A Royal Signals Sergeant: Palestine 1945-1946

I do not know the full details of these photographs from my dad, Rowland Bott's collection. They are from when he was serving with the Royal Signals in Palestine, 1945-1946 and, from the captions of some photos, probably from March 1945. I am still working it all out but think this was possibly for about 6 months and was just after his service in Egypt during World War II. Like many soldiers he spoke rarely about his approx 6 years away during the War and then afterwards in Palestine.

The photos are in no particular order. They were removed from their lovely tooled leather albums by Dad when he decided to label some of them in the 1970s/1980s.

So, some were labelled in the 1970s/1980s and some were labelled in the 1940s probably soon after they were taken. Some may have been labelled by the photographer ( i.e.not Dad) and then given to Dad but many do seem to be his writing.

The original order is now lost. I have tried to put them in a sensible subject order.

Some photos feature his army duties using his expertise in telecommunications. Some seem to be perhaps 'on leave' photos and some are souvenir photos sold by professional photographers such as Palphot and Matson.

I understand from a little bit of web research that up to 1947 it was fairly safe for army personnel on leave in Palestine but later it was not. More here at the website British Forces in Palestine.

I know that some of these photos are to do with setting up/improving the telephone exchange and telecommunications. I do not always know exactly what is depicted unless the photo caption states this. I have researched some of the acronyms used in the photos and hope I have got their meaning correct.

I suspect that the photos are a bit specialist and probably for a niche audience but I really felt that they should be shared!

Some of the photos are poor but nonetheless I have included them with no further enhancement other than a little cropping after I digitised them.

My knowledge of Palestinian history and of the geography of the region is minimal but I have tried to get locations and dates correct from the little information Dad left on the back of the photos, from web research and from a 1940 atlas which belonged to my father-in-law Len Woolliscroft.

PALESTINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS/TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, ETC

Cabling at Palestine Central Exchange, Ramle

Details on reverse of above photo

Cable Runways, Palestine Central 1945

Relay Set Room, Palestine Central 1945

Details on reverse of photo of Relay Set Room

Power Panel, Palestine Central 1945

Details on reverse of photo of Power Panel

In the photograph 'Power Panel Palestine Central 1945' the caption on the back (see photo above) includes two names: Cpl Holley and Conway. The latter has only his hand showing!

Power Board Palestine Central, Ramle

The above photo has the detail 'Power Board Palestine Central Ramle' on the back labelled by Bott in the 1970s/1980s.

Contemporary description on Power Board duplicate photo

I recently found a duplicate photo with a contemporary caption i.e. 1945/1946 and this gives more details of who the man is and to whom the leg belongs!

It reads 'Jim Daw at work on ringers Pal[estine] Central MCH 45 [March? 1945?]. Note my [Rowland Bott's] leg in attempt to keep out light!'

So I think Dad's leg must be far right...! MCH might be March... or is it an acronym!

Switchboard, Palestine Central Exchange 1945

Mull Palestine Central (Switchboard Cabling)

Contemporary caption and 1970s/1980s

The Switchboard Cabling photo is described as 'Mull' but I don't understand what Mull is.

I.D.F Palestine Central in course of construction '45

Details on reverse of above photo

I think I.D.F. stands for Intermediate Distribution Frame.

Palestine Central DTN Teleprinter Switchboard

Last extension installed by Rowland Bott and Alec Morden

DTN is thought to meant Defence Teleprinter Network.

SWBD is Switchboard.

49 STM are not understood but they are also mentioned with 40 STM on the Egypt page, in relation to the GHQ American Switchboard in Cairo.

Palestine Central, 'JED' doing a spot of 'MTCE' [Maintenance?] 1945

Original caption for photo above

Is JED a person, perhaps Jim Daw, or an an acronym? I was unable to decide or find any explanation of JED but have included it on the Names page. However I did find that TJF is probably Test Jack Frame. There is also a duplicate photo of 'JED' doing a spot of 'MTCE...'which is labelled by Rowland Bott in the 1970s/1980s as 'Egypt Room Pal Central 1945'

IDF at Palestine Central Ramle c1945

Details on reverse of above photo

I think IDF stands for Intermediate Distribution Frame; Rowland Bott's abbreviation Pal Cent is Palestine Central Telephone Exchange; and Ramle is a place name.

Palestine Central Palestine Ramle

Details on reverse of above photo

PALESTINE SOUVENIR PHOTOS

Some of the photographs in this section are stamped with Palphot-Hertsliya. The British Museum in 2020 says: 'This family-run company began by producing postcards but has now moved into branding and wider publishing. It was founded by Tova and Yehuda Dorfzaun in the 1930s'.

I have assumed the Hertsliya (now Herzlia) is the location of the Palphot company and not the location of the photograph. I have tried to identify some of the locations which Dad did not label on the back of his photos and hope to do more research at a later date. So, where I am not sure what is depicted, I have added a question mark after the caption.