Monday, July 18, 2011

GM Fraser's "Night Run to Palestine"

I lost my copy of The General Danced at Dawn, a semi-autobiographical collection of short stories by George MacDonald Fraser, featuring a young Scottish soldier named Dand MacNeill.

One of them, Night Run to Palestine, has

MacNeill, on detached service in Egypt, miss[ing] his flight to return to the Battalion. While he waits for the next flight, he is put in command of an overnight troop train to Jerusalem. As well as keeping watch for Zionist saboteurs and snipers, he has to deal with an interfering Lt. Colonel, a group of innocent young ATS, a padre deeply concerned for their moral safety,and a soldier who locks himself in the lavatory, amongst other things. He gets the train to Jerusalem in one piece, despite the effort of the Lt. Colonel, before returning to Egypt and a farcical court of inquiry which determines at great length that he missed his original flight out of Egypt, hence his presence in Egypt, and that he must therefore get the next flight.

The fear he relates from the Irgun is quite palpable and I am angry I lost it while translating it into Hebrew years ago while doing a stint of reserve duty.

Anyone have a copy?

^

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