| Admin/Biog History | A conscientious objector, Waterfield served in the Quaker-led Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) during the Second World War, providing relief to civilian and military casualties. Having already volunteered with the FAU in Finland in 1940, he joined the Hadfield Spears Hospital Unit [Hadfield Spears Ambulance Unit], run by Mrs Spears [Mary Borden] in 1941, and embarks with them on a journey from London to the Middle East, via North Africa. |
| Description | In this journal, Waterfield records the period he spent in North Africa and the Middle East while volunteering for the Hadfield Spears Hospital Unit. The journal is complete, with dated, but not daily, chronological entries from 20 March to 28 June 1941. It includes a range of insights into the work of the Unit and military life in general (for example, life onboard ship; challenging journeys by road, conditions in the camps and field hospitals, pitching tents and companionship). It also includes sightseeing excursions and social activities, such as a vegetarian dinner with the publisher Maurice Webb and his wife in Durban, and has references throughout to his friendship with another volunteer called 'Hammy [Mills]'.
Of particular note are vivid descriptions of the changing scenery, places and people, and occasional references to gardens (for example, the Botanic Gardens in Durban) and plant species. The journal records stays in the following places, with longer entries of c 25 pages for Durban and Deraa:
-Durban, South Africa
-Suez, Egypt
-Sarafand, Palestine
-Deraa [Daraa], Syria
-Damascus, Syria
Other entries of note concern two day trips to Jerusalem, Palestine, that Waterfield made when he was in or near Sarafand. These include descriptions over 10 pages of the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives and, and other religious sights.
Towards the end of the journal, Waterfield briefly muses on his decision to volunteer with the FAU instead of focusing on his artistic career. He also describes making drawings, including life drawings of Hammy and another male companion. A few pages contain small sketches or doodles of places and plants, and there is a full-page sketch of a tree on the reverse of p.97.
The endpaper and back cover of the journal have been repaired - potentially concurrent with the journal's use - with strips of pink adhesive plaster.
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