1940 Dodge Staff Car

[Tony Smith]

Aussie kids who really know nothing about what went on.

When the rats of Tobruk (6th + 7th Divs AIF) left Tobruk to fight the Vichy French in Syria, they passed through Palestine and the areas that their Fathers, Uncles and Senior NCO's had talked of from the First World War. For hardened soldiers who had just jeeringly fought Rommel to a standstill, they were hushed and respectful as they saw El Arish, Rafa and Beersheba (nowadays called Bar Shiva). Many heard tales of these places as children from male family members of the 1st AIF, and now those tales had come to life in front of them. For those who had not heard the childhood stories, Battallion intelligence officers and even chaplains would describe the history of the coastal strip between Cairo and Jerusalem which had seen passing armies from biblical times, including Alexander the Great, Napoleon and ,of course, the Aussies! In later years, the Iraelis would rush across this same strip to the suez canal in the Six Day War. If ever there was a place filled with the ghosts of soldiers, it would have to be here.
It's a pity you have to miss it.