of one
Alhaji Grunshi took deadly effect As
| he Served thrO,1oho,It tho uyor e1l l..