Letters from Wilfred Evans to his family, 1918 - Part 5

impossible to sink. When one is over his
depth it is quite simple, one just stands
up in the water without any effort & head
& shoulders stick out of the top of it
Lying on one's back & floating is also very
simple indeed, but one must be careful
not to get too much in the eyes as it
stings like fun. We were able to wash
off the water when we came out in
some fresh & very glad to do it too
as it tends to sting a good deal.
So that is one more experience I
have had this war which I had
never previously anticipated.
Finish now my dear with lots
of love & hugs from
Your loving son
Wilf 

3
24.6.18.
My dear mother,
As I'm rather short of
note paper - can't find any in fact I
must write to you on this. Since my last
letter we have moved into the hills for are a
rest & are now camped near the birthplace
of Christ. We were very glad indeed to hand
over to some one else the particular spot we
were in as a hotter & more dusty spot could
hardly be imagined. We had dinner once
or twice in Jerusalem at a hotel there
& found the change an excellent one.
We are now camped in a on monastery
which was abandoned by it's monks
& Col. Dixon & I inhabit a room
together where we are very comfortable.
Mosquitos however are rather troublesome
but fortunately are not for the most
part the malaria carriers, & we are
well protected with nets. Since coming

here we have had opportunities of seeing
the Church of the Nativity (at Bethlehem) which is
like the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem
divided into three portions Greek
Roman Catholic & Armenian & has
the same superstructure of tawdriness
that the latter has. The Roman
Catholic portion is not so bad as
the others & contains a couple of
most. exquisite paintings of the
wise men presenting gifts & the 
appearance of the angels on the
night reading of the birth of Christ.
Some say these were painted
by Raphael & they certainly are
very fine indeed. The Greek
portion of the church however
is positively revolting. it's walls
are covered with paintings of all
kinds & most of them atrocious.
The figures representing Christ

are too awful for words & the 
whole place disgusts one.
One goes down a number of steps
to the vaults where the stable of
the inn was & a star on the 
floor marks the spot where
Christ was born. The original
manger was moved to Rome
but it's position is still shown.
The Greeks, Armenians & Catholics
a good many years ago &
quarreled over the place & fought
around the very birthplace
of Christ, overcame the Turkish
guard who was there for the 
protection of the place & in
the confusion the place caught
fire & most of the beautiful
paintings by Raphael & others 
were destroyed.
I think that exemplifies the spirit
of those people guarding the holy

places more than anything I know.
We also visited the place where Christ
was hidden during the slaughter of
the innocents (of which there is a beautiful
painting in the church of the nativity) &
saw the Shepherds Field.
Bethlehem itself is rather a fine
village much cleaner than most
of the villages in Palestine & has
chiefly a Christian population.
There are two or three very good stone
churches & most of the buildings are
of stone, some quite large & imposing
& nearly all well built & finished
off.  Some two or three miles away
are Solomon's pools, several
tremendous reservoirs which
caught the flood waters of a 
large gully & also those of a small
spring & from them an aqueduct
conveyed the water to Jerusalem.
This aqueduct was composed of

pipes made of huge pieces of
rock with a ^round hole cut through the
centre in the pipe & fitted at each
end like pieces of an iron pipe line
to dovetail into one another.
The amount of work to construct
15 or 20 miles of this must have
been terrific & was done I believe
by Solomon. The large reservoirs
which have a capacity of millions of
gallons were also built by Solomon
& repaired by Pontius Pilate who
lost his job by spending too much of
the public money on them. So you
see we are in quite an interesting 
place at present & within easy 
reach of Jerusalem. The country
is very pretty hereabouts too with
it's light green vines contrasting 
with the dark green of the olive
trees & villages nestling on the
sides of hills, built of stone &

in the flat topped Eastern style.
It is delightfully cool too, one
could hardly realize that there
would be such a difference in a
few miles, it was scorching in the 
valley while here it is cool &
delightful with a pleasant breeze
most of the day.
Must close now my dear, hoping 
you are all well & with 
lots of love
from
Your loving son
Wilf.

4
No. 14 AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL
A.I.F.
OFFICERS' MESS
July 3^rd 1918

My dear mother,
I am down at Hospital for a fortnight
brushing up my medical work a little. Arrangements have
been made recently for some of us to come here for 2 weeks
instead of leave to have a change & see a little work.
It is a very pleasant change, as the hospital is situated
just on the sea & we have plenty of swimming & the air
is beautifully fresh & cool even in the summer. When I
last wrote we were at Bethlehem & I travelled down by
rail from Jerusalem. It is a very pretty trip for the
first part of the journey through the hills of Judaea which
remind one so much of Biblical scenes. The hills are
very steep & rocky but are practically all terraced
& have grape vines growing in among the stones, & in the
bottoms of the valleys where there are stone sometimes
springs of water, the land is under crop. Olive trees &
a few other fruit trees are very numerous & the peculiar
dark green of the olive is very refreshing to look on.
Did I tell you that I had another look round
Jerusalem before leaving & saw a few more of the
sights? One of the most interesting places is the
German hostel on the Mount of Olives, a 
magnificent stone building, beautifully finished in

No. 14 AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL
A.I.F.
OFFICERS' MESS
..........191.....
every way & three stories high. It cost some millions
to build & has attached a splendid chapel with some
good paintings in it & a fine pipe organ. It is
very well finished off & has some fine Mosaic
work in it too. The most striking thing however
is the ceiling, which has in the centre a picture
of Christ surrounded by paintings of the Apostles
& at one end a picture of the Kaiser & his
wife on a throne also surrounded by pictures
of saints & people & at the other a picture of
Jerusalem. To my mind nothing nearer
blasphemy can be imagined & I think it
well illustrates the mind of the present
ruler of Germany, to thus place himself
practically on an equal with Christ.
One place I had not seen before also was the
Church of the "Ecce Homo" built, over the
site of Pilate's house & it has incorporated
in it part of the old wall of the house. 
It is a beautiful little chapel, the prettiest
in Jerusalem I think. I saw again the
Mosque of Omar which is certainly one
of the finest things in the world.
We took round with us some of our clerks &
batmen who are only allowed to go round with

No. 14 AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL
A.I.F.
OFFICERS' MESS
.......191...
an officer & they enjoyed it immensely.
I am enjoying immensely sleeping in a decent bed
again & have a medical ward with 150 patients
in it, so that I am fairly well occupied, & am
learning to use a stethoscope again. The sickness
is mainly malaria & other fevers incidental to
this country & a good many debilitated cases.
I find among them quite a number of the men I
have known in the field & there is always a certain
amount of bon camaradie with these men whom
one we has been associated with under trying conditions
for 3 years or so & it is good to feel it. I
always find quite a number of my old Regiment
somewhere or other. No more tonight, my dear,
I'm very well & hope you are.
Don't overwork in the new home my dear,
very best of love & lot of kisses
from
Your loving son,
Wilf.