Letters from Wilfred Evans to his family, 1917 - Part 17

another very interesting experience - I have been to
Jerusalem my dear. We did not take part in the attack
on the country near Jerusalem & were some 30 miles away
but on this particular day, a car happened to be
going there & I seized the chance. It was a fine
touring Sunbeam car & we had a pleasant party
aboard so had a glorious day. At first our road
lay on the flat fertile country but we soon entered
the hills & the road from then onwards eclipsed
any one I have known in steepness & the number 
of sharp turns in it. And no wonder, for the
hills are so preciptous that one would wonder
that it is possible to proceed by road at all.
Hill succeeds hill, & valley their sides covered with
sharp boulders & falling away precipitously into
deep valleys. Here & there are clustered small
villages, which are so familiar to us from
Biblical illustrations with their stone walls &
flat roofs, & generally perched on the steep
side of a hill. How the people subsist on the country
is a mystery, but the soil is very rich if it can
be cultivated & they use the bottom of the valleys
to grow olive trees & vines & also make little terraces
on the sides of the hills & the soil is so fertile
that a few scratches are sufficient to grow
a crop. We climbed & climbed over one hill

after another, until at last we reached the crest of the
range from where we could see the Meditteranan
in the distance & the valleys instead of leading down
towards the sea now led in the direction of the Jordan.
Amid these old world surroundings the presence of t numerous
troops with their wagons & guns seemed out of place &
one wondered how they ever succeeded in driving the Turk
from such a stronghold & one can understand the old
importance of Jerusalem as a fortress. The road
was badly cut up in places by so much military
traffic but hundreds of men were busily engaged
in mending it & we passed over quite readily.
After passing more villages & more vil valleys we suddenly
shot into Jerusalem itself. We entered the modern
city first & were surprised to see so many fine buildings
& good streets. After fighting for so long in the desert where
only Arabs & their tents are seen, it gave us a thrill of
pleasure to at last enter a city so well worth the
taking as Jerusalem. We eventually came to the 
Hotel Fast where we alighted & tried to obtain
lunch but so many officers were there that we
could obtain none but ordered eggs & tea for three
o'clock. Food is scarce in Jerusalem as their usual
supply is now cut off & tea & sugar are practically
unknown but they have some kind of imitation tea
which is a very poor substitute. We then went to

the Military Commandant & obtained passes to
enter the old city & a guide to direct us. 
We went first to the site of Solomon's temple, where
over which is built a magnificent Mohammedan
mosque - the mosque of Omar. It is built on a
huge rock which was the base of the old temple & one
climbs up some steps before reaching the level of the
floor. It is circular in shape with a dome on top
& one must cover his shoes before entering, as is the
usual custom. The interior is gorgeous, white pillars 
of beautifully polished marble stretch upwards
some forty feet to the dome, the walls are formed
of marble slabs, the floors covered with beautiful
carpets. The roof is most beautifully painted decorated
with a in the Oriental fashion with all ki a kind
of scroll design painted in gold, & small windows
which let in a subdued light are formed of topaz.
It is divided by a circular partition into an
outer & inner rig ring. Inside the inner circle
is a tremendous rock upon which Abraham
offered to slay Isaac & cut out of this
solid rock are some steps leading down
to a cavern wh in which are four marble altars
for Abraham Elijah Isaac & another of the
prophets. Tremendous labour must have
been done to carve out this place as the rock

is absolutely solid & is I think granite in nature.
We were shown the place where Mohammed placed
his foot & this is most venerably regarded by the
Mohammedans. It is We were then ushered to the
door by the patriach with long flowing beard who 
was showing us round. We next went towards the
Mount of Olives upon which several churches are built
to commemorate different events. It is a rounded hill
with three well marked prominences & has clusters of
olive trees at different parts, elsewhere being devoid of
trees & g slopes down toward Jerusalem & just on 
the outskirts of the town is the Garden of Gethsemane.
Time did not permit of us exploring this but the view
from where we were is disappointing - it was not the 
beautiful garden I had pictured it but a small
enclosed space with stone wall round it, & containing
a few trees. Different sects claim different places
as gardens & the church of Mary Magdalene is
built on one of these & certainly looked very
beautiful from where we were. We then retraced
our steps towards Pilate's house & on our way
saw the place where the waters were troubled on the 
appearance of the angel & where the man sick of
the palsy took up his bed & walked.
From Pilate's house we proceeded along the
Via Dolorosa where Christ bore the cross & along

this several stations are marked where certain
events occurred. The first & second is where Christ fell
under the weight of the cross & then follows the spot
where Simon the tanner assisted to carry it.
I think the walk along this path where Christ
went to his cross is the most sacred of all.
The other holy places are generally covered with
churches, where different sects squabble in a
disgraceful way for pre-eminence & defile the 
place with their squabblings, but here is the plain
almost unadorned path leading between rows of
houses only a couple of yards wide, which needs
no adornment to render it sacred.
The houses often communicate over one's head by
stone or wood ledges a yard or two wide.
We eventually reached Calvary which stands
on an eminence & the whole area where the
crucifixion took place is covered with a collection
of churches under one roof. The Greek church has
the main part, the Armenians have one, the Copts 
another, the Abysinnians another & have the Roman
Catholics one also. The exact spot where the
cross stood is shown - whether it is true or
not I don't know & the cleft in the rock
near by. The sepulchre where Christ was
kissed is also shown & here are 34 ls lamps

of silver which are always burning & are allotted
to the different denominations mentioned above.
The tombs of Joseph of Arimithea & Nicodemus are
adjacent & can also be seen cut in the solid
rock.
As time was now short & we had many miles to
go before we reached home we hastened back
to the hotel for our afternoon tea & then bade
farewell to the holy city for a time.
I forgot to mention that we saw the hotel of
place where Christ dismissed the money changers
also, but a call has come for me now &
I must close this letter & away with much love
& many hugs from
Your loving son
Wilf.

I bought some books of views & some trinkets
at a Armenian shop in Jerusalem which
I am posting in a day or two.

Description of
Jerusalem

25.12.17
My dear mother,
I'm just making an attempt to
write you a few lines on Xmas day & hoping that you
are enjoying your Christmas as much as possible with two
of the family so far away. I am wondering if you are at
Goulburn Lismore Newcastle or still in Candelo: can just 
imagine you pottering in the kitchen over the Xmas
goose or turkey (it is now about 10 a.m.) & getting everything
right for dinner, & I suppose it is as hot as can be outside
in the sun. We are having a "dead funny Xmas".
We are now away up in the hills of Jordan, where tracks
are few & only made with great labour, & all around us are rough
craggy hills, devoid of trees but covered with huge boulders.
Villages are still scattered about & the Arabs plough the
rich soil in the bottoms of the valleys. It is as cold
as charity & the weather typically English - for the
last week it has been raining off & on & last night
Xmas eve it simply poured all night & blew a
hurricane, & I was in hourly dread that my bivouac
would blow down as it is only held by six pegs
However it fortunately held & I kept fairly dry save
one or two of my items of clothing which however did
not incommode me much. Some of the men
however were much less fortunate & slept in

about a foot of water. This morning its raining like a
fun again, so you can imagine we are not holding
high festival. Still everyone is cheerful, only some of
them didn't seen to appreciate it very much, when I
said that it was splendid to have the rain laying
the dust for us like this (most of us have about a
foot of mud caked on our boots - its horribly
sticky) - very few seemed to agree with me.
I went down yesterday in a Ford motor car (they
are really wonderful things) through the mud, between
showers & brought up Padré Gordon, of Goulburn
& a friend of Harry's who is our padré on
Division & who has been attached to one of our
Clearing Hospitals during operations. The General
wanted him here for Xmas & so we had
service this morning - only a short one as it
was very cold & commenced to rain heavily
& there was no shelter. We sang one or two of
the old hymns Bethlehem etc & then
made a dive for our bivouacs again
& I smoked the pipe of peace there
Pipe is a great consolation under
these circs. By the way, the parcel from

the Candelo Knitting Association, containg socks &
hankys from you & the tobacco all in good
condition arrived a day or two ago. Many thanks
my dear once more, it was exceedingly welcome.
Also the Dayfield Body Shield which I fear will
not be of very great service, as every pound of
weight tells on a horse in long distances & I really
am not exposed a great deal on Divisional
Headquarters but I will pass it to someone to
whom it may be of some use, if I find I
cannot use it. But, bless you again my dear
for your thoughtfulness & generosity. I had
some letters also this week, one from Mab
strangely enough asking for a spoon as curio &
I sent one along with other curios from
Jerusalem to you a few days ago asking
you to distribute them among the family.
I hope the books of views arrive safely also as
they are quite good. Keep what you want
my dear & pass on the others.
Glad you put some cash in the War Loan for me,
if it is a good investment - just whatever you think
mother mine. My hair, of which you were enquiring,
does not become any thicker, indeed I imagine
it is thinner, but why worry, I can't do much
to it, on operations, as difficulties of carrying even