34
CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
Merwin K. Hart and Hart's friend, Vice-Admiral C. S. Freeman.7
Miss Newton was collecting funds for a new group she had
organized, British Aid for Distressed Palestine Arabs. Among
the patrons was Azzam Pasha, the Arab League's mastermind.
I had only had a glimpse of Miss Newton, but that served
its purpose. It was only later, after I had been to the Middle
East, that I began to understand the role played by these men
and women.
ROAST DUCK AND ROASTED JEWS AT CANNING'S
ON THE eve of Lincoln's Birthday, Canning invited me to
dinner to meet some of his friends. We had become very
friendly, especially after I had sent the gourmet a pound of
long-grain rice, then unobtainable in London. Other guests
were Ramsay, Miss Newton, a friend of Anna Wolkoff named
Enid Riddell, and Admiral Sir Barry Domville, who before
his retirement had once been Heinrich Himmler's guest in
Germany, and later was interned during the war.
The roast duck Canning served was delicious. His egg croquettes were marvelous. The fruit pudding with butter-rum
sauce I've never had duplicated anywhere. We had wine, and
splendid coffee, always rare in Britain. Canning was a generous host. I tried to be an appreciative guest. London was
aflame over terroristic activities in Palestine and we were at
no loss for conversation. Between mouthfuls, the Jew was our
7
See Appendix.
The facing page reproduces a postwar brochure issued after the
Mufti's Nazi record was known. It "exonerates" the Mufti, claims
his "integrity and leadership" were misunderstood, and "explains"
his criminal record of collaboration. It is signed by Miss Frances
Newton, friend of Jew-baiting Captain Gordon-Canning, and Yusif
el Bandek, one of the chief Arab propagandists sent to this country.
(For Bandek's activities, and the story of his backers here, see the
Appendix. The facts on the Mufti are related in Chapter XXII).