The Memoir Club - 07552086888 - memoirclub@msn.com: March 2025

THE HOLY LAND

WITH ECHOES OF BRITISH MANDATE

A doctor travels where the British trod

John Walker-Smith

John Walker Smith (Author)

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This book is a memoir of a doctor’s visits to the Holy Land, in 1964 as a Christian pilgrim, and then as a medical lecturer to Jerusalem in 1987 and 1995 as well as to Amman in 1985. Although he is a retired academic, this is not an academic historical text. The facts mentioned are firstly those that were told to him at the time (he kept careful contemporary records) together with additional facts he learnt by reading from books listed in the bibliography.

He records his own experiences and responses as a contemporary witness of the time. These are contrasted and compared with the experiences of two past British visitors Sir Frederick Treves surgeon in 1912, during Turkish/Ottoman occupation, and H V Morton, the author, in 1934 during the British mandate. These witness accounts of how things were perceived during past times, provide an interesting background to the current situation in the Middle East.

PREFACE

At a time when tensions in the Holy Land continue to resonate around the world, John Walker-Smith’s beautifully written memoir of his visits to Jerusalem, coupled with his historical insights, help to guide modern readers through the rich and complex history of the area. It is impossible to resolve the challenges of the present without understanding the region’s past, and John’s thoughtful memoir provides us with unique insights and reflections to deepen our understanding and enlighten all those who wish to see an enduring peace in the Middle East.

Stephen Hickey British Ambassador to Iraq 2019 to 2021 Director of the Middle East Department at the Foreign Office

BOOK LAUNCH

Book Launch Royal College of Physicians

Speech Royal College of Physicians

REVIEWS

When the Gospel writers described the life of Jesus, they added the time and place of almost every event. It’s as if they were alerted by the insistence of doubting Thomas to be given physical evidence of the Resurrection. The evangelists may not have thought that future generations would believe their accounts without including these details. Such caution may be understandable when narrating the events surrounding the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection (all in Judea). But they also give the locations of most of His miracles and His teachings (many in Galilee). This has meant that future Christians had a topography of the events of Jesus’ life. This knowledge has drawn Christians to the sites from far and wide over the past 2000 years. However, as the author, John Walker-Smith, explains in his highly readable book, Christians have only administered the Holy Land in three periods in that long history: first, for around three centuries from the conversion of the Roman emperor, Constantine, in the early fourth century, to the Moslem capture of Jerusalem in the seventh; second, the Frankish kingdom from 1099 to 1187, with a shrunken coastal state until 1291; and third, from when the League of Nations mandated the British Government to administer Palestine after the fall of Ottoman rule in 1917 to their withdrawal and the creation of new states by the United Nations in 1948.

It is this last period that the author focusses on. He points out what distinguishes this short administration from other regimes. At all other times the area has been fought over by Jews, Christians and Moslems, each of whom felt that they had a right to the whole territory. Each has had periods in history where they were the sole rulers. John Walker-Smith, with his careful attention to historical accuracy notes that the only other time when they Holy Land was shared, was in the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederich II (rr 1220-1250) when Christians and Moslems agreed to administer Jerusalem jointly, with having primacy over different sectors.

John Walker-Smith describes how the administrators of the Mandate strived to endow the world with a Holy Land where Jews, Christians and Moslems could live in peace and harmony. He uses the travel writing of three Anglican Christians to illustrates the points he wishes to convey. They are the eminent Edwardian surgeon Frederick Treves (in the last years of the Ottoman empire in 1912); HV Morton, a traveller at the time of the Mandate; and his own observations after the Mandate had ended (1964, in the company of pilgrims from the diocese of Gloucester and again after the 1967 war, twice in his capacity as a clinical academic in 1987 and 1995).

A great strength of the author is that he stimulates thought and allows the reader to reflect on the significance of the observations that he makes. His written text is supported in this by 95 superb figures, almost all in colour. The text is full of examples of thought-provoking text illustrated by a figure. There are too many to mention in a short review. One simple example is his description and photograph of a Palestinian stamp, issued during the mandate. This is in English, Arabic and Hebrew. He points out that no stamp (unlike other stamps in the British Empire) carried the head of the King (either George V or George VI). This allows the reader to understand why the three official languages still used (as for example on the tram in Jerusalem) are English, Arabic and Hebrew. More important, the lack of a King’s head demonstrates that the British did not regard Palestine as their land, but that they were protecting it for the world and for future generations. This brings us to the central theme of the book: that the British involvement in Palestine was altruistic. The author clearly points out they knew the dangers of administering the hotly contested country in the 1920s and 1930s, but that they had hoped to develop a state where different peoples could live together in peace. That this has not been realised is no fault of the British Administrators of the Mandate, who did everything in their power (which included the loss many British lives, including in the police, the armed forces and civilians) to make this happen. John Walker-Smith, with his instinctive understanding of the Church of England’s tolerance to other faiths (which is reflected in public policy) describes this thinking (so unlike our Medieval ancestors). He writes that the administrators emphasised areas of communality between the faiths, such as each being descended from Abraham. He points out that the rock on which Abraham came close to sacrificing Isaac was considered a physical embodiment of this idea.

This again throws up questions as to what constitutes human greatness in members of a governing group. Are Frederick II and the administrators of the Mandate the only people to show greatness in the Holy Land since the life of Jesus Christ, in that they wished to see harmony and equality among peoples from different backgrounds? Was the Mandate, run by people influenced by the Enlightenment, a missed opportunity; or was it an experiment that was doomed from the start? Buying this book is the literary equivalent of purchasing a plant, which in the course of one’s reading grows into something much bigger because of the questions it raises in the reader’s mind.

A great strength of the book is the that its information is always linked to the travel writings of one of the three writers. This makes for easy, but fruitful reading. Choosing travellers who span the momentous changes of the Holy Land over the 20th century from the Ottoman Empire, through the Mandate and into modern times, before and after the wars of 1967 and 1973, gives a time dimension to the places described. The book should be read by anyone interested in the Middle East. It is essential reading for anyone who has visited or intends to visit the Holy Land as a Christian. Professor Ian Sanderson

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This polymath recounts his travels, that of a doctor, in the steps ‘where British trod’ over an extraordinary period of more than 60 years, starting with his first trip in 1964. Professor Walker-Smith succeeds magnificently in combining the personal with the erudite, and the very human insights that we are allowed by his fascinating account of this incredible part of the world are sublime.

It is enormously relevant to our understanding of the battles that continue to rage in the Middle East but also gives the reader an overview of the spiritual journey that Professor Walker-Smith has undertaken, and that we are also privileged, with this detailed and compelling account, to take with him. It is nothing less that a tour de force of historical accounting and I learnt a huge amount.

The large numbers of beautiful illustrations show us just what individuals such as Sir Frederick Treves may have experienced of the region. Combining his Australian and English heritage through a religious prism, the author allows the history of the region to unfold for us within its pages. We can travel on our own ‘Via Dolorosa’ as we follow its narrative and it only makes one want take a journey to the Holy Land, if we have not been, and again if we have, to see it through different and now informed eyes.

With this knowledge then, of course, comes improved comprehension of the intricacies and influences that continue to inflict such heartache for the people of the region, who are pulled in so many directions by religious and political influences - some of the history of which is drawn out for us by Prof Walker-Smith. Furthermore the influence of his spirituality is clear within his writing, which is also very well referenced.

It is, in short, at once an informative and a delightful read, with observations that are as relevant to the region now as they have ever been. Prof Mike Thomson

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A pilgrim’s heart, a scholar’s memory

John Walker-Smith, known and remembered as ‘Prof” by generations of medical students and fellows around the world, once again shares something deeply personal – this time not through poetry, but through prose shaped by faith, memory, and reflection. In The Holy Land – with Echoes of British Mandate, he guides us across Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the broader landscapes of Israel and Palestine – a journey both inward and historical. The book spans three major phases: his first visit in 1964 as a young Christian pilgrim; his professional returns in the 1980s and 1990s as a visiting professor of medicine; and his encounters with earlier British travel writings, particularly those of Frederick Treves (1912) and H V Morton (1934).

What results is more than a travel memoir. It is a sustained reflection on how sacred geography lives on in personal experience and in the long shadows of history – viewed through the eyes of a man whose Christian faith, especially as an Anglican, is never absent, and whose memory of places visited decades earlier is nothing short of astonishing.

Decades remembered – every stone, every turn

One of the most striking aspects of the book is the precision with which Walker-Smith recalls places visited long ago – alleys, courtyards, holy sites, borders and backstreets, described as if freshly seen. His memory is remarkably intact, not only emotionally but topographically: every stone and pillar, the view from each terrace, the echo of footsteps in cloisters, recalled in astonishing detail. It becomes immediately clear that this is not a generalist’s recollection, but a careful, deliberate documentation – the product of a mind as devoted to observation in the world as in the hospital ward. The geography of the land is memorised like a clinical chart – not cold, but exact; not clinical, but loving.

Adding to this vividness are the original colour photographs taken by the author himself, e.g. during his first journey in 1964. Among them is the image of a postcard he had sent to his sister – a personal trace embedded in the record of the land. Other photographs show street scenes, local children, or, indeed memorably, the striking contrast between the brilliant colours of cloths from Bethlehem and the pale stone walls on which they hang – a moment of such visual charm, one is almost inclined to stand still and simply take it in. Another especially touching image shows pressed flowers bought in Jerusalem in 1964 – still retaining their colours after more than half a century. These visual documents lend the book a rare sense of intimacy and authenticity – they are not illustrations, but extensions of memory.

History, archaeology, and the record of time

While the prose is quieter and more restrained than the lyrical elegance of Walker-Smith’s poetry, the depth of historical and archaeological research in this book is profound. He moves with confidence between biblical reference, local tradition, and the findings of modern archaeology – always precise, never speculative. Whether describing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock, or the ancient layout of the Old City, he provides details rooted in extensive reading, attentive walking, and decades of reflection. He does not romanticise: commercialization, decay, and conflict are noted with concern, but not cynicism.

What matters most is the continuity of place and presence – the way faith, stone, and story endure across centuries.

At one deeply personal moment, the author recounts how, as a 28-year-old pilgrim in 1964, he collected water from the River Jordan in a container he had brought specially for the occasion – water that would, years later, be used for the baptism of his first child. It is a gesture that embodies both faith and foresight, and it encapsulates the spirit of the book: not only to witness the Holy Land, but to carry it forward – symbolically and sacramentally – also into the life of the author’s own family.

Three voices across three eras: Treves, Morton and Walker-Smith

The author’s structural choice to embed his reflections within the writings of Treves and Morton adds historical depth. Treves, writing under Ottoman rule, offers descriptions that are at times dry, sometimes even cynical, but always grounded in the physical realities of early 20th-century Palestine. Morton, writing in 1934 during the British Mandate, appears more impressed by the visible modernisation and archaeological uncovering, yet his tone is cautious rather than celebratory – a recorder of promise more than a prophet of peace. Walker-Smith uses their voices not to contrast, but to layer time: to show how the same sites and streets can mean different things across generations. His own perspective is rooted in reverence, in careful judgment, and in a humanistic Christianity that seeks understanding rather than dogma.

The British Mandate: romantic endeavour or failed ideal?

One of the more compelling themes running through the book is Walker-Smith’s nuanced view of the British Mandate. He does not present it as an unqualified success, nor as a villainous colonial episode. Rather, he reflects on it as a brave – perhaps romantic and ultimately naive – attempt to unify the three great monotheistic religions under a shared administration. The British, in his eyes, were often sincere in their efforts: civil servants, soldiers, administrators who acted with courage and, in some cases, genuine moral conviction. There is something of the ‘crusader spirit’ in how he describes their role – not in a military sense, but in their vision of service and stewardship. At the same time, he acknowledges how the Mandate ultimately failed to establish lasting peace or shared governance. Its legacy, though complex, is maybe not without merit – and in Walker-Smith’s reflections, one senses both admiration and sorrow for what might have been.

To me, this complexity is nowhere felt more acutely than in the author’s descriptions of Jerusalem – a city he returns to again and again. It is here that he quotes the Israeli writer Amos Elon, who once called Jerusalem ‘the tiger city’: a place so fiercely contested and bitterly embattled, yet simultaneously so inseparably bound to the concept of peace. This contradiction lies at the heart of the book, and of Walker-Smith’s entire reflection on the Holy Land – the coexistence of holiness and violence, devotion and division, longing and despair.

Faith as guide – Christian and Anglican

Underlying the entire narrative is Walker-Smith’s deep commitment to Christianity. His Anglican faith is not merely background; it shapes how he sees the land, the people, and the sacred. Each church visited is not only a monument but a place of prayer. His readings of biblical history are informed by both scholarship and devotion. Even the discomfort he occasionally expresses – at over-tourism, or the commercialisation of sacred sites – comes from a place of reverence. He does not preach, but he walks as a pilgrim, and his eyes never lose sight of that first journey of faith.

A doctor’s eye, a pilgrim’s soul

While many will recall the poetic delicacy of Walker-Smiths book Hope, Beauty and Friendship, this memoir offers something just as valuable: constancy of perspective. We see here the same John Walker-Smith known to so many medical students and colleagues – precise, observant, quietly moved. He writes not as a tourist, but as a witness: to time, to the persistence of faith, to the moral weight of history. His observations are restrained but deeply considered. His chapters, though not elaborate, are honest and enduring.

As one of his former pupils – an Austrian, and so privileged to have had him as a particularly formative clinical teacher – I can attest that the clarity and humanity evident in this book mirror exactly what shaped his bedside manner and mentorship. It was through him that I was introduced to the Anglo-American academic world of Paediatric Gastroenterology and to ESPGHAN, the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. I vividly remember the Jerusalem ESPGHAN meeting of 1995 – my first – which Prof. Walker-Smith too attended. Reading this book, so many memories came back to me, and I found myself reflecting on them with a certain inner warmth, as we might say. I am once again walking those streets, learning from his insight, and grateful for the quiet power of his example.

In the end, The Holy Land – with Echoes of British Mandate is not just about geography – it is about memory, conscience, and belief. It is about how a life of clinical work and teaching can also be a life of reflection, and how history lives on in each stone we remember, in each prayer offered, and in each story we choose to carry forward. Or, as we might say in my own language: Es bleibt etwas zurück. Almuthe Christina Hauer, MD PhD

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There is much to enjoy from this journal of three sojourns in the Holy Land, the Land of the Holy One, Palestine/Israel. John Walker-Smith refers to it as the Holy Land, which is how I have always referred to the land in which Our Lord Jesus Christ was born, but we owe it to the current situation, to acknowledge there is far more than one interpretation.

The chapters that make up The Holy Land with Echoes of British Mandate are each one short, which means the reader is always on the move, as befits a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; whether you like it or not, you are always moving, and John makes this possible!

There is no shying away in the book, from the disappointment of finding in Jerusalem an over-commercialised and dirty city, a place where peace and quietness are as rare in any other city on earth! But he reminds us, the reader, the fellow traveller, that these are to be found, as they can be found in our daily lives, they just need to be sought out.

Sir Frederick Treves, with whom John travels in a literary sense through parts of the book, paints a rather unflattering portrait, but as John points out, beauty or lack of it is very much in the eye of the beholder. And so, it is!

John Walker-Smith is a doctor and his book is laced through with medical observations as befits such a pilgrim. It is these observations that give this volume of memories, reminiscences, and reflections a quality, that spans the decades from his first visit with a group from the Diocese of Gloucester in the mid-1960s. There is a timeless quality, as timeless as the focus of the book – the Holy Land.

The Revd Canon Thomas Woodhouse Chaplain, The King's Chapel of the Savoy
within the Duchy of Lancaster

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John Walker-Smith, renowned for his ground-breaking work in the field of Paediatric Gastroenterology, has produced a very personal account of his travels to the Holy Land which is strongly underpinned by his deep Christian faith. He made three visits, the first in 1964 as part of a pilgrimage led by the Bishop of Gloucester and the second two in 1987 and 1995 with the primary aim of attending medical conferences.

As befitting a Christian medical man, Professor Walker-Smith has carefully read the travel diaries made by the famous surgeon Sir Frederick Treves during his trip to Ottoman ruled Palestine in 1912. The scathing observations made by the dyspeptic Treves provide sharp counterpoint to the much more benevolent and thoughtful assessments of John Walker-Smith. Treves, who had saved the life of King Edward VII before his coronation and achieved fame by publication of his encounters with “The Elephant Man” Joseph Merrick, retired from surgery in his 40’s and became a best-selling writer of travel books. Treves seemed to have hated every minute of his time in Palestine, but amid his descriptions of desolation there are telling insights. I learned that the bare landscape of the Holy Land is not just due to the arid climate but because the Ottoman Empire exacted a tax on all trees apart from olive trees. This was clearly no free and idyllic homeland for its inhabitants before the establishment of Mandatory Palestine after the first World War.

The second writer studied in depth by the author was HV Morton, who visited Palestine and neighbouring countries during the time of the Mandate and published a series of books from 1934 to 1938. Morton provided a more explicitly Christian account than did Treves. A significant part of the book is of the author’s laudable attempts to walk and identify places described in the Gospels, in much the same way as Morton did in the 1930’s. This was clearly a labour of love and the result of much study and planning.

With daily news about the tragic consequences of conflict in this contested region, where rightful ownership is claimed by different religious groups, it has become commonplace to blame decisions made during the British Mandate for all that has gone wrong since. Professor Walker-Smith’s scholarly book provides evidence for the essential benevolence of Britain’s aims in this challenging and hotly contested region, with an optimistic though naïve hope of reconciling the three Abrahamic religions.

This is a very interesting personal account, featuring some remarkable illustrations. It will be of particular interest to those of a committed Christian faith but I would recommend it more generally to anyone interested in the history of these deeply troubled but always special lands. Professor Simon Murch

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This book has a sub-title “A doctor travels where the British trod”. In fact there are two doctors Sir Frederick Treves, and Dr John Walker-Smith. It is a charming autobiographical travel guide written by the author when he visited the Holy Land as a pilgrim in 1964 and as a medical delegate in 1987 and 1995. He quotes from Sir Frederick Treves’s book about his visit in the time of Ottoman rule and H V Morton’s travel books in Mandate times; the latter was required reading in religious studies when I was at school. So we have three sets of opinions at significant different dates in history. It is a book that I would have liked to have with me when I visited Israel and Jordan in the 1980s. There is nothing written about after 1995 as it is a travel memoir. All this is covered in excellent detail in the reviews above.

John Walker-Smith is a proud Australian and Empire loyalist. In the First World War Britain and her allies fought The Ottoman Empire on the Gallipoli Peninsular in Turkey where they were defeated and forced to withdraw. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) fought with great gallantry and it forged the identity of these Dominions. At the same time the Suez Canal had to be defended from the Turkish Army which was threatening this vital Empire trade route. The Turks were slowly pushed back but they successfully defeated the British 60th and 74th Divisions at the first and second battles of Gaza with heavy casualties. The fighting line extended far into the desert in the East where it ended in an open flank and was the site of manoeuvre warfare. On 31st October 1917. On at the Battle of Beersheba there was a pivotal engagement when The Australian Light Horse gained international fame by charging and leaping the Turkish trenches armed with their bayonets, before then dismounting and achieving a significant victory. There are a couple of photographs in the book of the Australian Light Horse.

I did not really understand the military history of the Holy Land after the fall of the Roman Empire. John Walker-Smith describes the struggles between the three faiths that share their beliefs from common heritage, as they strive for the control over the holy city of Jerusalem. Only in two brief periods of history have they achieved parity under one administration, in the 13th Century and secondly under the League of Nations the British Mandate in 1920. The British Military opposed the acceptance of the Mandate. Sir William Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, said in 1919, “the Problem of Palestine is exactly the same as the problem in Ireland, namely two people living in a small country hating each other like hell”. Ironically he was murdered by the IRA in 1922.

The British Mandate between 1920 and 1948 was a well meaning attempt to achieve harmony between the Arabs and the Zionists. Sir Ronald Storrs the Civil Governor of Jerusalem and Judea from 1917 to 1926 even held an annual service in the Anglican Cathedral for all faiths which was attended by leaders of the various Christian Churches, Orthodox, Armenian, Abyssinian, Anglican, Jews and Muslims, but this service was boycotted by the Latin Church; so much for intra-faith harmony! He ensured that the Palestine Mandate postage stamps did not have the British King’s Head on them, and all street signs were in English, Hebrew and Arabic. The initial good will was lost in the 1930s when the Palestine Police Force and British Army were subjected to terrorism culminating in the bombing of The King David Hotel in 1946. In 1948 the United Nations ended the Mandate to Britain’s relief and then the state of Israel was born out of Palestine with civil war between Arabs and Jews.

This thoughtful travelogue has brought back happy memories for me before the region descended into political and military chaos that exists today. Professor and Colonel (Retd) John Richardson

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I was delighted to receive a copy of your book today. Thank you so much. It looks splendid with the illustrations highlighting the text successfully. Professor N Savage

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