Air Mechanic Percy Clements (Lilydale), No 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps: In the field in Palestine. In a letter to his father – ‘About 28 of us and an officer left camp at 5 o’clock in the morning per one of our uncovered motor lorries. After we had travelled some 25 or 30 miles over a very dusty and hilly road we arrived in Jerusalem about eight. We then had breakfast and an hour later entered the walls of the holy city through the Damascus gate, with a guide leading.

Inside the city is just an old business place, with very narrow little lanes and we made our way straight towards the holy sepulchre. The interior of this place was lovely; lamps and valuable pictures greeted one’s eye as one entered. We saw the stone on which Jesus is said to have been laid after the crucifixion and on the left of this is a cage erected where the Virgin Mary stood and watched the proceedings. Then we went and saw His tomb (which place is known as the Holy of Holies). Hanging above the tomb are numerous valuable lamps, given by all denominations, and fresh flowers are taken there daily. In the centre of the Holy of Holies is a small marble column where the ascending angel is said to have taken His soul to Heaven.

Then we went to Calvary where Jesus was crucified and on the spot where Mary stood watching Him being crucified now stands the most wonderful statue of Mary herself, decorated and studded with gold and very precious stones. She is seen with a very solemn face and shedding tears. Her heart is pierced with a solid gold dagger. The decorations on her head and body are most wonderful and costly and have been presented by all denominations. She has a ruby on her forehead valued at £25,000 and the Kaiser gave a beautiful solid gold heart, studded with diamonds. I am not able to give the value of this statue as different guides gave different totals; but I believe and was told that the whole contents of the holy sepulchre were worth over thirty million pounds.

The next place we went to was the Jews’ wailing place, and here is a huge wall of stones where the Jews visit and wail. The Jews treat this as very sacred, and I might mention that this is the closest they are allowed to the holy sepulchre, which is about 200 yards away. Our next move was to the Mosque of Omar, which has been built on the Temple of the Rock, where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Being a mosque this place is solely for the Mohamedans and they have some very peculiar beliefs. They believe that the rock, which is strongly barricaded, is floating between heaven and earth. Once a year this rock is swept and the dust is sold and is valued dearly by the pilgrims. Another belief is that on the day of judgment a rope will be stretched across from the rock covering the Valley of Jehosophat to the Mount of Olives, about half a mile. If they can walk this rope they will have no sins and go to heaven, and if not they fall into the valley of Jehosophat will go to hell.

Next we moved on to the wall of the tomb of Solomon, who was supposed to have 999 wives and many children. There are iron bars in this wall, to which childless women tie rags from their clothes in the belief that it means a prayer to Solomon and that they will get their wish of a family. We then moved on to the Garden of Gethsemane. In this garden is an olive tree over 2000 years old. Under this tree it is said Jesus rested and prayed over the people of Jerusalem, just before He was crucified. I picked a carnation there, and if it presses well I will enclose it. On we went, to the church of St Ann, built underground by the Crusaders in the 16th century and on the spot where Mary was born. This church was like the others with its lovely hanging lamps and one little corner has a big slab which is supposed to be the spot where Mary was born. We then came to the pool of Bethesda, where Jesus performed His wonderful miracles in giving sight to the blind, and where He ordered the sick to take up their beds and walk.

This was the finish of our morning’s exploration, and we had lunch, after which we drove to the Mount of Olives. Many people believe that it was on this Mount that Christ was crucified, but according to our guide it was at the holy sepulchre that the crucifixion took place. The Kaiser has a big church known as the German Hospice on the Mount, and when the Turks occupied Jerusalem their headquarters were in this church, and what interested us most was a patched hole in the roof of it where one of our airmen had dropped a bomb. There is also a big mission church with a very high tower on the Mount but we were unable to enter it.

From the Mount of Olives one can get a lovely view all round. On one side is Jerusalem and just opposite one can see the Dead Sea and the Valley of the Jordan. We then went out to Bethlehem, a distance of six miles. Here we visited the church of the Nativity, and it is claimed to be the oldest church in the world. We saw the spot where Jesus was born, and the star of Bethlehem is there in solid silver and was presented by the French. On the right is the manger where Jesus was carried by His people. Above are numbers of wonderful lamps and pictures. One lamp is of solid gold and its cost was £6000. There is also a beautiful golden picture of the wise men who followed the star and found Jesus. On the left the Roman Catholics have a lovely modern church built.

We then went back to Jerusalem and had tea, and at six o’clock had commenced our journey back to the camp, where we arrived at about 8.30pm. You will probably want to know my opinion of Jerusalem now that I have seen it: It is not much. There is a vast amount of poverty there, and it is a very dirty place. Food is very scarce and bread is unprocurable. We paid 3/ for four fried eggs and a small cup of tea with no butter or anything else’.

L/Cpl George Harrison (Wandin), 58^th Battalion: Arrives back in Australia from Europe on board the HT Tofua.