Arthur Kirby and the Last Years of Palestine Railways
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ARTHUR KIRBY AND THE LAST YEARS OF PALESTINE RAILWAYS. 1945 - 1948. By Rabbi Dr. Walter Rothschild. Berlin. Based upon a Doctoral Thesis presented to King’s College, London. December 2007. Prepared for Private Publication April 2009. Author: Passauer Strasse 4, D-10789 Berlin. Dedication. Many people assisted with the research and production of this work. Dr. Rory Miller and Prof. Efraim Karsh of King’s College, University of London, Mediterranean Studies Programme, were the academic advisors who brought the PhD thesis to a satisfactory conclusion. It was orally ‘defended’ before Prof. Moshe Gat of Bar-Ilan University and Dr. Colin Shindler of SOAS, London, on 20th. December 2007, resubmitted shortly thereafter with a few minor alterations. However, the rigours of the academic submission meant that a vast amount of material had to be omitted, lengthy documents could be quoted only in small segments or paraphrased, and a length limit and certain stylistic rules had to be observed. In consequence I have decided to produce a fuller version, incorporating the additional materials and topics, on the basis that almost none of these had been published and many of those that had, had been published only by myself in the small amateur magazine ‘Harakevet’ - and yet there is clearly a vast degree of ignorance, confusion and downright falsification about many details surrounding this very complex period of history. So it was important to me to make this material more widely available, even if the work as such is not ‘commercial’. My main thanks must be to the late Paul Cotterell, who passed away suddenly in Qishon Workshops in May 2007 - whilst in the middle of further research into their records. He is regarded as the doyen of researchers and historians in this entire field, his book informed me and inspired me to continue, and he became a good friend. His duties - a labour of love - in effectively running and expanding the Israel Railway Museum at Haifa Mizrach and the ‘archive’ made much of what follows possible. (There was initially just a pile of papers under pigeon droppings, it was thanks to him and his team of volunteer helpers that the term ‘archive’ even became appropriate.) I am grateful that he read, before his untimely death, one of the initial drafts of my thesis. I thank also the numerous correpondents who, over the years, provided me with their own eye-witness accounts or guided me to obscure archival resources. And of course my Parents, Edgar and Esther Rothschild, who supported, financed, urged and pushed me on my way so that they too could eventually proudly say “My son, the Doctor”! Walter Rothschild. CONTENTS. p. 11. Introduction. p. 21. Chapter 1. Palestine and its Railways in the Mandate Period. p. 43. Chapter 2. Palestine Railways During World War 2. p. 71. Chapter 3. The Management of P.R. in 1945. p. 95. Chapter 4. The Management of P.R. in 1946. p.111. Chapter 5. The Management of P.R. in 1947. p.129. Chapter 6. Disposal of the Haifa - Beirut -Tripoli Railway. p.149. Chapter 7. Disposal of the Kantara - Rafa Railway. p.169. Chapter 8. Disposal of Hejaz Railway lines in Palestine and Transjordan. p.205. Chapter 9. Acquisition of Rolling-Stock 1945-1948. p.231. Chapter 10. Plans for Withdrawal: P.R. in January - April 1948. p.303. Chapter 11. May 1948, The Last Days. p.312. Appendix 1 Transcript of Letter by I. Nissenbaum to Kirby, 1948. p.313. Appendix 2 What Rolling Stock was inherited by I.R. p.329. Appendix 3 History of Khoury House as Palestine Railways Headquarters. p.335. Appendix 4 Some Staff and Financial Arrangements at the Termination. p.338. Appendix 5 Memoirs of Capt. Mapstone, Royal Engineers. p.343. Appendix 6 ‘Origins of the Hebrew Railway’; Article by Isaac Nissenbaum. p.353. Appendix 7 Epilogue: Early days of Israel Railways. p.370. Appendix 8 Notes on British Military Involvement in P.R. 1939 - 1948. p.397. Appendix 9. The American Military Railroad Contribution in Middle East. p.402. Appendix 10. Some Correspondence with and from Arthur Kirby. p.408. Bibliography. p.413. Glossary. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LIST OF TABLES. Table 1. Palestine’s Postwar Population. p. 22 Table 2. P.R. Freight Stock in 1939. p. 38 Table 3. P.R. Motive Power in 1939. p 39 Table 4. P.R. Goods Traffic 1939-1945. p. 46 Table 5. P.R. Staff Statistics. p. 47 Table 6. Locomotive Failures 1940-1946. p. 57. Table 7. W.D. Wagons Available for Use. p. 61. Table 8. Foreign Wagons Available for Use. p. 64. Table 9. Civil Goods Traffic Egypt-Palestine, 1942-5. p. 66. Table 10. P.R. Traffic Statistics. p. 68. Table 11. P.R. Working Results 1939-1945. p. 69. Table 12. Military Owned Stock on P.R. System. p.206. Table 13. Disposal of Military Stock. p.208. Table 14. Expenditure on freight Stock. p.224. Table 15. Incidents on P.R. January 1948. p.250. Table 16. Incidents on P.R. February 1948. p.267. Table 17. Incidents on P.R. March 1948. p.285. Table 18. Incidents on P.R. April 1948. p.299. LIST OF MAPS. MAP 1. Railways in the Middle East, showing Palestine Railways and its links with neighbouring systems. 1945. MAP 2. Palestine Railways system. (Source: Cotterell op. cit. p.96). MAP 3. The Hedjaz Railway System at its fullest extent, 1918. (Source: Noll, Bickel, von Denfer: op. cit. p. 16.) MAP 4. UNSCOP (United Nations Special Committee on Palestine) Map of proposed Partition. 1946. (N.B. There were different versions.) MAP 1. RAILWAYS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, SHOWING PALESTINE RAILWAYS AND ITS LINKS; 1945. MAP 2. PALESTINE RAILWAYS. (Source: Cotterell p.96). MAP 3. THE HEDJAZ RAILWAY SYSTEM ITS FULLEST EXTENT, ca. 1918. (Source: Noll, Bickel, von Denfer: p. 16.) MAP 4. U.N.S.C.O.P. PROPOSED PARTITON PLAN 1946. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW. (A). INTRODUCTION AND SOURCES. In April 1942 there appeared in the ‘Palestine Gazette’1 a small but very significant item: “The Officer Administrating the Government has appointed: Mr. A.F. Kirby to be General Manager, Palestine Railways, w/e/f 9th. April 1942.”2 Arthur Kirby served in this post for almost exactly six years, until the end of the Mandate on 15. May 1948. They were not easy years. Kirby’s first task was to rescue a railway system that was on the verge of collapse, so that it could serve an unaccustomed wartime transport function; his second was to reorganise it to meet anticipated peacetime needs; thirdly, when the “peacetime” failed to materialise, he took it upon himself to discharge his duties - as he saw them - to maintain the railway system in the best possible condition and finally - as a self-imposed fourth duty - to hand it over to a later Administration as a going concern. He succeeded in the first three of these responsibilities, despite enormous obstacles from all sides, and almost succeeded in the fourth - being to some extent hindered and to some extent assisted by clandestine parallel moves amongst a small group of his trusted senior Jewish employees. It is hoped to demonstrate in this study just how much of the short-, medium- and long-term destinies of the Palestine Railways in the period 1945-1948 was influenced by this one man and his drive to professionalism and perfectionism. It is also hoped to set this in the context of the period - both before and during his term in office, in terms of the developments on the Railways of the region, and also the contemporary political developments that led to the dismemberment of the system. In this respect Kirby could on occasion exercise influence or offer advice, but could not make the decisions. Because many original P.R. records were lost during the fighting in Haifa in April 1948, which saw the destruction of the Railways Headquarters in Khoury House,3 there are certain unavoidable gaps in the available knowledge. Kirby (by then “Sir Arthur”) died in 1983. 4 Fortunately he had sent copies of many items of Minutes, Memoranda and Correspondence to the Chief Secretary’s Office in Jerusalem, and these have survived in the Israel State Archives there. 5 He retained some other items personally, and thanks to generous assistance from his daughter and step-daughter, 6 several gaps have been filled, especially in his personal life story. An overall and condensed Palestine Railways Report was published in 1946, to cover the whole 1942-46 period.7 Other papers of the period that have survived include those of the P.R. Chief 1 ‘Palestine Gazette’ No. 1190, of Thurs. 30. April 1942. p.520. 2 Unfortunately the unavailability of any Crown Agents records mean that it is impossible to ascertain exactly who chose him for this post and why, or even whether other candidates were considered. It is even unclear whether he applied, or was ‘head-hunted’ due to wartime conditions. It must be assumed he had impressed his superiors in his previous posts on the Gold Coast and in Kenya. 3 Haifa East station and offices were also blown up on 20. Sept. 1946, and crated documents were burned at Haifa East in May 1948. 4 Obituary in ‘The Times’ 14. Feb. 1983. 5 “Ginzach haMedinah”. 6 Mrs. Christine Howlett, of New York; Mrs. Jean Cox of Dursley, Gloucestershire. 7 Referred to henceforth as ‘P.R. G.M. Report 1946’. The first draft Annual Report had been introduced by Campigli in 1930, apparently on his own initiative; earlier unpublished draft reports for 1928 and 1929 have been located in the Haifa Railway Museum archives.