Field Marshal Lord Gort has resigned as High Commissioner for Palestine for reasons of ill-health, Colonial Secretary George Hall told the House of Commons today, as a prelude to a report on the disturbances there. John J, N. Shaw, Chief Secretary in Palestine will head the government until Lord Gort’s successor is named, Hall said.
That Lord Gort should have found it necessary to resign just at this moment is deeply regretted in London, Reuters reported today, pointing out that he had successfully gained the confidence of both Jews and Arabs in Palestine.
“It was also suggested in some quarters that Lord Gort did not see eye to eye with the recent decisions of the Middle East conference of British diplomats in London, and that his different outlook about the future of Palestine probably also had something to do with his present decision,” the British news agency said.
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