Cyprus and his love for the island. It made him a legend amongst Cypriots, who believed, perhaps wrongly, that he could have found a more attractive post with the Australian or English forces and who were delighted and honoured that he chose to serve with them. 21
There was so much to do. Although much of the text for their publication of excavations at Vounous was written, the detailed description of finds was not finalised. Jim continued to feel the need for a corpus and was irritated that Schaeffer and Dikaios had failed to publish so much of what he had wanted to include. Westholm offered to help edit the volume and Jim now gave the rights of Vounous to the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. The offer came as the British School, the original sponsor of the excavation, closed because of war and in the will that Jim wrote before leaving England he left £300 to the Swedes for publication costs and bequeathed his personal library to the Cyprus Museum. 22
There is no record of Jim and Eleanorâs movements in June, July or August of 1940 but in September, before joining his regiment, they sailed for Sydney. Later Jim would say that the voyage was an unhappy one and it is likely they were both anxious about what the future held. They spent nearly two months in Australia, so were not in England to experience the massive German bombardment of London or the raid on Coventry. Leaving Eleanor to sit out the war in Australia, Jim sailed from Sydney on 28 December. On arrival at the port city of Haifa on 30 January 1941 he was instructed to report to the Cyprus Regiment base, and was posted to the 1006 Pioneer Company at the end of February.
The Cyprus Regiment was an odd beast, a hybrid born of a marriage between uneasy partners, and it is wonderfully ironic that one section of the regiment was a mule pack-transport company. As an English colony, Cyprus was drawn into the war, although the island itself was never attacked. The natural tendency for many Greek and Turkish Cypriots, however, was allegiance not to Britain, but to Greece or Turkey, countries with opposing attitudes to the war. Fascist Italy had invaded Greece in October 1940 but Turkey remained neutral until the last throes of the war. Some volunteers undoubtedly supported Britainâs battle with the Nazis, but pay and health benefits were equally important incentives. The English authorities carefully vetted applicants; those with criminal or political backgrounds were rejected. Communists and nationalists were the least desirable, although after the invasion of Russia large numbers of Communists did enlist. Even so, a lot of applicants were rejected. By the beginning of 1941, over 15,000 men had been interviewed and only 6000 accepted. It does not say much for the standard of English administration that, after sixty years of English rule, 4000 men who applied for enlistment failed on medical grounds. After March 1941, authorities relaxed standards and recruits were accepted even if they had committed one theft or one âunnatural offenceâ, which included wounding, malicious injury, murder or attempted murder, rape, up to six convictions for drunkenness and three for gambling. It was a rag-tag band of men who served in the Cyprus Regiment.
The number of recruits in the regiment mirrored the ethnic balance on the island: four-fifths of all recruits were Greek Cypriot and one-fifth Turkish Cypriot, with Britain ensuring that the ratio was maintained. Although the commanding officer and most other officers were British, commissions were granted to Cypriots over time, although the vetting of Cypriot officers was even more rigorous than for other ranks and the final decision remained the governorâs. Detailed reports on political affiliations, particularly communist or union associations were compiled by the British authorities: âdue to his influence a lot of trouble took place at the minesâ; âhe is a member of AKEL 23 but I do not think that
There was so much to do. Although much of the text for their publication of excavations at Vounous was written, the detailed description of finds was not finalised. Jim continued to feel the need for a corpus and was irritated that Schaeffer and Dikaios had failed to publish so much of what he had wanted to include. Westholm offered to help edit the volume and Jim now gave the rights of Vounous to the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. The offer came as the British School, the original sponsor of the excavation, closed because of war and in the will that Jim wrote before leaving England he left £300 to the Swedes for publication costs and bequeathed his personal library to the Cyprus Museum. 22
There is no record of Jim and Eleanorâs movements in June, July or August of 1940 but in September, before joining his regiment, they sailed for Sydney. Later Jim would say that the voyage was an unhappy one and it is likely they were both anxious about what the future held. They spent nearly two months in Australia, so were not in England to experience the massive German bombardment of London or the raid on Coventry. Leaving Eleanor to sit out the war in Australia, Jim sailed from Sydney on 28 December. On arrival at the port city of Haifa on 30 January 1941 he was instructed to report to the Cyprus Regiment base, and was posted to the 1006 Pioneer Company at the end of February.
The Cyprus Regiment was an odd beast, a hybrid born of a marriage between uneasy partners, and it is wonderfully ironic that one section of the regiment was a mule pack-transport company. As an English colony, Cyprus was drawn into the war, although the island itself was never attacked. The natural tendency for many Greek and Turkish Cypriots, however, was allegiance not to Britain, but to Greece or Turkey, countries with opposing attitudes to the war. Fascist Italy had invaded Greece in October 1940 but Turkey remained neutral until the last throes of the war. Some volunteers undoubtedly supported Britainâs battle with the Nazis, but pay and health benefits were equally important incentives. The English authorities carefully vetted applicants; those with criminal or political backgrounds were rejected. Communists and nationalists were the least desirable, although after the invasion of Russia large numbers of Communists did enlist. Even so, a lot of applicants were rejected. By the beginning of 1941, over 15,000 men had been interviewed and only 6000 accepted. It does not say much for the standard of English administration that, after sixty years of English rule, 4000 men who applied for enlistment failed on medical grounds. After March 1941, authorities relaxed standards and recruits were accepted even if they had committed one theft or one âunnatural offenceâ, which included wounding, malicious injury, murder or attempted murder, rape, up to six convictions for drunkenness and three for gambling. It was a rag-tag band of men who served in the Cyprus Regiment.
The number of recruits in the regiment mirrored the ethnic balance on the island: four-fifths of all recruits were Greek Cypriot and one-fifth Turkish Cypriot, with Britain ensuring that the ratio was maintained. Although the commanding officer and most other officers were British, commissions were granted to Cypriots over time, although the vetting of Cypriot officers was even more rigorous than for other ranks and the final decision remained the governorâs. Detailed reports on political affiliations, particularly communist or union associations were compiled by the British authorities: âdue to his influence a lot of trouble took place at the minesâ; âhe is a member of AKEL 23 but I do not think that
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