Click here for entry for Monday 24th August – Tuesday 1st September 1942
Wednesday September 2
Day 514
Medical inspection graded B.2. Getting teeth remodelled and one filled.
Thursday September 3
Day 515
Fitting for teeth – usual treatment.
Friday September 4
Day 516
Received teeth – disappointed with them – not as good as previous set. Decided to visit Tel Aviv tomorrow with W Morris.
Saturday September 5
Day 517
W Morris and I left camp 10.30AM. Detoured around guard on bridge – caught bus 12.15PM arrive at Tel Aviv at 2.15PM. Very modern city. Beautifully clean. Different to all in surrounding area. Marvellous beach & promenade – looked around city then swam and sat on desk chairs. Shops closed until 4PM – Jewish Sunday. Enormous crowd gathered on street at night – like Xmas Eve at home. Saw “Meet John Doe” at last session then slept at King Soloman Hotel.
Sunday September 6
Day 518
Walked through streets on Sunday – bought snaps and swam, catching bus at 2.30PM. Was not missed at camp.
Monday September 7
Day 519
Usual parades, treatment & swimming. Another Naafi concert at night.
Tuesday September 8
Day 520
Note – this entry and the next is almost word for word exactly the same as the ones for Monday August 31st & Tuesday September 1st – I suspect he was catching up in his diary and transposed some entries.
Parades in morning & M.O. Inspection. Grade B.2. Visited Haifa buying Marg’s dressing gown – blue padded silk garment – looks rather nice, only spent 3 hours in city.
Wednesday September 9
Day 521
Parades & wrote during day. Leg a little easier. Pictures at night.
There is a William Morris listed in the cenotaph database who served in the 23rd Battalion so this is possibly the person my Grandfather is referring to.
Click here for entry for Thursday 10th September – Thursday 17th September 1942
14 Weeks Worth of Socks 
“Detoured around guard on bridge.” He is now unofficially a naughty boy. “Was not missed at camp”
He is now unofficially a very lucky Kiwi..
I see him in a slightly different light now 😉
As the war progressed, Tel Aviv was a leave city for U.S. troops operating the Lend Lease port of Basra. War material and supplies were shipped through Basra to the Soviet Union. Troops going on leave to Tel Aviv from Basra traveled through the desert by truck with overnight stays at waycamps maintained by the British.
Interesting info, thanks.
The reason it was a city which troops went on leave is supported by your grandfather’s comments: “Very modern city. Beautifully clean. Different to all in surrounding area. Marvelous beach & promenade . . . Enormous crowd gathered on street at night – like Xmas Eve at home.” A person who had been there on leave during World War II told me that it was almost like going to a modern European city.
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