The End of the British Mandate for Palestine, 1948: The Diary of Sir Henry Gurney (St. Antony's Series)

258 Pages·2009·1.47 MB·English

by  Motti Golani

St Antony’s Series
General Editor: Jan Zielonka(2004– ), Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford
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The End of the British
Mandate for Palestine,
1948
The Diary of Sir Henry Gurney
Motti Golani
Historian, Department of Israeli Studies, University of Haifa, Israel
© Motti Golani 2009
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
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of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2009 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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ISBN-13: 978-0-230-20986-2 hardback
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gurney, Henry, 1898–1951.
The end of the British mandate for Palestine, 1948 : the diary of
Sir Henry Gurney / Motti Golani.
p. cm. – (St. Antony’s series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-230-20986-2 (alk. paper)
1. Gurney, Henry, 1898–1951–Diaries. 2. Palestine–History–1917–1948–
Sources. 3. Middle East–Politics and government–1945– 4. Great
Britain– Foreign relations–Middle East. 5. Middle East–Foreign
relations– Great Britain. 6. Colonial administrators–Great Britain–

Biography. I. Golani, Motti. II. Title.
DA566.9.G89A3 2009
956.94′04092–dc22 2009013620
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne
Contents
Perspectives List vi
List of Illustrations vii
List of Maps viii
Abbreviations and Terms ix
Acknowledgments xi
The Diary and the Diarist 1
He fell in the line of duty… 1
Fadeout, nerves, terror 7
His hatred 10
The diary of Henry Gurney 12
Real Time and Researcher’s Time 23
Annotated Diary and Perspectives 24
Epilogue 211
His sons 211
Malaya… and Palestine 214
Biographical Notes 218
Bibliography 228
Index 233

v
Perspectives List
1. The Mandate Administration and Palestine’s porous borders 26
2. The Administration’s qualms in the face of the surging war 31
3. Britain’s reaction to the American attempt to annul the 37
U.N. partition plan
4. “The five lone pilgrims” 46
5. The deterioration in the Civil War from the viewpoint 48
of the Mandate Administration
6. The crisis of the convoys in winter–spring 1948 in 52
British eyes
7. The British policy of separation 66
8. Shedding light on the failed British attempt to establish 71
an autonomous Palestinian entity
9. The British view of the balance of forces on the eve of 81
the turning point of the civil war
10. The Jewish Agency Executive and the Haganah vs. the 87
Jewish population in Jerusalem
11. Haganah successes from April and their impact on 99
British policy
12. The Administration’s reaction to the events at 104
Deir Yassin
13. The Mandate Administration’s evaluation of the 113
Yishuv’s organizational, political, and military
capability
14. What to hand over to who, and when? The evacuation 138
plan in the crucible of the surging war
15. The interaction between the end of the evacuation 142
and the end of the Mandate
16. The Haifa turning point 148
17. The Administration’s concern about the reactions 157

to the “Haifa turning point”
18. The Administration, the Yishuv, and the breakaways 160
19. British-Transjordan relations during the war 172
20. Do the British really intend to leave? 181
21. The truce: Final opportunity for the Administration 189
to influence events
22. Departure day 201
vi
List of Illustrations
1. The King David Hotel. 121
2. Henry Gurney, Acting Governor of Ghana (Gold Coast), 121
1946, on the eve of his arrival in Palestine. In courtesy
of Gurney family.
3. Waiting for the High Commissioner’s Return from 122
London. Lydda Airport, most likely September 1947.
In courtesy of Gurney family.
4. Senior members of the Mandate Government at a 123
World War I Memorial Day Ceremony. Mt. Scopus,
Jerusalem, 10 November 1946. In courtesy of Gurney
family.
5. Nature with no connection to the country or its 123
inhabitants. In courtesy of Gurney family.
6. Isabel and Henry Gurney. In courtesy of Gurney family. 124
7. The Gurneys in their yard, Qatamon, Jerusalem. 124
In courtesy of Gurney family.
8. Raising the Red Cross flag over the former 125
Chief Secretary’s Office. Golani private collection.
9. The Last Day. The High Commissioner’s convoy drives 125
past an honor guard down Julian Street, Jerusalem.
In courtesy of Yad Ben-Zvi Publishers, Jerusalem.

vii
List of Maps
1. The Security Zones in Jerusalem. In courtesy of 126
Sazar Publishers, Jerusalem.
2. The British Evacuation in Practice. 127

viii
Abbreviations and Terms
AB DIV = Airborne Division
AHC = Arab Higher Committee
AIR = Air Ministry
AOC = Air of Command
CAB = Cabinet Office
C.B.E. = Commander of the Order of the British Empire
CID = Criminal Investigation Department
CIGS = Commander of Imperial General Stuff
C-in-C. ME = Commander in Chief Middle East
CO = Colonial Office
C.O. = Command Officer
CP = Cunningham Papers
CZA = Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem
D.C. = District Commissioner
DEFE = Ministry of Defense
F.F.I. = Fighters for the Freedom of Israel
FO = Foreign Office
GADNA = Youth Battalions
GB = Great Britain
GOC = General Officer Commanding
GP = Gurney Papers
HA = Haganah Archives, Tel Aviv
Haganah (1920–1948) = Semi-underground militia army of the Yishuv
Hish = Haganah Field Forces
H.L.I. = Highland Light Infantry
HQ = Headquarters
IDFA = Israel Defense Forces Archives, Ramat-Gan
IGP = Inspector General of the Police
I.R.O. = International Refugees Organization

ISA = Israel State Archives, Jerusalem
IWM = Imperial War Museum, London.
ITZL = National Military Organization (“Irgun” = I.Z.L.)
LEHI = Israel Freedom Fighters (Stern Gang)
LHCMA = Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, London
MECA = Middle East Centre Archive, Oxford
MSC = Minutes of Security Conference
ix