Great Uncle: Cecil Spence Park – Palestine 1930’s *A photographic memoir of conflict in the Middle East
Cecil’s Photo Collection was left to me by my late Mother in 2007. Of the 140 photos and cards, many are mementos of Cecil’s time serving in the Royal Ulster Rifles in 1930’s Palestine. They give a fascinating snapshot into a period of British involvement in the Middle East that is a precursor to many of the events that take place there today.
Unfortunately, most of the photos are of people and places I know little or nothing about. I do know that Cecil was about to be demobbed from the Army just as WW2 was breaking out in Europe in 1939. This meant that his Army days were extended for an additional 6 years until the end of the War. He fought at some of the most famous WW2 battles, including Dunkirk, and survived with barely a scratch.
I have no idea whether the photos were actually taken by Cecil or not. The collection does not say anything about how the pictures came about. The card mementos of Malta and those of the Christian story, may well be the tourist cards of their day. The latter offer an interesting insight in to life for tourist visitors to the Holy Land prior to the creation of the Israeli state after WW2.
I hope you will find these pictures as fascinating and interesting as I have. To my mind, they are a superb collection of interwar British military history that deserve to be published. Cecil passed away at the tragically early age of 49. I hope this will be a fitting tribute to him, his friends and comrades.
**If you have any information about this collection, the people, places, or the conflict itself in Palestine then I would love to here from you.
For more on Cecil’s life, check out his name in the Wood Family section of my website.
Roseann1860 